As of today, Liberty football is only 53 days away. We are less than two months from the start of the 2022 football season.
While we’re close, we aren’t quite close enough as training camp is still a few weeks away. To help hold you over, I’ve gone ahead and ranked Liberty’s 12 scheduled opponents for the 2022 season in order of who I want to beat the most.
Starting at number 12 is Gardner-Webb. Former Big South rival, the Runnin’ Bulldogs just aren’t on the same level as the Flames anymore. This game should be well in hand by halftime.
11: Akron. The Zips used to have a solid football program. Key word being used to. This should be an easy win for Liberty at home.
10: New Mexico State. It is the regular season finale and could be a game needed for bowl game purposes. Also, the Aggies will be in Conference USA with Liberty beginning next year. So, this game, in the future, will mean more. For this year though, it just doesn’t move the needle much.
9: UMass. Liberty has completely dominated the Minutemen under Coach Freeze the past few seasons. There’s no reason that trend shouldn’t continue.
8: UConn. This is the first time Liberty has played UConn since moving to the FBS. The last meeting, the Flames were absolutely embarrassed. Times have changed though, and Liberty should be able win this game comfortably.
7: Southern Miss. It’s the season opener and Liberty needs to win this game to get off to a strong start. Also, former offensive line coach Sam Gregg is now the offensive coordinator there and this is Freeze’s alma mater. A couple of extra side notes that move this game up the list a little bit.
6: UAB. This game slightly lost some of its luster when UAB head coach Bill Clark retired due to health reasons. Still, the Blazers should be one of the top Group of Five programs in the country and this will be Liberty’s home opener. A win here could go a long way in setting up the season for success for the Flames.
5: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons will be a preseason top 25 team as they return nearly everyone from their record season a year ago. A win on the road against an ACC team early in the year could certainly give Liberty some notoriety moving forward.
4: BYU. BYU is one of the football programs Liberty looks up to. The Cougars are several decades further along in their venture, but the Flames have followed a similar model of BYU to get to this point. Picking up a win against BYU, in what could be one of the last times the two teams play any time soon, would mean a lot to Liberty and would transcend more than just this season.
3: Old Dominion. An in-state G5 rival, the Flames need to continue their string of success against the Monarchs for bragging rights and recruiting purposes.
2: Arkansas. Liberty is 0-2 all-time against SEC opponents and the Razorbacks are expected to be a top 25 team and should compete near the top of their conference. A win over Arkansas would do a lot to continue to build the Liberty program into national relevance.
1: Virginia Tech. It’s hard to not put Virginia Tech at the top of this list. The school is just a couple hours down the road in Blacksburg and have been the flagship program in Virginia for much of the past couple of decades. The Hokies will try to put their fair share of fans inside Williams Stadium in November and prove that the 2020 Liberty win was a fluke.
