Everything you need to know for No. 9 Coastal Carolina vs No. 23 Liberty in Cure Bowl

Today’s Coastal vs Liberty college football bowl game

Who: No. 9 Coastal Carolina (11-0) vs. No. 23 Liberty (9-1)

What: FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida

TV: ESPN

Coastal-Liberty live stream: Via WatchESPN

Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM, ESPN Radio in Myrtle Beach area

Online audio: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/coastal/

Live stats: Through www.Cure.statbroadcast.com

Last meeting: CCU 42-7 on Nov. 17, 2016 in Conway, SC

Betting odds

CCU by 7.5 points

Where is Liberty located? Where is Coastal Carolina University?

Liberty is located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Flames compete in NCAA Division I as an independent.

Coastal Carolina is in Conway, South Carolina, just west of Myrtle Beach. The Chanticleers are a member of the Div-I Sun Belt Conference.

CCU vs Liberty strengths, weaknesses

——Coastal Carolina——

Strengths: QB, Defensive front seven

Weakness: Wide receiver depth

——Liberty

Strengths: QB

Weakness: Inactivity

Coastal vs. Liberty: Key matchup

Coastal Carolina’s defensive line vs. Liberty quarterback Malik Willis: The dual-threat junior Auburn transfer has been a superstar this season. Behind Willis, the Flames are 15th in the nation in total offense at 483.5 yards per game, 17th in scoring at 38.3 points per game, and ninth in rushing at 252 yards per contest. Willis is the only FBS player to rank among the nation’s top 20 for both passing TDs (20) and rushing TDs (10), and he leads FBS quarterbacks with a team-high 807 rushing yards.

Coastal’s strength is its defensive line and linebackers, as the Chants have 33 sacks, 71 tackles for loss and 48 quarterback hurries, which are 82 more than their opponents in the three categories combined. The defense is led by the front four of Tarron Jackson, C.J. Brewer, Jeffrey Gunter and Jerrod Clark with assistance from linebackers Teddy Gallagher, Silas Kelly and Enock Makonzo. Coastal will want to pressure Willis, but also try to contain him in the pocket.

“It’s definitely going to be a great challenge,” Jackson said. “He’s a very mobile quarterback. He can hurt you with his legs and with his arm. We’re going to have to do a good job of keeping him contained with our pass rush. He has a pretty solid offensive line. Those guys protect him well, so we’re going to have to do what we do and try to get pressure on him and make him uncomfortable in any way we can.”

Coastal Carolina football players to watch

Redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall (6-3, 200): He has completed 151 of 218 passes (69.3 percent) for 2,170 yards and 23 touchdowns with just two interceptions, and has rushed for 473 yards and six scores on 96 carries

Senior running back C.J. Marable (5-10, 200): He led the Sun Belt with both 844 yards rushing and 12 rushing touchdowns on 162 carries, and has 30 receptions for 220 yards and seven TDs with a catch in a school-record 31 straight games.

Senior defensive end Tarron Jackson (6-2, 260): The three-time Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week has recorded 49 tackles, 13.5 for loss, 8.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Liberty football players to watch

Junior quarterback Malik Willis (6-1, 215): The dynamic QB has completed 151 of 236 passes (64 percent) for 2,040 passing yards and 20 touchdowns with four interceptions, and has a team-leading 807 rushing yards (6.7 per-carry average) and 10 rushing touchdowns.

Senior running back Joshua Mack (5-11, 200): He is leads the team with 125 carries and is second with 692 rushing yards (5.5 average) and has four rushing TDs.

Senior receiver D.J. Stubbs (5-9, 185): One of seven Flames with at least 10 catches, he leads the team with 33 receptions for 455 yards and has three receiving TDs.

He said it

“This is not where we predicted ourselves to be, but we’re able to go out there and do something and be a part of something that Coastal Carolina has never been a part of, and that’s a bowl game. And to be 12-0, we’re embracing that aspect as well. We want to go out there and finish the season. . . . We’re embracing all the memories that we’ve had throughout the year, being 12-0, being the first bowl game and being conference champions – all the aspects of the season.” – CCU senior center Sam Thompson

“Just being on ESPN and being considered – us and Cincinnati were the two teams that had a chance to go to the NY6 – even to be considered for that opportunity is a big deal for our program. We were on a national stage. We started Sept. 12 with our win there at Kansas, and just about every week after beating Arkansas State, and especially after beating Louisiana there in October at their place on ESPN, I think every time after that we were some type of national deal. To be able to continue this season, be undefeated and secure a bowl game with that, it’s the cherry on the top. The thing is you want to go win it. We want to be 12-0. We don’t want to be 11-1.” – CCU coach Jamey Chadwell

“We’re building something that will last long-term that is going to be sustained success. I’m not saying we’re going to be top 13 in the country every year, I’m not saying that. But we’re not a one-hit wonder. The young men in this program want to build something that lasts and leave a legacy.” – Chadwell

CCU-Liberty scouting report

Coastal is ranked ninth in the AP Top 25 Poll, 11th in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll and 12th in the College Football Playoff rankings, while Liberty is 23rd in both the AP and coaches polls. The teams were scheduled to play on Dec. 5 but Liberty canceled two days before the game because of coronavirus cases within its program. CCU faced BYU instead.

“I think it’s a great thing for us and a great thing for them as we’re both building our programs and trying to establish our identities here at the FBS,” Chadwell said. “This is only going to help that, solidify that playing in front of a national audience in a great bowl game. I think that’s just going to benefit us down the line as we continue to build our programs and try to make us respected across the country where every year we’re hopefully competing for the top 25 and hopefully great bowl games like we’re in now.”

Both teams have balanced offenses and stout defenses.

The Chants have 223 yards both rushing and passing per game, which rank 15th and 70th in the country, respectively, while the Flames have rushed for 252 yards and passed for 231.5 yards per game, which rank ninth and 61st.

While CCU allows 138 yards rushing and 203 passing, which both rank in the top 40 in the nation, Liberty allows 171.6 passing yards per game to rank ninth in FBS and 129.6 yards rushing to rank 27th. Both teams are in the top 26 in total yards allowed per game and points allowed per game, with the Chants’ 18.7 scoring defense ranking 16th and Liberty’s 19.2 ranking 17th. Liberty has allowed an average of less than 10 points per game over its last three games.

Coastal is dealing with some injuries coming off its 42-38 road win over Troy on Dec. 12, while Liberty hasn’t played since defeating Massachusetts 45-0 on Nov. 27, so it will be well rested and healthy.

“They do have a lot of time to get healthy so they’re not going to be as beat up,” Chadwell said. “Will them not playing since the end of November, that will be right at four weeks, will that hurt them at all? I hope so. Maybe not.”

CCU starting left tackle Antwine Loper is out after having surgery, according to Chadwell, on an apparent leg injury and linebacker Kendricks Gladney Jr. is questionable with an apparent knee injury. Sophomore Kameren Stewart (6-6, 250) will start in place of Loper.

Senior linebacker Silas Kelly played in just the final three defensive plays against Troy because of a possible shoulder injury, but said Wednesday he will play.

Liberty went 2-1 against the ACC, winning at Syracuse by 17 points, knocking off Virginia Tech on a late field goal, and falling to N.C. State 15-14 when Alex Barbir’s 39-yard field goal attempt with 1:18 to play was blocked.

Last year, Liberty went 8-5 and defeated Georgia Southern 23-16 in the Cure Bowl on Dec. 21 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando to become the third team in NCAA history to win a bowl game during its first full season at the FBS level.

The teams prepared for each other for half a week before Liberty had to cancel the Dec. 5 game, so that will help CCU. Chadwell said an entire position group and his entire defensive coaching staff has had to be quarantined and away from the rest of the team for a week. He expected to get them back Wednesday to continue preparation for the Flames.

The game renews a heated rivalry. The teams have played 14 times, with each winning seven. More times than not, the Coastal-Liberty game determined the Big South Conference title and a berth into the FCS playoffs.

In the 11 seasons between 2004 and 2015, 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.

“Because of the rivalry we had during the Big South it makes the bowl game even that much more special just because of the history we have with Liberty and all the battles we’ve had to determine whether it’s championships or playoff bids, and obviously this is going to determine a bowl championship,” Chadwell said. “This game here to our alumni and our university probably means more than any game.”

Because it’s an FBS independent, Liberty feared it would be left without a bowl game because of all the bowl cancellations and the many bowl contracts with conferences, but the Cure Bowl came calling for a top-25 matchup.

“The players are excited to have a challenge like this to measure ourselves at this point in our tenure here in year two. To play a top 15 team in a bowl game is pretty exciting,” Liberty coach Hugh Freeze said.

Cure Bowl game notes

▪Coastal is trying to go 12-0 for the first time in program history. It also started 11-0 in 2014, when it finished 12-2. It would be the first Sun Belt Conference team to finish a season undefeated.

▪Coastal has won 12 straight going back to last year’s season-ending win over Texas State. That is tied with No. 1 Alabama for the longest current winning streak in the nation.

▪With the game being broadcast on ESPN, it’s the 10th CCU game this season nationally televised on either ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN2 or FoxSports1.

▪The Cure Bowl names a Community Service Soldier for each participating team, and those are CCU senior defensive lineman C.J. Brewer and Liberty redshirt freshman receiver C.J. Yarbrough.

▪The Flames and Chants are two of the seven non-Power Five teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this week along with No. 6 Cincinnati, BYU (13), Louisiana (16), San Jose State (19) and Tulsa (22).

Coastal-Liberty bowl game prediction

Coastal Carolina 34, Liberty 27: The teams are evenly matched, and the game figures to be close throughout. But will Coastal really allow its historic season to end with a loss?

This story was originally published December 25, 2020 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Everything you need to know for No. 9 Coastal Carolina vs No. 23 Liberty in Cure Bowl."