In less than two weeks, Liberty football will take the field in Bowling Green Kentucky to face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Following the loss of several key pieces from the 2019 team, many questions remain as to who will step in to fill those key roles.

Who could be the stat leaders for the Flames this season? We’re focusing on a few key stat categories – rushing yards, receiving yards, touchdowns, sacks, and interceptions.

Rushing yards: Joshua Mack

Mack is the easy answer here. After losing Frankie Hickson and his 1,000 rushing yards each of the past two seasons, Mack takes over as the heir apparent at running back. He rushed for 792 yards last season, and, even with the Flames limited to just 10 games this year, Mack could reach the 1,000 yard plateau.

Receiving yards: CJ Yarbrough

Plenty of names could emerge here as Liberty moves on with life after Antonio Gandy-Golden. Yarbrough could be the favorite but he only played in 4 games as a true freshman last year where he caught 6 passes for 124 yards. Other names to watch include Noah Frith, Jaivian Lofton, DJ Stubbs, and tight end Johnny Huntley.

Touchdowns: Joshua Mack

Mack and Hickson combined to score 20 touchdowns last year. Only Gandy-Golden came close to competing with the pair’s output in 2019. If the Liberty running backs continue to produce touchdowns near that rate, Mack will certainly lead the team in the category, provided he stays healthy.

Sacks: TreShaun Clark

Jessie Lemonier’s 20.5 sacks over the past two seasons are gone, giving way to a new name to emerge. Clark is the obvious name, as the true freshman was 2nd on the team last season with 5.5 sacks. The only thing that could stop him from leading the team is opposing team’s keying on Clark to keep him out of their backfield.

Interceptions: Marcus Haskins

This one could go a number of ways, but Haskins has the potential. He finished 2nd in all of Division II in 2018 with 9 interceptions at Concordia University. At Iowa Western last year, Haskins added 7 interceptions. After playing primarily at corner, Haskins has moved to safety this season. He will have less opportunities playing in the middle of the field, but as the coaching has pointed out during camp, he has a knack for finding the ball.