UPDATE: Liberty says it has ‘some COVID-19 concerns.’ Could CCU play BYU instead?
Liberty University has acknowledged COVID-19 issues within its football program in advance of its national top-25 showdown with Coastal Carolina on Saturday at Brooks Stadium.
The Flames still intend to play the game, a Liberty athletics official said Wednesday afternoon.
It’s possible that could change Thursday, however.
CCU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Kevin Davis said both programs tested for coronavirus on Wednesday, per Sun Belt Conference testing protocols, and expect results back Thursday. Eligibility for Saturday’s game will be determined after test results are received.
It appears Coastal is putting a contingency plan in place in case Liberty is unable to participate, and it might include undefeated BYU replacing the Flames on Saturday. Multiple media reports from outlets including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Yahoo! Sports, all citing unnamed sources, say BYU coming to Conway on Saturday is being discussed if Liberty can’t play, and that the Cougars are making preparations.
The Cougars (9-0) are No. 13 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings while CCU (9-0) is No. 18.
In an email to The Sun News, a Liberty athletics department official stated through Associate AD for Communications Todd Wetmore:
“I can confirm we are having some COVID-19 concerns within our football program. Liberty has been in communication with Coastal Carolina about these concerns. Liberty still intends to the play the game this weekend. Liberty did hold a normal practice this morning and has been following our normal COVID-19 testing protocols this week.”
Liberty was not willing to confirm any specific positive test results on individuals as of Wednesday afternoon, in keeping with its policy all season.
Both CCU and Liberty are ranked in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll — CCU is No. 14 and Liberty (9-1) is No. 25 — and ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay show will be broadcasting from the CCU campus prior to the game. Film crews have already arrived in Conway.
As of Wednesday, Coastal was planning to play Liberty as scheduled.
“Our focus and intention remain on preparing and playing Liberty University on Saturday and showcasing our university and campus to the college football world via ESPN College GameDay,” Davis said in a statement. “There are no changes or adjustments to that schedule and both schools are still completing weekly COVID-19 testing protocols that would impact any game decision.”
While Coastal had its game at Troy postponed from Nov. 14 to Dec. 12 due to coronavirus issues within the Troy program, Liberty hasn’t had a game canceled or postponed since it began its season.
“We’re never out of the woods on COVID,” Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze said Monday. “It’s a weekly on pins-and-needles [thing] waiting on the tests to come back and see what the results will be. Truthfully we have been affected by it we just don’t talk about it publicly. But we haven’t had the cases of it to where it really altered us terribly so we have been blessed in that regard. But it’s that’s time of year where the flu season is around, so we’ll be sitting on pins and needles this week waiting on these tests to come back.
“We are blessed but how long does that last? I don’t know. Hopefully it lasts one more week for sure.”
Rivalry renewed
It has been four years since Coastal and Liberty met on the gridiron, but the passion that the rivalry evoked on both sides is being felt this week as the teams prepare for a game in which they are a combined 18-1 and ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.
More times than not, the Coastal-Liberty game determined the Big South Conference title and it sometimes determined a berth into the FCS playoffs.
In the 11 seasons between 2004 and 2014, Coastal or Liberty won or shared the Big South title 10 times, with the two teams sharing the conference title with each other in four of the five seasons from 2010-14.
The overall series is tied at 7-7, and three of the past four meetings have been decided by three points or less.
Only fifth-year seniors on either team were on the rosters the last time the Chants faced Liberty in 2016 during a transition year to the FBS for CCU and Liberty’s final year in the Big South before it began its transition. Coastal won 42-7 at home on Nov. 17, 2016.
“I know a lot of the guys now kind of don’t know the rivalry, but I was here that last game we played Liberty and some of the older guys I was with kind of instilled the knowledge on the rivalry, so I’m definitely going to try to bring back that Liberty-Coastal rivalry,” fifth-year senior defensive end Tarron Jackson said. “But it’s the next game so it’s the most important one, so we’re going to go into it like that and prepare as such.”
Some of Coastal’s players have heard from CCU football alumni who have informed them of their dislike for the Flames, and how much a win would mean for them.
Two of the biggest games came late in the rivalry.
In 2013 in Lynchburg, No. 4 and undefeated CCU outlasted the Flames, 55-52, thanks to a late blocked 40-yard field goal attempt after overcoming a 19-point deficit late in the third quarter. In 2014 in Conway, CCU was 11-0 and the top-ranked team in FCS but the Flames earned the Big South’s automatic bid to the playoffs with a 15-14 win behind a backup quarterback, a 32-yard field goal with 1:20 to play and a blocked 24-yard CCU field goal attempt on the game’s final play.
“From afar you always knew the game between Coastal and Liberty was always for something important,” said CCU coach Jamey Chadwell. whose Charleston Southern teams won the Big South championship in 2015 and 2016, tying Liberty atop the conference with a 4-1 league record in Liberty’s final season in the league in ’16. “It was always a big game. I think there for a majority of the time it decided really who was going to win the league or get an at-large bid, etc, so there was always something with that game. There was always a lot of buildup to it. . . . As soon as I got here I knew real quick how our university felt about Liberty and how Liberty felt about our university.”
Former coaches David Bennett and Joe Moglia have reminded Chadwell about how important a game with Liberty is, and the stakes are high for the Chants as they try to hold onto their undefeated record.
“At this time of the year you get an opportunity to play a game that’s a top 25 matchup, and that’s a big deal, and obviously they’re really good but I think our team is too,” Chadwell said. “So it’s a great opportunity for us and the Sun Belt to win an out of conference game versus a top 25 opponent that will help our program continue to grow.”
The Chants and Flames will continue the rivalry several years into the future. They are scheduled to play in Conway in 2023 and in Lynchburg in 2024, and the series was extended to include three more contests from 2027-29 – at Brooks Stadium in 2027 and in Lynchburg in both 2028 and ’29.
Impressive marks
In addition to being No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings this week, and No. 14 in both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches polls, the Chants hold an even more impressive number in ESPN’s Power Rankings, coming in at No. 9.
The only teams in front of CCU are Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati and BYU. Just behind CCU is Miami, Indiana and Georgia.
Championship time set
CCU (9-0, 7-0 Sun Belt) will host the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (8-1, 6-1) in the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship game at noon Saturday, Dec. 19, and the game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2. Louisiana is ranked No. 20 in the AP poll, No. 21 in the coaches poll, and No. 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
CCU’s rescheduled road game at Troy next Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Ala. will kick off at 3 p.m. (ET) and will be broadcast live online on ESPN+.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
