peteyCharleston Southern game to be on ESPN3
The Big South announced earlier this week that Liberty’s November 14th game at Charleston Southern has been picked up by ESPN3 as part of the conference’s Wildcard Weekends. The game will kick off at 2pm with Mike Hogewood and Renaldo Wynn being the commentators. This comes on the heels of Charleston Southern’s win over #1 Coastal Carolina last weekend, 33-15. The Buccaneers are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in Big South play. The 13th-ranked Buccaneers can clinch the Big South championship and automatic bid to the playoffs with a win over Kennesaw State this weekend. 

Football notes:

  • The Blue Hose have never won at Williams Stadium in 6 previous trips including the last meeting in 2013 when the Flames won 35-14. Liberty has won 6 straight meetings overall in the series with PC’s last win coming in 2008.
  • After beating Kennesaw State in the team’s last outing, Liberty is seeking its first back-to-back victories of the 2015 season.
  • The Flames have been very good in the month of November under Coach Gill. In his 3 seasons, Liberty is 11-1 in November with 4 wins over ranked teams (#6 Stony Brook, #16 Charleston Southern, #1 Coastal Carolina, #15 James Madison). This season, the Flames have 3 games in the month of November including 2 against teams currently ranked in the top 25 (#8 Coastal Carolina, #13 Charleston Southern).

 Football commits update

    • Stephen “Buckshot” Calvert and Carol City beat Northwestern, 18-14, to win their district and advance to the playoffs. Carol City will host Dillard on November 13th in a first-round matchup. Calvert and the Chiefs are 7-2 on the season. He also threw a 34-yard touchdown pass (as seen in the video below). Chad Johnson, former NFL wide receiver, was at the game and had high praise for the senior QB.

 

  • Rud Yearick was 16/24 passing for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns in a win last week. He also had 12 carries for 128 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. Metrolina competes in their first playoff game at home tonight at 7pm.
  • Aidan Burroughs and his Norfolk Catholic team beat Falls City 42-0 to open the playoffs. Norfolk Catholic is 10-0 on the season.
  • In 8 games played, Jimmy Faulks has recorded 4 interceptions, 1 returned for a touchdown, and 1 fumble recovery for a touchdown. He’s also been named to the Pinellas County Senior All-Star Football game which will be played December 9th. The teams were selected by the coaches from the 25 public and private schools in Pinellas County.

Liberty to play SMU
The Flames announced Thursday night they will be playing Southern Methodist in 2016. This game replaces the previously scheduled game with North Texas who recently released their non conference schedule for 2016 with Liberty not listed. SMU is part of the American Athletic Conference and is currently 1-7 this season including a loss to James Madison in September.

Flames in the NFL update
Rashad Jennings had 10 carries for 54 yards and 2 receptions for 31 yards in the Giants’ shootout loss to the Saints, 52-49. As we mentioned in this space last week, Walt Aikens had 4 tackles in the Dolphins’ loss to the Patriots on Thursday night. Aikens and the Dolphins face the Bills on Sunday.

baseballBaseball schedule
The Flames released their 2016 baseball schedule this week. 2015 National Champion Virginia will pay a visit to Liberty Baseball Stadium. Other notable games include Maryland, South Florida, Duke, and Virginia Tech. The Flames open the home portion of their schedule by hosting UConn for a 3-game series March 4-6.

Campbell, Asheville to host Big South basketball tournaments
The Big South announced this week that the 2016 Big South Men’s Basketball Championship will be held at Campbell University and the 2016 Women’s Basketball Championship will be held at UNC Asheville. The men’s tournament is scheduled March 3-6 while the Women’s tournament is scheduled March 10-13. Both tournaments were previously scheduled to be played at Coastal Carolina, but with the Chanticleers moving to the Sun Belt the conference decided to move them.

Other Sports update
Your weekly non-football Fall sports update:

  • The men’s soccer team beat Presbyterian, 5-1, on senior day last Saturday. The Flames then dropped a 2-1 decision at Campbell on Wednesday. The team finishes the regular season with a 6-10-1 overall record and 2-6-1 Big South record.
  • The women’s soccer team opened the Big South Tournament with a home win over 8 seed Winthrop, 2-0. The Lady Flames take on 4 seed High Point this afternoon at 4pm in Greensboro. Liberty beat High Point, 1-0, on October 10th.
  • The women’s field hockey lost to #4 Duke, 3-2 in overtime, on Saturday. The Lady Flames conclude their regular season when they host Appalachian State Saturday at 11am.
  • The women’s volleyball team lost to Radford, 3-1, and conclude their home schedule this weekend by hosting High Point and Campbell. The Lady Flames are 7-3 in Big South play and 12-11 overall.
  • The men and women’s cross country teams competed for the Big South Conference Championships last Saturday. The men finished 2nd while the women came in 3rd.

FlameFans thread of the week
This week’s FlameFans thread of the week is Can LU win the Big South Auto-Bid?