Liberty Flames football

The Liberty Flames is the college football program representing Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Flames compete in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as an independent. The program, which previously competed in Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), announced it would start a transition to the top level of NCAA football in July 2017. The Flames became a provisional FBS member in 2018, and became a full FBS member with bowl eligibility in 2019.[2]

Liberty Flames Football
2020 Liberty Flames football team
First season1973 (1973)
Athletic directorIan McCaw
Head coachHugh Freeze
1st season, 8–5 (.615)
StadiumWilliams Stadium
(Capacity: 25,000)
Field surfaceFieldTurf
LocationLynchburg, Virginia
NCAA divisionDivision I FBS
ConferenceDivision I FBS Independents
All-time record260–242–4 (.518)
Bowl record1–0 (1.000)
Conference titles8
ColorsBlue, White, and Red[1]
              
Fight songFan the Flames!
MascotSparky
Marching bandThe Spirit of the Mountain
WebsiteLiberty.edu

History
See also: List of Liberty Flames football seasons
Liberty Flames football in 2007

Danny Rocco era (2006–2011)

In 2007, the Flames captured their first Big South Conference Football championship with a 31–0 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Flames capped off their second year under head coach Danny Rocco with an 8–3 record and an unblemished 4–0 Big South record to claim the title.[3][4]

Liberty ran its unbeaten Big South streak to 11-straight games, finishing back-to-back conference championship seasons with a 30–10 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Flames finished with a 10–2 record on the year and finished the conference slate unbeaten at 5–0. The Flames to become the first team in Big South history to win five conference games in a season and joined Gardner-Webb as the only two teams to post consecutive unbeaten seasons. Liberty finished ranked 15th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 14th in the Sports Network Poll.[5][6][7]

Undefeated in Big South play for 2009, the Flames just needed to capture a win over Stony Brook in the season finale to secure a 3rd straight Big South Conference Championship. Stony Brook who had only lost one game in Big South play (a 30–27 overtime loss to Charleston Southern the previous week) for 2009 could claim half of the Big South Championship with a win over Liberty. The Seawolves won the game 36–33 to share the 2009 Big South Championship with the Flames.[8]

Liberty again became conference co-champions again in 2010. Coastal beat Liberty for the first time since 2006 then the Flames bounced back the next week to secure a win over Stony Brook and a share of the conference championship (three-way tie with Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook).

Turner Gill era (2012–2018)

Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third time in 2012. After starting off 2–0 in conference play, Liberty traveled to Coastal Carolina, where they lost to the Chanticleers 36–12, bringing their overall record to 3–5. Liberty would then play then ninth ranked Stony Brook, beating them 28–14, also extending their at home conference win streak which dates back to 2006. In order to win a share at the Big South title, they would have to beat the Virginia Military Institute Keydets. Liberty won the game 33–14, and won a share of the title along with Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina with a record of 6–5 (5–1 in conference play).

The 2013 Flames shared the conference championship for a second consecutive year in 2013. Liberty opened up conference play at home against Coastal Carolina, where they let a 19-point lead slip away in the second half as the Chanticleers rallied to win in double overtime, 55–52. The Flames would rebound with a shutout victory at Gardner-Webb to mark the first shutout in Turner Gill's eight seasons as a head coach. After victories at home over VMI and Presbyterian, the Flames captured a share of the Big South title with a 56–14 victory at Charleston Southern who has previously beaten Coastal Carolina. Liberty shared the title with Coastal Carolina, each with identical 4–1 conference marks, though Coastal Carolina received the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third consecutive year in 2014. Liberty started Big South Conference play against Gardner-Webb with a 34–0 shutout victory. After three consecutive conference victories, the Flames fell at home to Charleston Southern, 38–36. The loss to Charleston Southern would be Liberty's only loss in Big South play. The Flames rebounded with a 15–14 win over rival Coastal Carolina (ranked No. 1 in the FCS polls at the time), and Liberty clinched a share of the Big South Conference championship. Liberty also earned its first ever FCS playoff berth in school history. Liberty defeated James Madison in the first round of the playoffs, 26–21, before losing to Villanova in the second round, 29–22.

Liberty earned a conference co-championship again in 2016, marking their eighth conference championship. They finished the season 6–5, 4–1 in Big South play to share the conference championship with Charleston Southern. Despite the conference title, the Flames were not invited to the FCS playoffs.

Hugh Freeze era (2019–present)

A year after resigning from Ole Miss Rebels football, Freeze was named as Liberty's ninth head coach on December 7, 2018.[9]

Conference affiliations

Liberty has been both independent and affiliated with one conference.[2]

Conference championships

Liberty has won eight Big South Conference championships, two outright and six shared.

Season Conference Coach Overall record Conference record
2007Big South ConferenceDanny Rocco8–34–0
2008Big South ConferenceDanny Rocco10–25–0
2009†Big South ConferenceDanny Rocco8–35–1
2010†Big South ConferenceDanny Rocco8–35–1
2012†Big South ConferenceTurner Gill6–55–1
2013†Big South ConferenceTurner Gill8–44–1
2014†Big South ConferenceTurner Gill9–54–1
2016†Big South ConferenceTurner Gill6–54–1

† Co-championship

Bowl games

Liberty has participated in one bowl game, going 1–0.

Season Coach Bowl Opponent Result
2019Hugh FreezeCure BowlGeorgia SouthernW 23–16

Playoff appearances

Liberty has made one appearance in the I-AA/FCS playoffs since 1989, going 1–1.

Year Round Opponent Result
2014First Round
Second Round		James Madison
Villanova		W 26–21
L 22–29

Head coaches

Liberty has had nine head coaches in program history.

No. Tenure Coach Record Pct.
11973Lee Royer3–3.500
21974–1976John Cartwright14–13–1.518
31977–1983Tom Dowling33–38–2.466
41984–1988Morgan Hout20–29–1.410
51989–1999Sam Rutigliano67–53.558
62000–2005Ken Karcher21–46.313
72006–2011Danny Rocco47–20.701
82012–2018Turner Gill47–35.573
92019–Hugh Freeze8–5.615

Facilities

Liberty plays its home games at Williams Stadium which has a capacity of 25,000.

Notable former players

Future opponents

Announced schedules as of May 15, 2020.[10]

Week 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031
Week 1 at Virginia Tech Campbell (FCS) at Southern Miss Bowling Green Coastal Carolina Wake Forest at Wake Forest at Duke at Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech
Week 2 North Carolina A&T (FCS) at Troy UAB at Coastal Carolina at UCF at Middle Tennessee Virginia Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Week 3 at Western Kentucky Old Dominion at Wake Forest at Buffalo at Eastern Michigan Western Kentucky North Carolina Virginia at Virginia
Week 4 Florida International at Syracuse Akron Eastern Michigan Ball State at Army Duke
Week 5 at Bowling Green at UAB at Old Dominion Old Dominion at Appalachian State Miami (OH) at Ball State
Week 6 Louisiana−Monroe Middle Tennessee at UMass at Miami (OH) Marshall at Georgia Southern Georgia Southern
Week 7 at Syracuse at Louisiana−Monroe Gardner–Webb (FCS) at Virginia Appalachian State
Week 8 Southern Miss at North Texas BYU at North Carolina
Week 9 at UConn UMass East Tennessee State (FCS) Texas State
Week 10 at Ole Miss at Arkansas at South Carolina UMass at UMass UMass
Week 11 Western Carolina (FCS) at UConn UConn Campbell (FCS)
Week 12 at NC State Louisiana Virginia Tech UMass at UMass New Mexico State at Virginia Tech at New Mexico State
Week 13 UMass Army New Mexico State at New Mexico State at Florida International at Duke Army at New Mexico State New Mexico State
Week 14 New Mexico State TBD – at Marshall
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References
  1. "Web Content Team | Web Policy | Liberty University". Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. Sordelett, Damien (February 16, 2017). "LU to be FBS bowl eligible starting in 2019". The News & Advance. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  3. "Football – News – LibertyFlames.com". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  4. "Liberty vs. Gardner-Webb - Game Recap - November 17, 2007 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
  5. "Football – News". Liberty Flames. 2008-11-24. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  6. Archived September 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. The Sports Network. "Football Championship Subdivision". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 3, 2011. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  8. "BigSouthSports.com—Official Web Site of the Big South Conference". Bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  9. Caron, Emily (December 7, 2018). "Liberty Hires Hugh Freeze". SI.com.
  10. "Liberty Flames Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
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