Liberty Next Up For UVA Football: What Makes The Flames Tick?
Here’s A Q&A From Liberty Insider Jon Manson
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Liberty senior wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden was recently named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award (Photo: liberty.edu).
As part of our coverage of the Virginia game this weekend against visiting Liberty, here is a Q&A with Jon Manson, publisher of “Sea of Red,” a website dedicated to covering the Flames. Jon addresses five questions here about this year’s Liberty team:
Q: Most fans and observers have wondered what kind of changes/impact Hugh Freeze has made on the Liberty football program. We all know him from Ole Miss and his reputation as an offensive-minded coach. What has he done in his first year at LU that has impressed the Flames’ fan base?
A: It’s hard to quantify the impact Freeze has made in his first year at Liberty. Everything around the program is now run at a much higher level — from general preparation week in and week out, strength & conditioning, recruiting, etc. Look at Buckshot Calvert’s numbers from last year to this year, most notably his 18 interceptions in 2018. He has just three this season and hasn’t thrown one since early September (281 pass attempts since his last pick). In recruiting, the Flames already have 20 verbal commitments. That has never happened before at such an early date. The fan base is just hopeful he will stick around for a few years.
Q: It appears that Liberty has struggled on the road this season and is at the end of a four-game road swing. It’s never easy winning on the road, but what do you see that has prevented the Flames from being more successful on the road in their first two seasons in FBS play? Or is it simply a byproduct of having to play more established FBS programs on the road as LU makes its way from FCS to FBS?
A: I think the road struggles have been blown out of proportion a little bit, this year at least. Yes, the team was just 1-5 away from Lynchburg last year, and the Flames are 2-3 on the road this season, but, as you alluded to in your question, the road games have been more difficult. Those three losses have come against Louisiana (who is a borderline top-25 team), Rutgers, and BYU. Rutgers was able to crush the Flames in the ground game with their much larger offensive line — just a bad matchup for LU. At BYU, Liberty played very well and had the ball with a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds.
Q: Buckshot Calvert is having an outstanding season and career. Just how good is this guy and what makes him good? What does Freeze say about him? What do NFL scouts think about him?
A: Calvert has improved so much this season. As mentioned above, he’s reduced his interceptions from 18 to three while still throwing for nearly 3,000 yards. He’s also completing a career-high 61.5 percent of his passes. Freeze was very hard on him during the offseason and criticized his preparation, or lack thereof. Buckshot took it personal and learned how to be a quarterback at the FBS level. He’s always had the arm to make all the throws, but now he is also putting in the necessary work in the film room to understanding how to read a defense.
Q: Ditto for Antonio Gandy-Golden. This guys seems to have NFL written all over him.
A: AGG is so good. Freeze said this week he expects him to have a long NFL career, and he should know, as he has nine receivers/tight ends in the NFL currently. Gandy-Golden is so big and strong, and he has an incredible catch radius. He’s also really good at making all the highlight-reel, one-handed catches. He should be Liberty’s first draft pick since Walt Aikens was drafted by the Dolphins in 2014.
Q: Seems that a lot of FCS teams converting to the FBS level have scary-good offenses that can score plenty of points and move the football, but have had difficulty in fielding quality defenses. Is that the case with Liberty? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Flames on defense?
A: It’s no secret the defense has been the Achilles’ heel of the Liberty football program for as long as Buckshot and Gandy-Golden have been at LU. Freeze says the biggest problem is the lack of quality FBS depth on that side of the ball. Remember, the Flames have just one full recruiting class at the FBS level and hopefully, given another two or three full classes, the defense will be able to be more consistent.
