The Liberty Flames (8-1) conclude their home regular season schedule with a special Friday afternoon kickoff on the day after Thanksgiving. The Flames take on the UMass Minutemen with kickoff from Williams Stadium scheduled for noon on ESPN3.

Fellow Independents, UMass and Liberty have met each of the previous two seasons, both games played in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was two completely different games with the victor both scoring over 60 points in the win. On Nov. 3, 2018, UMass outlasted the Flames in overtime, 62-59. Liberty got revenge last season, 63-21, on Nov. 2, 2019. Liberty and UMass will continue to play each other each season in the future, with games scheduled through the 2025 campaign.

This year’s game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday until UMass canceled their 2020 fall football season in the late summer and later announcing they would attempt to put together a limited fall schedule. The Flames and Minutemen then agreed to put the game back on the schedule for Friday.

UMass has put together a four game schedule this fall, all of them on the road. They began play on Oct. 17 at Georgia Southern with a 41-0 shutout loss to the Eagles in Statesboro, Georgia. On Nov. 7, the MInutemen lost to No. 15 Marshall, 51-10, and last Friday night UMass lost to FAU, 24-2, in Boca Raton, Florida.

This will be a very short week for the Flames, after playing Saturday night in a game that finished just prior to 11 p.m. and then having to play on Friday. Liberty loses a day of practice with the shortened week and will have to quickly recover from what head coach Hugh Freeze called the most physical game his team has played yet this season last week at NC State. Meanwhile, the MInutemen have a full week of preparation following their game in South Florida last Friday night.

The Minutemen have been absolutely dreadful on offense this season with just 12 total points scored in their three games and only one touchdown. The offense is averaging just 176 total yards of offense, 71.3 on the ground and 104.67 through the air.

Will Koch has been the team’s primary quarterback, though head coach Walt Bell has played multiple guys through the first three games. Koch has completed 24 of 40 passes for 166 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“They’ve played multiple quarterbacks,” Liberty defensive coordinator Scott Symons said. “All of them appear really athletic, scrambling, and the ability to keep plays alive.”

On defense, the Minutemen are allowing 38.7 points per game while giving up 433 yards per game with 238.7 coming on the ground and and 194.3 through the air.

“Defensively, they are a lot better than they were last year,” Freeze said of the Minutemen. “I’m happy for Coach Bell, but I hated to see that. They are doing some good things, they are playing a lot of man coverage and they are athletic, got some good transfers there. We’ve got to get ready to play, obviously, to score some points, but they are definitely improved on the defensive side.”

NOTABLES

  • Liberty will recognize 31 seniors on Senior Day at Williams Stadium.
  • A win on Friday would equal Liberty’s longest home winning streak in program history at 11.
  • Friday’s game is the first game the Minutemen will have played at Liberty, but UMass is the only opponent Liberty has faced in all three of its FBS seasons.
  • After being ranked in the top 25 for three straight weeks, Liberty is currently listed second among others receiving votes in both polls this week.
  • UMass is averaging just 4.0 points per game through its first three contests of 2020 while the Flames are averaging 61.0 points per game in its two previous contests against the Minutemen.
  • The Flames are looking to pick up the 9th win of the season, it would mark the fifth 9-win season in program history and first since 2014.

QUOTABLES

Hugh Freeze on UMass – “Defensively, they are playing a ton of man coverage which means they can load the box and try to stop the run. They can bring pressure. It’s going to come down to can we win some one on ones against their guys and they are definitely improved from last year’s team. Last year’s team they were a quarter’s team, but this year they got a new coordinator and it’s definitely different. Exactly how athletic and how good they are in coverage, it’s hard for me to tell just on the little film I’ve seen thus far. Our guys are going to have to win some on the outside.”

DC Scott Symons – “You’ve got a football team coming in here that would love to give us our second loss and we’ve got to be ready to play and not look down on anybody.”

LB Anthony Butler – “We’re looking to prove something for the rest of the season. We’re a top 25 team in the nation, no doubt about it. We’re just looking to prove that we’re one of the best teams in this nation. That starts on Friday.”

PREDICTION

Liberty 47, UMass 14

The Flames will be looking to make a statement in this one and make a push to get back into the Top 25 heading into the regular season finale. The Minutemen have an extra day of preparation compared to Liberty’s shortened week, but it shouldn’t matter.