Could Liberty be undefeated in 2021?

[greenminer]

Lets give a serious look at the best team on our 2021 schedule.

2020:

Sun, Sep 19	@Western Kentucky	W30-24
Sun, Sep 26	vsFlorida International	W36-34
Sun, Oct 3	vsNorth Alabama	W28-7
Sun, Oct 10	vsUL Monroe	W40-7
Sun, Oct 17	@Syracuse	W38-21
Sun, Oct 24	vsSouthern Mississippi	W56-35
Sun, Nov 7	@Virginia Tech	W38-35
Sun, Nov 14	vsWestern Carolina	W58-14
Sun, Nov 21	@NC State	L15-14
Sat, Nov 27	vsUMass	W45-0
FBC MORTGAGE CURE BOWL
Sun, Dec 26	vs12 Coastal Carolina *	W37-34 OT

 

2021:

Sat, Sep 4	vsCampbell
Sat, Sep 11	@Troy
Sat, Sep 18	vsOld Dominion
Fri, Sep 24	@Syracuse
Sat, Oct 2	@UAB
Sat, Oct 9	vsMiddle Tennessee
Sat, Oct 16	@UL Monroe
Sat, Oct 23	@North Texas
Sat, Oct 30	vsUMass
Sat, Nov 6	@Ole Miss
Sat, Nov 20	vsLouisiana
Sat, Nov 27	vsArmy

[PlummMeanGreen]

Barring injury to key personnel,  I believe North Texas  will have all pistons running by the time we play Liberty.  
Now the $64,000 question is will that be enough?  LU played & beat some pretty salty football programs last Fall.   

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

Syracuse is probably another bottom dweller of the ACC, so the first real test is gonna be UAB. It’s UAB’s first home game in their new stadium, so a massive crowd could get Liberty to slip up.

Ole Miss and Army will be tough as well. If we can get our crap together, we could make things interesting…

[greenminer]

@NorthTexasSportsNetwork UAB getting a new stadium is new news to me! Good information to have.

[greenminer]

FYI, Louisiana went 10-1 in 2020, too.

Liberty does not have a cakewalk by any means.

[Salsa_Verde]

I wonder what Becki and Jerry Falwell Jr. are doing nowadays. You think they still have a pool? 

[DeepGreen]

All I know is Liberty U is a relatively new FBS football program.  Already a program that everyone is talking about.  They have the money and they have the coach.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

1 hour ago, DeepGreen said:

everyone is talking about

I never hear in real life, anyone, ever, talk about Liberty in any capacity. 
 

[Salsa_Verde]

As a brand with name recognition they are bigger than North Texas. For better or worse. Facilities are great, they are willing to spend the money and they’re getting results. You can’t ignore any of these things and say no one talks about them because they do. 

[greenminer]

39 minutes ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

I never hear in real life, anyone, ever, talk about Liberty in any capacity. 
 

Flames alumni base size is nothing to sneeze at.

Very quiet in DFW (though, there are two alumni in my work area).  I imagine they are much more present/vocal as you approach the Virginia area.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

18 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Flames alumni base size is nothing to sneeze at.

Very quiet in DFW (though, there are two alumni in my work area).  I imagine they are much more present/vocal as you approach the Virginia area.

University of Phoenix has a huge alumni base too.   It's all about online enrollment from the homeschooled and military. 

Liberty gets 'talked' about for reasons that they are not proud of... and not talked about for things they want to get talked about. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by SteaminWillieBeamin

[DeepGreen]

1 hour ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

I never hear in real life, anyone, ever, talk about Liberty in any capacity. 
 

I beg to disagree.  Many on this board talk about Liberty.  Let's see what happens on October 23.

[greenminer]

23 minutes ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

University of Phoenix has a huge alumni base too.   It's all about online enrollment from the homeschooled and military. 

Liberty gets 'talked' about for reasons that they are not proud of... and not talked about for things they want to get talked about. 

Oh I already know (except, does UofPhoenix have a football program?)

They have tons of money and tons of people that can claim them.  Speaking only in terms of football, not credibility, does it really matter how they built those numbers?

Their average attendance jumped 2K when they made the jump to FBS.  Will be interesting to watch how this unfolds the next couple seasons.  You would think no one (conferences) will want to associate with them.  But, you never know when it comes to $$$ on the table.

[RBP79]

They have a GREAT 2021 schedule for a upstart G5 INDEPENDENT. Good for them hope they go 11-1.

[emmitt01]

4 hours ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

I never hear in real life, anyone, ever, talk about Liberty in any capacity. 
 

[Salsa_Verde]

4 hours ago, SteaminWillieBeamin said:

University of Phoenix has a huge alumni base too.   It's all about online enrollment from the homeschooled and military. 

Liberty gets 'talked' about for reasons that they are not proud of... and not talked about for things they want to get talked about. 

You must not be paying attention because their Football team gets plenty of attention and their softball team and mens basketball team have both made the NCAA Tournament. I’m no fan of Liberty “University” by any means but I’m also not going to ignore reality 😅

[El Paso Eagle]

Hate them all you want, but 2020 was a good year to be a fans of theirs

 

All six of Liberty's athletics programs that completed their seasons during the 2020 calendar year, survived the craziness and walked away with a championship trophy.

Liberty's men's and women's basketball both claimed ASUN Conference championships. The men's and women's track & field teams did the same with a sweep of the conference's indoor track titles to close out a historic coaching career.

The Lady Flames swimming & diving program captured their third Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Women's Swimming & Diving Championships in program history, while the Flames football program won its second Cure Bowl championship in as many seasons.

The men's basketball team finished the 2019-20 season by repeating as ASUN champions. The Flames closed out their 30-year run inside the Vines Center by capturing the title on their home court to finish off a program-best 30-4 overall record.

The women's basketball team posted a 20-11 overall record and shared the ASUN Conference title with Florida Gulf Coast after the two were unable to meet in the scheduled title game at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The title was Liberty's 18^th conference championship in program history and the first since joining the ASUN Conference.

The men's and women's track & field programs sent legendary head coach Brant Tolsma out in style by posting convincing victories at the ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships. Tolsma, who announced his retirement plans following the meet, picked up his 116^th and final conference title on the day during his storied 34-year career as head coach.

The women's swimming & diving program successfully defended their CCSA title with a sizable win over Florida Gulf Coast. The Lady Flames' 163-point win over FGCU took place in the same pool it won its first-ever conference title in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2014.

The football program had a season of "firsts" in 2020, including the team's first-ever national ranking, first win over an ACC opponent, the best start in school history (8-0 to start 2020), first-ever win over a top-25 FBS program and back-to-back bowl game wins.

Liberty defeated a pair of ACC foes in Syracuse and in-state opponent Virginia Tech. The two wins made Liberty the first non-Power 5 team to post a pair of wins over ACC schools in the same season since Houston in 2015.

The Flames finished the season with a 10-1 record, tying the program's record for wins in a season (Liberty finished the 2008 season with a 10-2 record).

With the Cure Bowl win over its former Big South rivals, Liberty became the second transitioning team in NCAA history to win consecutive bowl games during its first two full seasons at the FBS level.

[southsideguy]

Is it me or does it seem everyone is passing us by?   

[PlummMeanGreen]

On 7/9/2021 at 1:25 PM, DeepGreen said:

All I know is Liberty U is a relatively new FBS football program.  Already a program that everyone is talking about.  They have the money and they have the coach.

Well, if we all weekly or monthly tithed our income to UNT our favorite school would have lots the money, too, DG. (Yikes!😱 Lightening/thunder just knocked my butt out of my bed)! 👀

🦅❇️🦅

[Mean Green Matt]

On 7/9/2021 at 11:50 AM, PlummMeanGreen said:

Barring injury to key personnel,  I believe North Texas  will have all pistons running by the time we play Liberty.  
 

I don’t like being Debbie Downer, but what exactly about our recent pas makes you think this will be the case?

[greenminer]

13 hours ago, Mean Green Matt said:

I don’t like being Debbie Downer, but what exactly about our recent pas makes you think this will be the case?

Plum has been around for how long? And the guy still finds reasons to support Mean Green and write GMG.com essays (in full color).

He is a wizard.

[Withers940]

...

Edited July 12, 2021 by Withers940

[UNT Mean Green]

You could tell when we played at Liberty in 2018 that they had the right ingredients for a top G5 program. We were able to run the ball down their throats in the pouring rain that night, but they had a lot of good looking athletes and outstanding facilities. It was simply a matter of time, and here we are. 

[meangreen11]

You have to admire what UAB has accomplished.  Just a couple of years ago the shut their football program down and now they are one of the best G5 athletic programs in the country.

[97and03]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:15 PM, Salsa_Verde said:

As a brand with name recognition they are bigger than North Texas. For better or worse. Facilities are great, they are willing to spend the money and they’re getting results. You can’t ignore any of these things and say no one talks about them because they do. 

I have been in their stadium and practice facility and although they are good ours are much nicer, for what it’s worth.