Head coach Jamey Chadwell prepares for Liberty’s week two and home opener on Saturday against Gardner-Webb. In his weekly press conference with the media on Tuesday, Chadwell brought intriguing information that fans should keep an eye on as Liberty prepares for this week’s game. Here are three key takeaways:

Recapping JMU Loss

The Flames came up short in the season opener this past Saturday at James Madison, falling 20-13. Coach Chadwell said the team had its opportunities to win the game in the second half if a couple things went the team’s way.

“We had some opportunities,” said Chadwell. “The way we wanted to play the game and put ourselves in a position to win in the second half, we had the opportunities to do that. We missed some plays, some penalties, some self-inflicted wounds…If we would have had a couple calls go our way, if I would have called a couple better play calls at times, if we would have executed some things, maybe that game turns our way.”

Offensive Line Struggles

Liberty rushed for just 91 yards on 38 carries, a measly 2.4 yards per carry Saturday at JMU. That’s not what Coach Chadwell and this Liberty offense wants to be as it is a unit that has been among the national leaders in rushing a couple years ago. Chadwell thought the offensive line struggled, noting the team has two potential starters out due to injury in the preseason, perhaps in part leading to why the five starters played the entire game up front.

“It’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played,” Chadwell said of the offensive line. “They are good up front. It’s not a physical thing, I think they had a good defensive line, but we were very inconsistent, especially in certain situations. We had some guys graded really well and some guys just graded poorly…Some of the guys just didn’t play as good as you had hoped. We will play better there, but I was disappointed in our overall consistency. We could have done some things better.”

Turning the Page to Gardner-Webb

Liberty now turns its attention to the home opener this Saturday against Gardner-Webb. The Runnin’ Bulldogs are 0-2 on the season with losses to Austin Peay (35-17) and Wofford (17-13). Head coach Kris McCullough was fired last week after coaching just one game for the program. Special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Pete Bennett has taken over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2026 season.

“They have had two games already. Going through a challenging time there within their program, but sometimes what happens is that makes you even closer. They had Wofford really on the ropes, had the ball at the end of the game to win the game and got beat. Wofford killed The Citadel and The Citadel just beat Charlotte who is an FBS program. I think that shows you Gardner-Webb has some talent. They are going to throw the ball around quite a bit. They like to spread it out and throw it around. Defensively, they do a good job of mixing some different things.”

You can watch the full press conference here: