Just what is the BYU football team going to be facing when it takes the field against Liberty at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Saturday?

Damien Sordelett, who covers Liberty University athletics for The News & Advance in Lynchburg, took a few minutes to answer some questions and provide some insight on the Flames:

1. It’s never easy for a college football team to get six wins in seven games. What has impressed you most about the way Liberty has played this year?

Sordelett: Honestly, it’s the fact Liberty has not played a complete game this season yet has recorded six wins and came within a point of winning the seventh. There has been a litany of injuries on offense (quarterback and wide receiver have been the most prominent) that has led to inconsistent play and lengthy scoreless droughts. Hugh Freeze speaks of the grit of this team and how the players will find a way to win when it doesn’t seem like there’s a chance. That has been evident in all three of the Flames’ home victories and in two of their three road triumphs. Even in the Flames’ two highest scoring games this season (38 points at Old Dominion and 42 at UMass), they left some potential scoring drives on the field. Not being able to get consistent play on offense has led to Liberty needing to find ways to win. The Flames had to rally from down a touchdown twice in the fourth quarter to eventually win in four overtimes in the season opener at Southern Miss. They erased a 15-point halftime deficit and led over Wake Forest entering the fourth quarter. And they overcame a host of injuries to win two home games that were closer than anticipated (Akron and Gardner-Webb).

2. It’s impossible not to be impressed with how disruptive the Flames defense has been, ranking No. 1 nationally in takeaways (18), No. 2 in sacks per game (4.0) and No. 2 in tackles for a loss per game (9.1). What is Liberty doing to create such havoc?

Sordelett: There isn’t one particular thing Liberty has done well this season that has led to those gaudy defensive numbers. It goes back to training camp when the defensive staff put an emphasis on creating turnovers after the unit recorded a meager 11 takeaways through the entire 2021 season. Liberty has made a concerted effort to punch the ball loose every chance it gets, read throwing lanes and try to anticipate passes for interceptions, and then get after the quarterback on third down. Plus, this defense is considered old in the college ranks, and that is a good thing. Bandit Durrell Johnson, defensive tackle Kendy Charles, free safety Javon Scruggs and cornerback Chris Megginson have been in this system for multiple years. Strong safety Robert Rahimi, who has four interceptions, has taken a big step forward in his second season. And the addition of Mike Smith Jr. at linebacker has allowed Ahmad Walker to move to Will linebacker, which has made the linebacker corps that much faster and more capable of reading plays and getting into the backfield.

3. The Flames have started three different quarterbacks this season. Why has there been a signal-caller shuffle and what do you expect from the Liberty QBs this week?

Sordelett: It all started on Liberty’s second offensive series of the season at Southern Miss. That is when Charlie Brewer’s right hand hit the top of linebacker T.Q. Newsome’s helmet and he suffered a fracture below his thumb. Kaidon Salter, who led the Flames back in the fourth quarter and helped lead a four-overtime win at Southern Miss, then injured his groin on the final offensive series Sept. 17 at Wake Forest. That has led to Johnathan Bennett getting three starts over the last four weeks, and Nate Hampton has played sporadic series. Salter, Bennett and Hampton have each led fourth-quarter drives that have either helped Liberty take the lead or go ahead by two scores. Brewer, who BYU fans remember from last season’s matchup with Utah, had the pins removed from his surgically paired hand a little more than two weeks ago. He looked better throwing the ball in practice earlier this week, and all signs may point toward him potentially playing against the Cougars. There is a high likelihood that Bennett, a fourth-year sophomore, makes his fourth career start. Bennett has been inconsistent in each of his starts. He will either start fast with touchdown drives and then struggle to keep the offense on the field (Akron and Gardner-Webb), and there is a start in which he starts slow and then gets into a rhythm (UMass). In the games against UMass and GWU, he came out for a series or two and was efficient when he returned to the game.

4. Like BYU, Liberty’s days as an independent college football program are numbered. What is the excitement level surrounding the university as it prepares to join Conference USA?

Sordelett: It honestly depends on who you ask about the move to Conference USA. The diehard fans (the ones who are very vocal on the message boards) aren’t exactly thrilled with the move from a football perspective. Liberty plays four Power Five conference teams this season (Wake Forest, BYU, Arkansas and Virginia Tech), and there were multiple matchups against teams from autonomous conferences in the years to come. That number has shrunk to zero over the next handful of seasons as the Flames had to whittle down future schedules for the move to C-USA. Power conference teams such as Virginia, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest were more than willing to ask out of either an entire three-game series (UNC and Duke) or the remainder of a series (UVa and Wake). As you could imagine, those fans weren’t thrilled with future schedules that lacked household names. For others, there is great excitement in moving to C-USA. First, it provides Liberty with an opportunity to establish rivalries in football, which is difficult when the Flames aren’t playing teams on a yearly basis as an independent. Second, it was evident Liberty needed a seat at the table with a conference home, and the expansion of the College Football Playoff made it even more imperative to get into a league. Outside of football, C-USA provides Liberty with a stellar home for men’s basketball and baseball.

5. Flames head coach Hugh Freeze called this “the biggest home game ever” for his team. What is the attitude in Lynchburg as BYU prepares to come to town?

Sordelett: The announcement late Thursday morning that Liberty officially sold out all 25,000 seats at Williams Stadium should back up Freeze’s claim of this being “the biggest home game ever.” Liberty has steadily pushed out sound bites on social media throughout the week of Jerry Falwell Sr., the founder of what was then called Liberty Baptist College, famously saying he wanted the university to be to evangelicals what Notre Dame is to Catholics and BYU is to Mormons, and for the athletic programs to compete against the likes of Notre Dame, Alabama and USC. To have one of those faith-based institutions travel to compete against a university that was founded 51 years ago has led to a genuine excitement in the city. While Old Dominion and James Madison are at home Saturday against Georgia Southern and Marshall, respectively, this is the game of the weekend in the state of Virginia.

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