2015 Football Opponent Preview: Charleston Southern
8/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
In addition to its position previews and player features, LibertyFlames.com will take a look at each of Liberty's 2015 Big South football opponents during the month of August.
During the opponent series, the website will bring you audio from the head coach of each football program. LFSN reporter Nick Pierce had a chance to talk with each head coach during the Big South Football Media Day events in Atlanta in July.
LibertyFlames.com continues its Big South opponent previews today by taking a look at Charleston Southern, who was predicted to finish in third place in the conference's preseason poll released in July.
The Buccaneers' success under head coach Jamey Chadwell continued in 2014, as Charleston Southern posted an 8-4 record and was 3-2 in Big South play. The Buccaneers have won 18 games in two seasons under Chadwell, the best two-year span in the program's history.
Charleston Southern got off to a solid start in 2014, winning its first five games and nearly knocking off SEC opponent Vanderbilt (L/ 20-21). However, the Buccaneers dropped their first two games in Big South play to Presbyterian (L/ 3-7) and No. 3 Coastal Carolina (L/ 22-43).
Charleston Southern rallied to win its last three league games, including a 38-36 victory at Liberty in the Flames' final home contest of 2014. The two-point setback for the Flames came during Liberty's first game without starting quarterback Josh Woodrum, who was sidelined two weeks with a knee injury.
The Buccaneers return nine starters on offense from 2014, including senior quarterback Austin Brown and three of their top four rushers from a year ago. Brown finished 2014 completing 52.3 percent of his pass attempts (126-of-241) and threw for 1,848 yards and 11 touchdowns.
All-Big South first team linebacker Aaron Brown returns to lead the Buccaneers defense in 2015. He finished as the team's top tackler last year (81 tackles) and ranked seventh in the league in tackles per game (6.8). He is one of five returning defensive starters from 2014.
Liberty will close out the road portion of its regular season schedule in 2015 against Charleston Southern, traveling to newly renovated CSU Stadium on Nov. 14. During the summer, Charleston Southern installed a new FieldTurf playing surface and added lights to its home on-campus facility.
Practice Update:
Following a day off for the opening of the academic year, the Flames returned to the practice field this afternoon for their first regular season practice of 2015.
LibertyFlames.com's coverage of the Flames' preseason workouts continues tomorrow when the website visits with Flames Head Coach Turner Gill to discuss his post training camp depth chart.
