Welcome to adversity. We haven’t had much of it around here recently. But it never stays away for long (Cf. Alabama). It’s here now and all we fans can do is hope it doesn’t stay long.

I’m not here to sugarcoat it or tell you, you didn’t see what you saw. The only thing worse than Kaidon’s decision-making was his effort. The only thing worse than our secondary was our team discipline. And the only thing worse than our receiver's hands was our offensive line’s blocking. We were terrible, just miserable, in every phase of the game.

I don’t care what your strength of schedule is, you cannot play the way we have this season and expect it not to catch up to you. It caught up with us tonight.

There can be no excuses. And there need to be changes.

I am confident that Coach Chadwell can, and will, do what needs to be done to get this team to perform at the level we know they’re capable of.

And that’s a good thing. Because as terrible as the loss was, it doesn’t matter. Hear me out:

Our chance at the College Football Playoff went out the window when the App State game was canceled. The committee was never going to choose an 11-0 Liberty over any conference champion with less than four losses. It’s too easy of an out. If you thought we still had a shot, I’m sorry you were wrong.

We can still win the conference. Our path to doing so today is pretty much the same as it was yesterday. If we win out in conference, we will be 7-1 in conference with head-to-head wins over Western Kentucky, Jax State, and Sam Houston. That would guarantee us a spot in the Conference Championship and ensure that we play that game on The Mountain again.

And ending the season 11-1 instead of 12-0 will not meaningfully affect what Bowl invite we get.

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We control our destiny. And this loss doesn’t cost us anything we hadn’t already lost. We still have everything ahead of us we want.

Hopefully, this is a wake-up call for the team. A reminder that nothing is ever given to you. That every single win has to be earned. Hopefully losing this game takes away the pressure to win all the games and lets them focus on just winning the next one. Hopefully, it lets them relax, have a little more fun, and play a little more freely.

If so, this can still be a great season despite this bump in the road. If not, it might be a long one.

Keep the faith!

In 2017, we got our first-ever Power Five win against Baylor. In 2019, our first year of Bowl eligibility, we made our first Bowl game and won it against Georgia Southern. In 2020, we set the program record for wins at 9-0 in the regular season with wins over Syracuse and Virginia Tech capping the year off with an overtime win against #12 Coastal Carolina (10-0) in the Cure Bowl. In 2021, we won our third consecutive Bowl game—becoming only the second school in FBS history to make and win three Bowl games in their first three years of eligibility. In 2022, we won our first game against an SEC opponent in Arkansas and a program bucket list win against BYU. And in 2023, we won 13 consecutive games, the Conference USA Championship, and made it to a New Year's Six Bowl game.

Six of the last seven seasons have been once-in-a-lifetime seasons. Seasons where we made — and as fans lived — history. And what an incredible experience that has been.

But this is where the danger comes. As fans, I worry, we’ve come to expect historic seasons. We’re 2-0 and already there are rumblings of discontent in the fan base. It seems many will consider anything less than 13-0 and a College Football Playoff appearance an abject failure.

Allow me to be the bearer of bad news: every year cannot be historic. There will be seasons where Liberty is only ok. There will be seasons when we’re objectively bad. Golden ages don’t last forever.

In fact, the golden ages are rarely quite as golden as we remember. In those historic seasons, we lost embarrassing games to St. Francis, UMass, UConn, New Mexico State, Kennesaw, and, of course, Oregon. We barely beat Indiana State, Idaho State, Maine, Gardner-Webb, New Mexico, FIU, North Texas, Southern Miss, Akron, and Bowling Green.

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This season can be a great season for Liberty football even if we don’t win every game and make the Playoffs. If we go 9-4 and lose the Conference Championship game, that can still be a successful season (it would be our third-best finish since 2016). It wasn’t long ago that we would have killed to do just that.

Of course, we want our team to be excellent, and to play up to the standard we know they’re capable of. We want to win every game. But don’t let expectations rob you of the joy of being a Flames fan in a historic era.

It’s important to remember just how far we’ve come in so little time. To stay humble and grateful for it all. Because we are unfathomably blessed.

And what a season it promises to be. I predicted last year would be one defined by questions about Salter, the O-line, and Conference USA. This year, I think there are only two questions: Will we go 13-0 again? And will we make the playoffs?

It’s hard to win college football games. Perfection is a bar that is nearly impossible to clear once, let alone twice, in as many years. When I look at our schedule this year, I think it’s possible, but the nagging voice in my head always responds, “Again, really?”

But then I look at our team and recall that we didn’t lose much from last year. We still have Kaidon slinging the rock and one of the best rushing attacks in the Group of Five. I look at our defense that looks, on paper, as strong as any we’ve ever fielded. And, of course, I look at our coaching staff helmed by Jamey Chadwell, and I start to think maybe there isn’t any team in this country that we can’t beat.

But expectations are a hell of a thing. Just what should we expect from this team, this year? For me, last year set a standard. 11-1 and Conference USA Champions should be the floor for us. The ceiling? The College Football Playoff.

Hitting the ceiling will be even harder this year than it was last year. Liberty has the clearest path to an undefeated season and a conference championship of any G5 team. But there is no margin for error whatsoever. We simply will not get into the playoff over a 1-loss, Mountain West Champion Boise State or a 1-loss, American Champion Memphis unless we are perfect. No small task in a season that runs through Boone, NC.

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Meanwhile, even if we manage perfection, we likely lose out on a CFP bid to any other undefeated G5 Conference Champ. So it’s not enough for us to be good, we also have to be very lucky — even more than last year when our New Years Six bid was decided by an upset in the American Conference Championship.

So back to expectations. I don’t expect we will make the CFP this year. I don’t even expect we will go undefeated. I expect we will finish the season 11-1, win the Conference Championship on The Mountain, go to a Bowl game underestimated, and blow the doors off a 6-6 Power 4 team.

I don’t think this season will deliver the emotional highs of last. But hey, I couldn’t imagine the 2023 season at this time last year either.

Curious how the rest of the Flamesville team sees the season going? Here are our predictions:

When this season started, I didn’t know what to expect. On FTFF, I stated it would be a season of questions. After losing Hugh Freeze, half the team graduating or hitting the portal, and the gut-wrenching 0-4 slide to end last season, how this year would go was murky at best. I thought that greatness was within reach but far from guaranteed.

If we were lucky, I thought, Kaidon would show signs of growth and we would see the pieces of a great team emerging in the years to come. We’d have a decent year, but we would drop some games we shouldn’t. Perhaps we'd secure the CUSA Championship, but just as likely, we’d miss it by a hair. We’d play in a solid mid-tier bowl, hopefully bringing home some hardware. Respectable, to be sure, but far from historic.

I never imagined this. That the aftermath of one of the most dispiriting points in my time as a Flames fan would lead to one of the greatest seasons I’ve ever been a part of in any sport? No, that seemed impossible.

Boy, was I wrong.

We had the privilege of witnessing Kaidon Salter make a one-season case for himself as the greatest quarterback to ever wear the Red, White, and Navy Blue — perhaps even the greatest athlete to play on The Mountain in any sport. Our defense led the nation in interceptions, with Brylan Green, Kobe Singleton, Quinton Reese, and Preston Hodge headlining. We boasted the most potent rushing attack in college football, thanks to studs like Quinton Cooley, Billy Lucas, Vaughn Blue, and Aaron Bedgood. To top it off, CJ Daniels had the monster season we all knew he was capable of. What a year.

The debate will go on, but I’ve seen enough. Give me this team over any team Liberty has ever put on the field.

Liberty Football is 13-0. We are Conference USA champions. We are heading to our fifth consecutive Bowl game, this time the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day to play the #8 Oregon Ducks. And all of this just a few years after making the leap from FCS. This just doesn’t happen.

We are witnessing an unprecedented rise in college football. Soak it in.

Flames!

The morning air is crisp, even chilly. The days are starting to get just the slightest bit shorter. I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season yesterday (I may well be drinking another one as you read this). The leaves may still be green but you can tell they're ready to hang it up and pack it in for the winter. Pretty soon, every Liberty girl will be dusting off their tastefully distressed flannel shirts and their immaculate white puffer vests. Then they'll start bugging their boyfriends to go apple picking at Carter Mountain Orchard. Which, luckily for the boyfriends, is far enough from Lynchburg to safely enjoy a hard cider . . . if it weren’t for those damn RAs whose girlfriends begged them to go to Carter Mountain Orchard . . . Where was I? 

Oh right, football season is here!

Opening day, in fact. As you read this, I’m flying down US Highway 29 en route to The Mountain. Where I’ll take up residence for a few precious hours with 25,000 of my closest friends, cheering like mad for the team we all love. For the afternoon, Williams Stadium will feel like more than a football field. Something closer to a cathedral. 

It feels somewhat sacrilegious to compare a football stadium to a cathedral. But it also feels . . . right, somehow. Maybe not a cathedral in the traditional sense. But then again, athletics — especially football — have always been a part of Liberty’s mission. So maybe a cathedral isn’t too far off. 

I can’t help but love this place. The roar of the crowd. The clacking of pads against pads. The breathless anticipation that accompanies a deep pass. The adrenaline that comes with every turnover. And the elation of every score.

More than most, this is a season filled with questions. Will Jamey Chadwell’s offensive system succeed here? Will the defense that carried us through so many games hold up? Who will start at quarterback? Will we be any good? Will we go 12-0 or 2-10? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. But that’s kind of the whole point.

It’s football season and the answers can only be found in the cathedral, on the field.

On to the first!

 At the risk of stating the obvious, our quarterback room is stacked with talent. Take the star power we saw with Kaidon last year and JB’s stellar performance in the biggest games and add promising new guys in the form of Trey Lowe III and Reese Mooney plus the still-untapped potential of Nate Hampton and it’s a recipe for yet another quarterback battle. 

Quarterback battles are fun! Until they aren’t. In fact, scientists have worked long and hard and discovered exactly when quarterback battles stop being fun: week 2. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun at the beginning of last season when the quarterback room was brimming with talent, and a certain former head coach — who shall remain nameless — assured us that he really believed they could all contribute. (I mean, who doesn’t love an obvious quarterback draw package brought in at the goal line?) But it didn’t take too many trips around the carousel before I think we all got a bit queasy. 

Of course, it didn’t have to be that way. If Charlie Brewer hadn’t gotten hurt on the second play of the season, maybe he would have locked down the starting job for the rest of the season. But we didn’t get to live in that alternate timeline. 

It’s a perennial temptation to try and make it work with more than one guy under center. If the other team doesn’t know who you’re starting with, they have to prepare for multiple guys. But that sword cuts both ways: there are only so many first-team reps to go around. 

More importantly, when you run with multiple quarterback packages it usually ends up being pretty obvious what they specialize in and makes your play-calling either predictable or suboptimal. Different quarterbacks have different strengths and weaknesses and it makes a certain amount of sense to bring in your mobile ground threat on 3rd and short or your pocket passer on 3rd and long. But once you do that, you’re faced with a conundrum: Do you have them do what they’re best at — and what the defense expects them to do — or do you try and trick the defense by going a different way? But then, if you were going to pass, why did you put in a worse passer to do it? Or if you were going to run, why did you take out your ground threat? 

And none of that accounts for the more intangible side of the game. When the quarterback feels like he’s just a bad series away from riding the pine, there’s a temptation to try and do too much and take unnecessary risks. We know that the quarterback position requires confidence. It’s hard to build confidence when you’re going in and out more than a Vacation Bible School rendition of the hokey pokey after the volunteers have run out of activities and are just trying to run the last 15 minutes off the clock before pickup.

So, yeah, I’m pretty tired of this ride. Let’s find our QB1 and stick with him. One quarterback. Just one quarterback, all season — unless we’re up by 40 in the fourth quarter. Is that too much to ask? I hope not.

Liberty wins its 26th consecutive men’s indoor track and field conference championship

L-I-B-E-R-T-Y: That’s how you spell “dynasty;” at least in men’s indoor track and field. Not one member of the squad that brought home the 2022 championship was alive the last time Liberty didn’t win its conference. And while I don’t follow track and field closely (I only run when chased so I mostly don’t get the appeal), that’s a record of dominance that can’t be ignored.

Liberty basketball’s dominant 2019-20 season

I’m not saying this is the best Liberty Basketball team in history (👀), but it is indisputable that it was a special team. They swept through a good non-conference schedule with only one loss to LSU and wins against Vanderbilt, ECU, and Grand Canyon. After a couple of speed bumps in conference play, they cruised to Liberty’s second consecutive ASUN Tournament championship only to have their season cut short by COVID.

This team has and will continue to haunt Liberty Basketball. Every debate will include a reference to the March Madness run this team could have made. For that reason, it’s a slightly tarnished memory.

Liberty baseball reaches the championship of the Knoxville Regional in 2021

2021 was a special year for Liberty baseball. The regular season saw marquee wins against #19 North Carolina (x2), Virginia, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and a series win against Coastal Carolina. And while Liberty fell to North Florida in the ASUN Championship game, we managed to get an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2014. Liberty would convincingly defeat #19 Duke twice (11-6 and 15-4) to reach the regional championship and ultimately fall to #2 Tennessee (1-3). 

As far as I can tell, this was only the second time in program history that Liberty made it to the championship game of an NCAA Regional.

Did it end the way we wanted it to? No. But what a season even so! 

Dancing with Liberty basketball in 2018-19

“Liberty keeps on coming,” is a phrase that replays in my head all the time. That’s how the broadcast described it when Caleb Homesley slammed down a dunk to make it a one-point game against Mississippi State with three minutes left in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 30 seconds later, Homesley would bury a 3 to give Liberty the lead in a game they would go on to be Liberty’s first-ever March Madness win.

But it wasn’t just that win, it was the win at Lipscomb late in the regular season to get a piece of the regular season title and the magical ASUN Tournament run that ended with a thrilling comeback win against Lipscomb at their place again.

For my money, this is among the most magical seasons for any Liberty team ever. 

The best Liberty basketball team ever?

Am I baiting you for the controversy? Maybe. But maybe not. The number tells one story: the 2022-23 team averages more points (76-68) and more steals (6.4-5.7) and shoots slightly better from the field, the stipe and beyond the arc (47.9%-47.4%, 73.7%-71.2%, 37.9%-36.3%). On the other hand, the 2022-23 team has been uneven,  it didn’t win the ASUN tournament, its postseason future is a mystery, and it doesn’t have the quality wins that the 2019-20 team does. 

Even with a disappointing loss to Kennesaw in the ASUN Championship, I still don’t think this debate is settled. 

But we shouldn’t lose track of just how special this season has been. Most fan bases will never get the opportunity to watch someone as great as Darius McGhee. We got to see him rewrite the history books: most career points in school history, most 3-pointers in school history, three consecutive ASUN Player of the Year awards, #2 career 3-pointers in all of NCAA, to list just a few.

For that reason alone, this season belongs on this list. We’ll be hanging the #2 jersey in the rafters before long and we’ll all talk about this season. What a privilege.

One final thought: Damien Sordelett’s farewell column in the News & Advance is very much worth your time. Damien has been an inspiration for this Viewsletter though he probably doesn’t know it. If I ever manage to write as well and as creatively about Liberty as he has for the last decade, I’ll consider it a remarkable accomplishment. I want to wish Damien all the success in the world in his new gig as the beat writer for Virginia Tech Football (poor guy). And I’m sure he won’t be able to suppress a brief smirk the next time the Flames take it to the Hokies in Blacksburg.

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to Around the Mountain! We’ll be playing with the timing of this newsletter to find when is the best time to send it. Got thoughts? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!

It was a busy week on the Mountain. Football started the season with a 4OT bang in Hattiesburg, the shade flew on Twitter, Richie Longshots got right, and we convene today at the Mountain for Football’s home opener against UAB. What a time to be alive!

Now, to the scoreboard!

🏈 The Scoreboard

Tough week for Field Hockey as they dropped games to William & Mary and No. 1 ranked Northwestern. The Flames fall to No. 11 in the nation and look to bounce back this week against Queens and Georgetown.

Football (1–0)

Sep 3 @ Southern Miss – W29–27 4OT 😅

#11 Field Hockey (2–2)

Sep 4 vs. William & Mary -– L0–1 OT 
Sep 9 @ #1 Northwestern -— L0–3

Women’s Soccer (4–2–1)

Sep 1 vs. Marshall —- W3–2  
Sep 4 @ Richmond —- W1–0  
Sep 8 @ #11 Penn State -– L1–2 

Men’s Soccer (1–1–1)

Sep 2 @ #4 UCLA -– L2–5

Volleyball (5–3)

Sep 2 vs. Winthrop -– W3–1
Sep 3 vs. UNCW -– W3–0 
Sep 3 vs. Murray State -– W3–0 
Sep 9 @ UC San Diego -– W3–2 
Sep 9 @ Pacific -– L2–3

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🏟 (Soon-to-be) Conference Outlook

A great showing for Western Kentucky on the road against Hawaii. The rest of the conference looked pretty lackluster…

Bryant 37 — 38 FIU

Davidson 17 — 35 Jacksonville State

LA Tech 24 — 52 Missouri

Middle Tennessee 07 — 44 James Madison

New Mexico State 12 — 23 Nevada

Sam Houston 00 — 31 Texas A&M

UTEP 13 — 45 #9 Oklahoma

Western Kentucky 49 — 17 Hawaii

(CUSA members are in bold.)

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🗞 TL;DR

• Damien Sordelett

  • Liberty’s defense makes final stand, Salter sparks offense, as Flames win four-OT thriller

  • Freeze: ‘There’s no question everyone saw and witnessed’ the potential Salter brings to LU offense

  • Kourtis, a four-year backup at Liberty, shines in first extended playing time at center

  • Freeze does not name starting quarterback for Liberty’s home opener against UAB

  • UAB eyes revenge against Liberty at upgraded Williams Stadium

• A Sea of Red

  • Liberty releases men’s basketball non-conference schedule

  • Recap of former Liberty players in the NFL Preseason Week 3

  • Liberty DE Khristian Zachary has big goals for this season

  • Liberty overcomes injuries, 4th quarter deficit for 4OT win at Southern Miss

  • Hugh Freeze does not name starter, says all 3 QBs could play against UAB (I really hope this is hedging…)

  • Liberty vs UAB Game Preview, Prediction

• Elsewhere

  • Fan the Flames Football Podcast: Last thoughts about Southern Miss game + UAB preview + Special Guests

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🐦 #ICYMILibertyTwitter

(Cursed 👀…)

p.s. See something on Liberty Twitter that should make the roundup? DM me a link, @LibertyMtnViews!

That does it for this week. We’ll be back next week with another look around the mountain (and with a surprise new feature 👀)!

Go Flames, Beat UAB! 🔥

What a game!

First things first, Liberty hangs on in quadruple overtime to take the season opener against Southern Miss. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t smooth, but a win is a win is a win.

We got some important questions answered last night, but some linger. Let’s break it down:

QB battle settled on the game day field

Plenty of ink has been spilled on the quarterback situation (see Jon Manson and Damien Sordelett). But let me add a few thoughts of my own.

First, I want to revisit what I wrote in my pre-season narratives newsletter on the quarterback battle:

Liberty’s first quarterback battle of the FBS is shaping up to be a doozy. And while Charlie Brewer was named the week one starter this week, I think the battle is far from over.
[…]
If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you JB had the best chance to be the week one starter. But the fact that he didn’t get the job even with all the advantages he came into the year with makes me wonder if the flashes we’ve seen in recent years were real.
If Brewer falters, it’s possible that JB will get a shot. But at this point it’s tough to see him capitalizing when he wasn’t able to land the gig from pole position coming into the season.
No, if Brewer gives up the job, I think it will be to Kaidon Salter.
Salter is a physical phenom and the chances he got last season showed promise. If Brewer gets hurt or struggles, I won’t be surprised if we get to see what Salter can do.
[…] But if JB and Brewer aren’t getting the job done, I think Salter is likely to at least get a shot. And with a guy as talented as Salter, one shot could easily be all it takes.

I did not expect Brewer to leave the game with an injury after two series. And I’m heartbroken for him. I certainly hope he’s able to make a quick recovery and that we haven’t seen the last of Charlie Brewer in the red, white, and blue. But in the meantime, I stand by my pre-season analysis of Bennet and Salter.

The numbers tell the story: After coming into the game early in the second half, Kaidon Salter finished the game with 8 completions on 13 attempts for 148 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a pick. On the ground, he added 9 attempts for 65 yards. Bennet finished the night with 7 completions on 18 attempts for 37 yards and 2 interceptions. 11 rushes for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Salter is still young. He has a lot of learning and maturing left to do. “Physically, he’s gifted. It’s just mentally he’s still learning. He’s young and he’s still learning the system,” coach Freeze put it after the game. “Even tonight, he called a few protections wrong that got us in trouble. Tried to force a ball down there, but you also see the other side of that in the guy can make a lot of dynamic plays. Obviously, we are very happy he is with us. Probably don’t win the game tonight without him.”

I won’t be surprised if Salter makes some ugly mistakes in big situations. He struggled with off-platform throws last night leading to a couple of under-thrown balls one of which was intercepted in the end zone. But even so, when Salter was on the field it felt like anything was possible and we were just waiting for him to make it happen. I’ll take that 7 days a week and twice on Sundays.

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This defense is real

Liberty’s defense only gave up 10 points in the first 3 quarters of the game. More impressive, they forced 5 turnovers including a right at the goal line. And of course, the biggest stop of the night on the 2pt try in the fourth overtime to give the Flames the win.

Durrell Johnson appears to be returning to form and that is a welcome development. He finished the game with 5 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovered, and a pick. It’s early, but this has the makings of a very special season for Johnson. And I can’t wait.

Mike Smith Jr. also had himself a nice little game in his first outing as a flame. He finished with 8 tackles and a 22-yard interception.

The General, Javon Scruggs wrapped up the night with a pair of recovered fumbles to go with his 7 tackles.

Some other notables: Ahmad Walker finished with 8 tackles, one for a loss. Dre Butler notched 7 tackles. Cornerback, Kobe Singleton recorded 3 tackles and a pick in his first game as a Flame. And Kendy Charles piled up 7 tackles including 1 for a loss to win the game in quadruple overtime.

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O-line: improved, more work to do

Southern Miss has the potential to be one of the toughest defenses Liberty faces this season. With 8 transfers from the SEC to bolster an already stout squad, they are no joke.

So it was good to see solid protection from the offensive line against the Golden Eagle front. Except for one play where Bennet got lit up from the blind side and fumbled the ball out of bounds, they kept a clean pocket and gave the quarterbacks plenty of time. It looks like we’re not in for another 50+ sack season.

That being said, for most of the game it seemed like the line had no push in the running game. As they sent Dae Dae out there to slam into the meat grinder, again and again, it started to feel a bit inhumane. They showed improvement as the game wore on and it certainly helped when Salter came in and made the passing game a credible threat. But still, I’d like to see improvement.

I’m not sounding the alarm just yet. O-line is a hard position to play and it takes time for a team to settle in. I’m happy with the improvement we’ve seen so far, and I’m hopeful there’s more to come.

On to the next! #BeatUAB 🔥

Malik Willis sucked up a lot of attention during his two-year sting at Liberty. Deservedly so. But with Malik off the league, the spotlight is wide open. Here are a few of the guys I think might step into it.

Offense

T.J. Green will start the year with an injury designation but when he does take the field, I expect him to take it by storm. Green capped off last season by winning offensive MVP in the LendingTree Bowl with 90 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. His 6.4 yards-per-attempt lead the team in a backfield that was otherwise stymied most of the year.

Dae Dae Hunter will have a golden opportunity with T.J. Green out to start the season. I still expect Green to lead the backfield when he’s healthy. But Hunter could have a significant impact and establish him as Green’s clear successor.

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C.J. Daniels had a great season in 2021 with 37 receptions, 629 yards, and 7 touchdowns. I’ll be looking for Daniels to take another step forward this season and become an even bigger part of the Flames' passing attack. I’d say there’s even a chance for him to take off as the team’s top target.

Khaleb Coleman has been plagued by injuries during his time at Liberty. But this year, the Senior tops the Flames' depth chart ahead of Caleb Snead, the very buzzy transfer from Campbell. His lone catch last season came in the fourth quarter in a blowout against UMass and it was a beauty. Coleman promised big things when he got to the Mountain and I’m hoping to see some of those things come to life this season.

Defense

Khristian Zachary has high expectations for his sophomore season. And so do I. Zachary is the highest-rated recruit in school history. This season he’ll be playing defensive end behind TreShaun Clark. Even so, he should get plenty of snaps. And those snaps should result in fireworks. Khristian’s goal for the season? 25 sacks. He probably won’t make it… but I can’t wait to see how close he gets.

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Durell Johnson had a quieter year in 2021 than he did in 2020. In 2020, Johnson racked up 8.5 sacks, a fumble, and a pick. He accounted for almost 40% of the team’s total sacks. I expect his senior season to be a return to form.

Rocket Rahimi showed promise last season. The departure of Skyler Thomas creates an opening for Rahimi to become a real keystone in the defense.

Mike Smith Jr. transferred from Mississippi Golf Coast Community College during the off-season and now sits atop the heap at middle linebacker. In his three seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast, he racked up 248 tackles, 19 for a loss, 7 sacks, and a pair of interceptions. If you had to sum up his game in one word it would be disruptive.

These aren’t the only players with a chance to grab a piece of the spotlight. I’m confident that there will be players who come out of nowhere and establish themselves as stars. It’s one of the things that makes this game so great.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the inaugural Around the Mountain here on the Viewsletter! This weekly feature will collect scores, highlights, news, and commentary from around the world of Liberty Sports. It will be your one-stop for the latest happenings going, well, Around the Mountain.

Enough beating around the bush, to the scoreboard!

🏑 The Scoreboard

#6 Field Hockey (2–0)
Aug 27 @ Kent State – W9–0
Aug 28 @ Indiana – W2–0

Women’s Soccer (2–1–1)
Aug 18 @ Appalachian State – T0–0
Aug 21 vs. East Tennessee – W4–0
Aug 25 @ UNCG – L0–1
Aug 28 vs. Campbell – W3–0

Men’s Soccer (1-0-1)
Aug 25 vs. Redford – W3–0
Aug 28 @ #20 Maryland – T1-1

Volleyball (1–2)
Aug 26 @ Elon – W3–0
Aug 26 @ VCU – L1–3
Aug 27 @ High Point – L1–3

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👀 (Soon-to-be) Conference Outlook

Every week, we’ll take a look around Conference USA (as it will be in 2023) and see how our future competition is looking. (CUSA members are in bold.)

Western Kentucky 38
Austin Peay 27

North Texas 31
UTEP 13

Jacksonville State 42
Stephen F. Austin 17

New Mexico State 12
Nevada 23

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📰 TL;DR.

• Damien Sordelett: Liberty offensive line working to become ‘hard-working, dirty, gritty-nosed football players’

• Damien Sordelett: Versatile' Sibley feels he can get the job done playing at running back for Flames

• Damien Sordelett: Zachary sets goal for explosive sophomore season at Liberty

• Damien Sordelett: Liberty field hockey enters 2022 as ‘one of those top teams’ expected to contend for a national title

• Jon Manson: Charlie Brewer’s experience gave him edge in QB battle

• Fan the Flame Football Podcast: Positional Previews RBs and LBs feat. LMV

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🔮 #ICYMILibertyTwitter

(Not to worry, Richie seems to be ok 😬. Better luck next week!)

Well, that’s all folks. We’ll be back next week with another look around the mountain.

Fan the Flame and #BeatSouthernMiss!

Senior campaigns

T.J. Green and Javon Scruggs are set to cap their college careers and how they go are likely to be bellwethers for how the offense and defense are performing overall.

While Green will start the year on the injury list, he should have an expanded role in the Flames backfield, when he returns, with the departure of Joshua Mack. Mack carried the ball 109 times in 2021 for 448. Some of those carries will no doubt go to Shedro Louis and — Hawaii transfer — Dae Dae Hunter but I expect Green to be the head of the committee.

Green should also benefit from a beefed-up offensive line featuring Liberty veterans Cooper McCaw and Brendan Schlittler and promising transfers like Cam Reddy (Colorado State), Nassir Watkins (Kentucky), and Reggie Young (Iowa Central Community College).

The Flames need to move the ball on the ground more effectively this season than they did last. In 2020, Liberty racked up 2,776 rushing yards on 484 attempts (5.0 yards per attempt) and 27 rushing touchdowns. 2021 saw just 2,350 on 508 attempts (4.6 yards per attempt) and 26 touchdowns. On average, the Flames put up 30% fewer rushing yards per game in 2021 (181) compared to 2020 (252).

A successful run game is a key to the Liberty offense and if T.J. Green’s senior campaign involves numbers closer to 2020 than 2021, that offense should be tough to slow down.

On the other side of the ball, Javon Scruggs is the undisputed leader of the defense. While his numbers saw a slight dip in 2021, he still finished the year with 61 tackles, a forced fumble, and an interception. But more important than his stats is the role he plays as the beating heart and field general of the defense. He was a big part of why the defense was sneaky good last season.

I’m not expecting record-setting numbers from Scruggs this season—though he’s certainly capable of it—I want to see him cement himself as a team leader. If Javon is having a good year, I expect the defense as a whole will have a good year as well.

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Transfer impacts

The Flames have had remarkable success in the transfer portal over the past few seasons. Last season, Storey Jackson (Prairie View A&M), Skyler Thomas (Washington State), and Rashad Harding (Louisiana Monroe) were three of the top four tacklers and accounted for a combined 10 sacks, 3 interceptions, and a fumble.

On offense, T.J. Green (Utah) led the team (excluding Malik) in rushing yards (477), efficiency (6.4 yards per carry), and tied for touchdowns (4). And, of course, in the last two seasons, Malik Willis (Auburn) lead the team in… well everything.

This season, the Flames will need meaningful contributions from transfers once again. Kaidon Salter (Tennessee) isn’t a new transfer, but he redshirted last season and is a part of the quarterback battle this year. But to win the starter job, he’ll need to get past another transfer in Charlie Brewer (Utah). But more about the QBs later.

Dae Dae Hunter (Hawaii) figures to be a significant part of the Flames' ground game especially with T.J. Green currently sidelined by injuries. Last season at Hawaii, racked up 101 carries for 651 yards and 19 receptions for 163 yards. T.J. Green hasn’t been used much in the passing game at Liberty—that role fell to Shedro Louis. Hunter is bigger than Louis and—on paper at least—a more serious receiving threat than Green. He could be a very important part of the running game if he can be threatening on the ground and through the air.

I’ll also be looking for a significant impact from Caleb Snead (Campbell). At 6’3", Snead brings some much-needed length to the Flames' receiving corps. He registered 73 receptions for 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns last year for the Camels. With those numbers, he would have been Liberty’s number one receiver with a bullet. If there’s a clear-cut breakout candidate among the transfer class, it’s Snead. I’m expecting big things.

By far the biggest haul from the transfer portal is on the offensive line. Cam Reddy (Colorado State), Nassir Watkins (Kentucky), and Reggie Young (Iowa Central Community College) all promise to bring day-one impact and improvement to the O-line. And after giving up 52 sacks last year for 355 yards, the O-line needs that improvement badly.

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Quarterbacks, quarterbacks, quarterbacks

Liberty’s first quarterback battle of the FBS is shaping up to be a doozy. And while Charlie Brewer was named the week one starter this week, I think the battle is far from over.

Veteran transfer Charlie Brewer showed real potential at Baylor but underwhelmed at Utah even when he wasn’t injured—and he’s been injured quite a bit in his college career. Jonathan Bennett has put in the time, knows the system, and has shown flashes of greatness closing out games and backing up Malik the last two seasons. Finally, redshirt freshmen Kaidon Salter and Nate Hampton round out the competition.

Cards on the table: I like Nate Hampton. But I don’t see how he wins the job. I think at the end of the day it’s between JB, Brewer, and Salter. Brewer brings experience, JB knows the system, and Salter has gobs of talent. I just don’t see anything Hampton brings to the table that these three don’t.

The case for Brewer is pretty straight forward: experience. He brings 10,184 career passing yards and 1,055 career rushing yards with him. He also has almost 50 starts under his belt, including bowl appearances in 2018 and 2019.

Brewer isn’t without his downsides, of course. He underwhelmed at Utah last season and left the program after being benched during a triple-overtime loss to San Diego State. (It’s worth pointing out that the Aztecs went on to have themselves quite a good season finishing the year with only two losses and a bowl win).

At the end of the day, you can coach talent but you can’t coach experience. And Brewer brings a lot of experience.

The case for JB is the simplest: He’s been there the longest, he knows the system, the team loves him, the coaches love him, and we’ve seen him run the offense well in Malik’s absence over the last two seasons. Malik and Demario get a lot of credit for last season’s comeback win against North Texas, but it was JB’s 40-yard bomb to C.J. Daniels that kick-started the comeback. On the other hand, his 45.5% completion rate and two picks on 33 attempts are cause for concern.

If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you JB had the best chance to be the week one starter. But the fact that he didn’t get the job even with all the advantages he came into the year with makes me wonder if the flashes we’ve seen in recent years were real.

If Brewer falters, it’s possible that JB will get a shot. But at this point it’s tough to see him capitalizing when he wasn’t able to land the gig from pole position coming into the season.

No, if Brewer gives up the job, I think it will be to Kaidon Salter.

Salter is a physical phenom and the chances he got last season showed promise. If Brewer gets hurt or struggles, I won’t be surprised if we get to see what Salter can do.

But Salter’s not all upside. He’s still pretty young and his off-field drama at Tennessee is fresh. I think another year of maturity before he takes the reins would be preferable. But if JB and Brewer aren’t getting the job done, I think Salter is likely to at least get a shot. And with a guy as talented as Salter, one shot could easily be all it takes.

One thing I’ll be keeping my eye on is whether the fanbase will resist the urge to demand a change the first time things get rocky. A talent-packed quarterbacks room can foster discontent among the fans if the starter falters. And it’s not a problem Liberty fans have had to contend with in a long, long time.

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Antonio Gandy-Golden, Liberty (6-4, 220): Gandy-Golden finished his senior year ranked No. 4 in the country in receiving yards (1,396) and No. 5 in receiving yards per game (107.4). As a senior, he had 79 receptions for 1,396 yards (17.7 average) and 10 touchdowns to earn a place in the Senior Bowl. He became the first player in program history to record 1,000 receiving yards in three consecutive seasons (1,396 yards as a senior, 1,037 as a junior and 1,066 as a sophomore). He is the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards (3,814), receptions (240) and receiving touchdowns (33).

Gandy-Golden didn’t begin playing football until his freshman year of high school. The big guy’s balance and flexibility comes from his gymnastics background. That’s the sport he competed in as a youth in Chicago as a way to keep him out of trouble. “My balance is definitely better because of the tumbling,” Gandy-Golden told the Daily Orange. “I’ve always been strong for my size but I have a better idea of how to jump and use my body.” He put himself on the map with 13 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns vs. Baylor in 2017. “It just shows because he has unbelievable balance. He can do all types of frontflips and backflips and all that type of stuff,” Liberty receivers coach Kyle DeArmon told the News and Advance. “All of that stuff transitions over to the football field mainly because of the balance that he has. He’s able to stay on his feet, he’s able to control his body to go up and make those type of catches.”

H/t Sports Illustrated

Last year, Liberty’s Men’s Basketball capped their season with an amazing win over Lipscomb for the ASUN Conference championship and an upset that shocked the nation against Mississippi State in March Madness. It was a good time to be a Flame.

But I’m not much of a basketball fan.

Which is why this past Saturday, for me, was the best day (so far) in Liberty sports history. In case you missed it, on Saturday, the Flames clobbered New Mexico State to get their 7th win on the season and to secure bowl eligibility.

There have been some good days to be a Liberty fan: our last minute, upset win over conference rival Coastal Carolina; our shock upset over Baylor in week 1 of 2017; our win against Old Dominion in our first ever FBS game.

But this, this game, this win, this day was the best of all.

Odds are, the Liberty Flames will be playing in a bowl game this year. In their first year of eligibility. I don’t know if any other team has pulled that off; if so, I bet the list is short.

What a season.

This profile of Buckshot Calvert in The Athletic is worth your time (sorry about the paywall). This bit is particularly impressive:

For the first three years of Calvert’s Liberty career, it was a little too perfect. The ballistics definition of Buckshot would imply a lot of throws without much regard for accuracy, and that described the previous iteration of Calvert pretty well. He never got his completion percentage out of the 50s, and as a junior he threw 18 interceptions to go with his 21 touchdowns.

But since throwing three interceptions in Liberty’s first two games of 2019 (losses to Syracuse and Louisiana), Calvert has attempted 281 passes without a pick.

Even with a pair of interceptions against UVA, Buckshot’s stat line for the season is still impressive: 233 completions, 3,393 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.

Also worth your time: this profile of Frankie Hickson from A Sea of Red. A Highlight:

For [Hickson] to be part of the football team that saw the program rise from the FCS ranks to the FBS and be on the first team to become bowl eligible is the real perfect story. Maybe there will be a movie written one day about this team, this season, and this running back who was part of this team.

“This is home,” Frankie said. “Liberty is home. Williams Stadium is home. No better way to cap it off.”

Thanks for indulging me. Fan The Flames!