2018 Liberty Flames football team

Summary

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.

2018 Liberty Flames football
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–6
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJoe Dailey
Co-defensive coordinatorRobert Wimberly
Co-defensive coordinatorVantz Singletary
Home stadiumWilliams 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

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 edit

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.Old DominionESPN3W 52–1020,425
September 812:00 p.m.at ArmyCBSSNL 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 MexicoW 52–4318,804
October 68:00 p.m.at New Mexico StateAggie 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 
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3W 48–4116,502
November 33:30 p.m.at UMassELVNL 59–62 3OT10,338
November 103:00 p.m.at VirginiaACCRSNL 24–4541,485
November 174:00 p.m.at AuburnSECN AlternateL 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.

Game summaries edit

Old Dominion edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Monarchs 3 7 0 0 10
Flames 14 0 10 28 52

At Army edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Flames 0 0 14 0 14
Black Knights 14 3 7 14 38

[6]

North Texas edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Mean Green 14 7 6 20 47
Flames 0 7 0 0 7

At New Mexico edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Flames 21 21 0 10 52
Lobos 7 3 13 20 43

At New Mexico State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Flames 7 7 14 13 41
Aggies 7 14 14 14 49

Troy edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Trojans 7 3 3 3 16
Flames 0 14 0 8 22

Idaho State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 0 17 14 10 41
Flames 7 13 14 14 48

At UMass edit

1 2 3 4OT2OT3OT Total
Flames 14 10 0 21770 59
Minutemen 14 10 7 14773 62

At Virginia edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Flames 7 10 7 0 24
Cavaliers 14 10 14 7 45

At Auburn edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Flames 0 0 0 0 0
Tigers 15 17 21 0 53

New Mexico State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 14 0 0 7 21
Flames 17 11 0 0 28

Norfolk State edit

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 3 7 0 7 17
Flames 10 28 7 7 52

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 edit

  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.