When college football fans want a preview of the teams across the country, they turn to Phil Steele’s Football Preview.
Phil Steele’s College Football Preview 2020 magazine has just been released with in-depth team previews on all 130 FBS programs.
Liberty was picked 114th out of the 130 FBS teams in Phil Steele’s Power Poll. Under second-year head coach Hugh Freeze, the Flames are picked as the 4th best Independent team behind Notre Dame (8), BYU (47), and Army (93).
“Liberty spent 30 years in FCS with just one playoff appearance,” the magazine wrote in its preview of Liberty. “They moved up to an FBS schedule in 2018 and did well to record their 4th straight 6 win season. Last year, head coach Hugh Freeze took over and had a veteran team with 15 returning starters. He got QB Calvert to cut down on his int’s (18 to 7). Liberty opened with 24 & 21 point losses to bowl teams, then in perhaps their best win of the season beat Buffalo at home 35-17. Liberty then went 6-3 their last 9 games, beating 6 teams that had a combined one win over an FBS foe, while losing to Rutgers, BYU, and Virginia on the road. They had a 402-249 yard edge vs Georgia Southern in the bowl to finish 8-5. I have to admit it, I was not expecting 8 wins, so coach Freeze did a great job last season. This year they drop to just 9 returning starters and face a tougher schedule. Despite those factors the Flames should be competing for a bowl bid again.”
Due to the coronavirus, Phil Steele’s college football preview is going to be harder to find but you can get it online here.
