2018 Liberty Flames football team

Last updated

2018 Liberty Flames football
Liberty Flames wordmark.svg
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–6
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Joe Dailey (3rd season)
Offensive scheme Spread
Co-defensive coordinatorRobert Wimberly (7th season)
Co-defensive coordinator Vantz Singletary (7th season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Williams Stadium
Seasons
  2017
2019  
2018 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
No. 5 Notre Dame ^    12 1  
No. 19 Army    11 2  
BYU    7 6  
Liberty    6 6  
UMass    4 8  
New Mexico State    3 9  
  • ^ College Football Playoff participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 Liberty Flames football team represented Liberty University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Turner Gill and played their home games at Williams Stadium. This was the Flames first year as a member of the FBS. Playing as an independent, they finished the season 6–6. As part of their transition to FBS, since they won six games, Liberty would have been allowed to apply for bowl eligibility had there not been enough teams with non-losing records to fill the available bowl games, but there were already four more teams than could be accommodated.

Contents

On December 3, head coach Turner Gill retired. [1] He finished at Liberty with a seven-year record of 47–35. On December 7, Liberty hired former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze for the job. [2]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m. Old Dominion ESPN3 W 52–1020,425
September 812:00 p.m.at Army CBSSN L 14–3825,133
September 226:00 p.m. North Texas
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3L 7–4714,112
September 296:00 p.m.at New Mexico W 52–4318,804
October 68:00 p.m.at New Mexico State Aggie VisionL 41–498,337
October 132:00 p.m. Troy
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3W 22–1617,389
October 202:00 p.m. Idaho State Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3W 48–4116,502
November 33:30 p.m.at UMass ELVN L 59–62 3OT10,338
November 103:00 p.m.at Virginia ACCRSN L 24–4541,485
November 174:00 p.m.at Auburn SECN Alternate L 0–5381,129
November 242:00 p.m.New Mexico State
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3W 28–2116,022
December 1 [a] 2:00 p.m. Norfolk State
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3W 52–1713,243
  1. Game originally scheduled for September 15, but moved in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

[3] [4] [5]

Game summaries

Old Dominion

1234Total
Monarchs370010
Flames140102852

At Army

1234Total
Flames0014014
Black Knights14371438

[6]

North Texas

1234Total
Mean Green14762047
Flames07007

At New Mexico

1234Total
Flames212101052
Lobos73132043

At New Mexico State

1234Total
Flames77141341
Aggies714141449

Troy

1234Total
Trojans733316
Flames0140822

Idaho State

1234Total
Bengals017141041
Flames713141448

At UMass

1234OT2OT3OTTotal
Flames141002177059
Minutemen141071477362

At Virginia

1234Total
Flames7107024
Cavaliers141014745

At Auburn

1234Total
Flames00000
Tigers151721053

New Mexico State

1234Total
Aggies1400721
Flames17110028

Norfolk State

1234Total
Spartans370717
Flames10287752

This game was originally scheduled for September 15, but it was rescheduled due to Hurricane Florence. On December 4, 2018, Turner Gill announced that he would retire immediately. [7] On December 7, Hugh Freeze was tabbed to be the next head coach of the Liberty Flames football team. [8]

References

  1. "Turner Gill retiring after coaching Liberty for 7 seasons". USA TODAY. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  2. Caron, Emily (December 7, 2018). "Liberty Hires Hugh Freeze". SI.com .
  3. "2018 Liberty Flames Football Schedule". FB Schedules.
  4. "2018 Season Football Schedule". Liberty Flames Athletics.
  5. Walls, Dave. "Liberty dethrones Old Dominion, 52-10, for first FBS win". WSET. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  6. "Liberty vs. Army - Game Summary - September 8, 2018". ESPN . Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  7. "Turner Gill Retiring". ESPN.
  8. "Hugh Freeze Hiring". Lynchburg News.