Liberty will kick off its 48th football season Saturday at Western Kentucky (0-1, 0-0 C-USA). The game is set for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Hilltoppers opened their 2020 season with a 35-21 loss to Louisville this past weekend. Quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome threw for 129 yards on 10-of-23 passing with a touchdown and added 68 yards on 17 attempts on the ground in the defeat.
Liberty, under second-year coach Hugh Freeze, is one of three FBS teams (along with LSU and Oklahoma) who have to replace a 3,000-yard passer (Stephen Calvert, who threw for 3,663 yards in 2019), a 1,000-yard rusher (Frankie Hickson ran for 1,041 yards) and a 1,000-yard receiver (current Washington Football Team WR Antonio Gandy-Golden had 1,396 receiving yards last season).
The 2019 Flames went 8-5, capturing a Cure Bowl win over Georgia Southern to wrap up their first year as a fully bowl-eligible FBS program.
It was Liberty’s 11th season with eight or more wins and was the team’s most victories in a single year since going 9-5 and qualifying for the FCS playoffs in 2014.
One of two transfers is expected to make his starting QB debut for Liberty on Saturday: either Malik Willis (Auburn) and Chris Ferguson (Maine).