The Liberty Flames (6-4) are back in action following an open date to take on the Virginia Cavaliers (7-3) in Charlottesville on Saturday, Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon and will be televised on ACC’s Regional Sports Networks.

The Cavaliers are also coming off an open date following consecutive wins over North Carolina and Georgia Tech to move to 5-2 in ACC play. UVA is just one week away from its much anticipated showdown with Virginia Tech, in a game that will likely determine the ACC Coastal Division representative in the ACC Championship game.

Virginia is led by Bronco Mendenhall who is in his fourth season with the Wahoos. He has a 23-25 record with the Cavaliers and came to Virginia following 11 seasons as head coach at BYU. He has led the Cavaliers to bowl eligibility for the third year in a row.

This will be the second ever meeting between the two in-state foes with Virginia taking the first meeting in a 45-24 decision from the November 10, 2018 meeting. Liberty trailed by just seven midway through the 4th quarter before the Cavaliers responded with 14 straight points to clinch the victory. This is the last meeting between the two schools on the gridiron until October 14, 2023 when they will again meet in Charlottesville. Virginia and Liberty are currently scheduled to play each other three times from 2027-2030, with the 2027 and 2029 date both scheduled to be played in Lynchburg.

This year, Virginia’s offense is scoring 31 points per game and is led by quarterback Bryce Perkins. He is one of two players in the nation, joining Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, to pass for 2400+ yards and rush for 450+ yards so far this season. He leads the ACC with 2,932 yards of total offense. In the meeting last year, Perkins accounted for four of Virginia’s six touchdowns on the afternoon finishing with 106 rushing yards and another 168 yards passing.

“Quarterback’s the best we’ve faced all year,” Freeze said of Perkins. “I don’t know who will receive the player of the year in the ACC, but I would be shocked if he’s not in the discussion. Probably 80% of the offense goes through him. Most every pass is a designed draw, whether it’s designed that way or not, which they do a good job with designing it that way, but it’s very difficult to contain him. We will have to play extremely well defensively, not only against their run game, pass game, but every play being a possible draw for him. He’s that talented.”

Behind Perkins who leads the team in rushing, running back Wayne Taulapapa is second in rushing with 399 yards on 97 carries. He also has a team-high 11 touchdowns. Wide receiver and kick returner Joe Reed is another big threat for the Cavaliers. He leads the team with 61 receptions, 530 receiving yards, and 5 touchdowns while also adding 28 rushing yards on 6 rushes. Reed has 743 kick return yards and 2 touchdowns. He ran back a kick for a touchdown against the Flames last season.

“They are a very solid Power Five football team,” remarked Freeze. “They wouldn’t be playing for the Coastal Division if they haven’t had a great year.”

Stopping Perkins may be impossible, but the Flames can try to keep him off the field by eating up game clock and maintaining possession on offense.

“To contain him, you have to have a few people on him at the same time,” Liberty safety Elijah Benton said of Perkins. “You can’t let him escape the pocket because he can use his athleticism to hurt us. He can extend plays and get down the field. We have to contain him, keep him inside the pocket and on the back-end we have to stay in coverage. When he’s running, he’s not just running to extend plays. He has his eyes downfield, so you have to stay in coverage or else he can get an explosive play on you.”

On defense, Virginia is holding opponents to 22.5 points per game and 316.3 yards of offense each outing. The defense is led by 6’7″ defensive end Charles Snowden who has 9 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 9 QB hurries this season to go along with his 58 tackles.

“The 6’7″ d-end, number 11, stands out every film I’ve watched,” Freeze said of Snowden. “He’s a problem that we’ve got to account for.”

The Cavaliers rush defense has been stout most of the season, holding their first four and five of the first six opponents under 100 yards rushing. Only one team, Louisville, has been able to surpass the 200 yard rushing mark against UVA all season.

“We go into every game with having to have the appearance that you’re balanced,” Freeze said of Liberty’s ability to run the ball. “We’ve been pretty effective at doing that, that will be our attempt this week also. There will be a lot of runs called, what happens after the snap kind of will depend on how Virginia is playing us, but we certainly will have the appearance that we are attempting to run it.”

The secondary is likely the weakness of the UVA defense as three starters are missing with injuries and a lot of inexperienced bodies are attempting to fill the void. Junior free safety Joey Blount is the only original starter remaining in the Cavaliers’ secondary, as Virginia has lost All-American cornerback candidate Bryce Hall, Brenton Nelson, and Darrius Bratton.

“They are very well coached,” Freeze said of the UVA defense, specifically addressing the secondary. “They’re going to be in the right spots, and if they feel like they are limited some in the athletic realm, they make up for it by the plethora of coverages they present to you. Obviously there are always weaknesses to coverages. If you can have the right pass route called when they’re in that scheme, you’ve got a good chance. The goal and the challenge for us in the play calling realm will be having it called at the right time against the right coverage because they do an excellent job bringing pressure and mixing up the coverages behind the pressures.”

To offset their challenges in the secondary, the Cavaliers could rely on its pass rush, which ranks 8th nationally in sacking the quarterback. 14 different Virginia defenders have gotten their hands on a quarterback for a sack this season, led by Jordan Mack, Noah Taylor, Zane Zandier, and the aforementioned Snowden.

NOTABLES

  • Virginia is currently riding a six-game home win streak, which began with the win over Liberty last year.
  • Virginia’s joe reed ranks number three nationally this season with 743 total kickoff return yards. He is averaging 35.4 yards per return and has taken a pair of kick off returns for touchdowns. Liberty ranks number nine in the nation for kickoff return defense (17.1 yards per return) and has not allowed a single kickoff return of 30+ yards in 2019.

QUOTABLES

Liberty HC Hugh Freeze – “It’s an exciting week for us, to play an in-state Power 5 team that has had a great year. For us to find a way to go to their place and compete, is going to be a tall task, and it is one that our kids are excited about. I know that the (team) is excited. I think the task is a tall one for us at this stage, but it’s one that we welcome and are really excited about.”

Liberty RB Frankie Hickson – “Coming here, I never thought I’d get a chance to play against Tech or Virginia. Leaving here and now I’ve been able to play them and teams just like them in the Power Five. It’s a blessing, but it’s a chip on my shoulder always when I’m playing in-state. Virginia will be no different.”

Liberty RB Frankie Hickson – “(We need to) take it to them from the get-go and let them know that we’re here to play the game.”

Liberty S Elijah Benton – “It’s a great opportunity. It’s a good chance for Liberty to show what Liberty can do. Growing up, my brother was a Virginia Tech fan, so I will see if I can do him a favor. We have a great opportunity to go on the road and beat a great team, a Power Five team.”

Liberty QB Buckshot Calvert – “They’re having a real good season. For me, ACC school and beating them, it would be really good. I would feel really proud of my team, and the hard work we put in to accomplish something like that.”

Liberty LB Brandon Tillmon – “They got one on us last year. This game is really big for us – one win away from being bowl eligible. Last year, we did drop one. If a couple plays went our way, it would have been a different outcome. It’s easy to get caught up in Power Five, bigger than us, faster, but we’re ready for the challenge and ready to go out there and showcase what we can do.”

PREDICTION

Virginia 34, Liberty 24

Liberty has a chance to win this game. The Flames match up well with the Cavaliers, as far as Power Five opponents go. The key will be the offense being able to control the clock and keeping Bryce Perkins on the sidelines. Liberty also can’t afford any costly mistakes and must capitalize on any mistakes UVA has. It will be interesting to see if the weather has any impact, current forecast calls for a high of 43 degrees and rain.