Liberty is one in every of three FBS packages from the Group of Five that has discovered it manner onto the AP Top 25 rankings.
Liberty (10-0) is the category of Conference USA and checked in at No. 25 after knocking off Old Dominion 38-10 final Saturday. The different Group of Five members within the Top 25 are No. 17 Tulane (9-1) of the AAC and No. 18 James Madison (10-0) from the Sun Belt Conference.
The UMass Minutemen (3-7) captured their second straight win with a victory over Merrimack at dwelling on Nov. 4. The Minutemen are coming of their second bye week of the season and can have interaction the Liberty Flames on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Va.
Liberty and UMass have performed one another over the past 5 seasons with the Flames going 4-1 within the sequence. Liberty scored a 42-24 win over UMass final season at McGuirk Stadium.
“They are 10-0 so obviously they have gotten off to a good start and just kept going,” mentioned UMass second-year heard coach Don Brown. “We are excited in regards to the problem that’s for positive and clearly enthusiastic about having two weeks to arrange.
“We had a really good bye week in terms of our preparation. Now we have to got to turn it into a really good practice week going into the game.”
Hugh Freeze turned Liberty’s program right into a nationwide energy in 4 seasons and parlayed that success right into a job provide from Auburn of the SEC after final season. Freeze was changed by Jamey Chadwell, a reputed workforce builder at Coastal Carolina. Chadwell had the nice sense to not make over the workforce he inherited whereas nonetheless putting his imprint on the route of this system.
“I would say that they are fairly similar in terms of their style but everybody has their nuances and the things they do differently,” mentioned Brown. “There is an efficient quantity of that as properly however the factor I take into consideration most with Liberty is steadiness.
“They can run it, they can throw it and they are going to challenge you in all phases.”
The engine that drives the Liberty offense is sophomore twin menace quarterback Kaidon Salter, a 6-1, 200-pound switch from Tennessee.
Salter has accomplished 127-of-214 passes for two,184 yards and 26 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. His passer ranking is a stellar 181.43. He has additionally rushed for 705 yards on 115 carries and 9 touchdowns. If Slater posted these numbers on an undefeated workforce from a Power-5 convention, he can be within the Heisman Trophy dialog.
Source: www.bostonherald.com