LOOKING FOR MORE IN THE RUN GAME

Under head coach Jamey Chadwell in his first two seasons leading the program, Liberty has been one of the top rushing offenses in the country. After leading the nation in rushing in 2023, the Flames were ranked in the top five last season, averaging 250.7 rushing yards per game. Quinton Cooley, Billy Lucas, and quarterback Kaidon Salter all had big roles in the rushing offense the last two seasons, but none of them remain on the Liberty roster. This year, the Flames are looking to less proven and less experienced backs to lead the running back. Juju Gray has the most playing experience in the room, but he has spent most of his career at wide receiver and in the return game. Vaughn Blue, Caden Williams, and Evan Dickens are the other backs fighting for carries.

In Week 1 against Maine, the Flames had 194 rushing yards. Not bad, but not quite what the Flames grew accustomed to the prior two seasons, especially against an FCS opponent where Liberty should be the bigger, more physical team. QB Ethan Vasko led the team in both carries (13) and yards (63) while scoring the only rushing touchdowns. Dickens had the most carries by a running back, rushing 10 times for 34 yards. Gray had 6 carries for 39 yards while Vaughn Blue was limited due to an injury suffered during the game, only receiving two carries for six yards.

Caden Williams has been expected to carry the bulk of the carries at running back, particularly between the tackles. The redshirt-freshman’s only significant playing experience prior to this season came in the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo where he had 10 carries for 31 yards. He saw significant improvement in those numbers against Maine, rushing 9 times for 52 yards. It helped him receive Conference USA Freshman of the Week honors, but Coach Chadwell wants more out of Williams and the rest of the running back room.

“I’d love to see Caden continue to grow into the role,” Chadwell said. “First game playing, he did some solid things, but we need more from him. He’s got to play better. He’s got to run harder. It was good for him to get his feet wet. That was probably the worst thing to happen to him, to get Freshman of the Week.”

LIMITING EXPLOSIVE PLAYS

We heard all throughout training camp about the potential this Liberty defense has. In the season opener against the Black Bears, that ability was on display for much of the game. Despite not blitzing very much, the Liberty defensive line routinely was able to penetrate the Maine offensive line and force the issue, finishing the game with three sacks and helping force two turnovers. There were a couple of plays, most notably the 77-yard run that resulted in only the points Maine scored all game. Coach Chadwell said that play was a misfit by his defense.

Going up against a Jacksonville State team this week, those explosive plays could be the deciding factor. The Gamecocks ran all over the Liberty defense last year, to the tune of 363 yards on the ground. Tre Stewart rushed 27 times for 232 yards, and 4 touchcdowns. While Stewart is no longer on the team, JSU has brought in TCU transfer Cam Cook who rushed for 75 yards in the opener at UCF, and someone who will certainly be looking to make an impact in a big way on the field Saturday.

“We had one misfit that gave up a huge run and a couple other ones that we can’t have if we’re going to be an elite defense,” said Chadwell. “If you’re going to be an elite defense, you can’t give up easy plays. I thought our defense, we gave up a couple easy ones that we can’t afford to have happen, especially as we get into conference play.”

STRONG SEASON STARTS, SLOW GAME STARTS

On Saturday at Jacksonville State, Liberty will be looking to start 2-0 for a sixth straight season and also win the team’s road opener for a sixth straight season. Starting strong to begin a season has become the norm for the Flames since moving to the FBS. Liberty has started at least 3-0 in four of the last five seasons – 2020 started 8-0, finished 10-1; 2021 started 3-0, finished 8-5; 2023 started 13-0, finished 13-1; 2024 started 5-0, finished 8-4.

Similarly but on the flip side, the Flames have struggled at the beginning of games. Including this year’s season opener against Maine, Liberty has now trailed at some point in each of its last 15 games, going 10-5 in that stretch. The last time Liberty led from start to finish was the 2023 regular season finale at UTEP, a 42-28 victory over the Miners. Liberty was the only FBS team to overcome deficits of 13 or more points in three games last season. The Flames’ eight come from behind wins last year were the most by any FBS team.

“I need to see a level of intensity coming out of the game,” said Chadwell. “I feel like we felt our way around a little bit. You can’t do that in college football anymore. Everybody is good. There’s a lot of parity. We’ve got to come out of the gate faster.”

The Flames entered the fourth quarter against Maine tied before scoring 21 unanswered in the final period. This week in practice, Liberty is changing things up by putting some of the more important periods, the team periods, at the beginning of practice.

“We know we have to start fast,” said Liberty WR Reese Smith. “If we don’t, they’re a good team. This game could get out of hand if we don’t come out and are firing on all cylinders.”

INJURY REPORT

Here’s an update on Liberty’s current injury situation:

  • QB Ryan Burger is done for the season as he is medically retiring due to repeated concussions.
  • TE Jacob Jenkins returned to the field sparingly in the season opener against Maine. His role should continue to be expanded.
  • Safety Dylan Mullins missed last week’s game against Maine, and he may miss again this week. He has been a special teams’ player for the Flames.
  • DL Kam Cullins was injured in the Fan Appreciation Day scrimmage and missed the opener against Maine. His status remains uncertain.
  • Backup center Cal Grubbs missed the season opener and his status is uncertain this week against Jax State.
  • S Brylan Green suffered a fracture in his right arm/wrist in the opener against Maine. He had a cast put on it and went back in the game. He should be expected to continue to play despite the injury. It may keep him sidelined in the punt return game as Reese Smith got those opportunities after Green’s injury against Maine.
  • RB Vaughn Blue suffered an injury in the opener against Maine. It appears that he will be ready to be back on the field this week.

“We had some bang ups, but nobody should be missing going forward,” Chadwell said of his injuries suffered in the opener. “We had some guys that didn’t play in the game. Can we get them back? That’s still up in the air. We’ve got a couple guys like that, that we’re trying to get back as far as guys in the game we had some get banged up. Obviously, you saw Brylan Green, but he was able to come back in. As of (Tuesday), everything looks good that we will have who we should have going into the game.”