Game Day: Buffalo

On the heels of its inaugural Conference USA win, Liberty (2-0, 1-0 CUSA) takes to the road for the first time in 2023. The Flames will travel to Buffalo (0-2, 0-0 MAC) for the first time in program history, Saturday.

"4 Downs" with BUFFALO

#1 Saturday will mark Liberty's first road game of the season and the Flames' inaugural visit to Buffalo's UB Stadium. Liberty has only won one contest in New York in program history, a 38-21 victory at Syracuse on Oct. 17, 2020. If the Flames win on Saturday, they would become the nation's first team with two victories over MAC opponents this season.

#2 Liberty, which kicked off its 2023 season with a 34-24 home win over Bowling Green on Sept. 2, is looking to defeat two MAC opponents in the same season for the first time in program history. If Liberty is victorious, it would be halfway to achieving bowl eligibility for the fifth consecutive season. The Flames are one of two undefeated teams (also WKU) during the early stages of their first Conference USA season.

#3 Liberty is facing a MAC opponent for the third time in its last four games, after falling 21-19 to Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl and topping Bowling Green 34-24 in the 2023 lid-lifter. Buffalo is the third straight 2022 bowl team Liberty is facing to open the 2023 campaign. The Bulls edged Georgia Southern 23-21 in last season's Camellia Bowl.

#4 Saturday is expected to be Kaidon Salter's fourth consecutive start as Liberty's QB, dating back to last season. He is 4-2 as a starter in his career. Both Liberty and Buffalo are hoping to win their fourth bowl games in 2023. All of the Flames' and Bulls' bowl wins have come since the start of the 2019 season.

A LIBERTY WIN WOULD...

Enable the Flames to start out 3-0 for the third time in the last four seasons.
Keep the Flames unbeaten against Buffalo at 3-0 and improve Jamey Chadwell's head coaching record versus the Bulls to 3-0.
Boost the Flames' all-time record against MAC opponents to 7-10, including 2-0 this season.
Enable the Flames to win their first road game of the season for the fourth year in a row.
Improve the Flames' record to 2-9 all-time when playing in New York.
Make Jamey Chadwell the second Liberty head coach ever to win his first three games with the Flames. Sam Rutigliano started 6-0 during the 1989 campaign, his first at Liberty.
Give the Flames a third straight victory over a 2022 bowl team to open the 2023 campaign.

FAST START
Liberty is off to a 2-0 or better start for the fourth year in a row. In 2020, the Flames got off to their best start in program history, winning their first eight games.

This is the first time in program history in which Liberty has opened a season winning each of its first two games by double-digits when both opponents have been Division I teams.

Similarly, Jamey Chadwell's teams have gotten off to hot starts recently. His Coastal Carolina team started each of the last three seasons (2020-2022) at 6-0 or better. Coastal won each of its first 11 games in 2020 before falling to Liberty in the 2020 Cure Bowl. In both 2021 and 2022, Coastal opened at 6-0.

MAC-Tion
Liberty's 34-24 win over Bowling Green on Sept. 2 gave the Flames a 6-10 all-time record against MAC opponents.

During its FBS era, Liberty is 4-1 versus the MAC, with its only setback coming to Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl. Saturday's game will be Liberty's first true road game against a MAC opponent since opening the 2013 season with a 17-10 setback at Kent State.

Liberty's first two wins over FBS programs were at MAC schools (Oct. 14, 1989 - W/25-24 at Eastern Michigan; Sept. 11, 2010 - W/27-23 at Ball State).

EMPIRE STATE
Liberty is 8-13 all-time against teams from the state of New York. However, the Flames have only won one game in 10 tries inside the Empire State.

That one win was historic, as the Flames rolled to a 38-21 win at Syracuse on Oct. 17, 2020. It marked the first win over an ACC opponent in program history.

The following season, Sept. 25, 2021, Syracuse kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to claim a 24-21 win over Liberty at the Carrier Dome. That is Liberty's last visit to New York to date.

TAKE ME AWAY
Liberty leads the nation with seven interceptions so far this season. The Flames are also tied for the FBS lead in both turnover margin (3.00) and total takeaways (8).

Saturday's opponent, Buffalo, is one of 29 FBS teams which have not thrown a single interception this year. Liberty has also not heaved an interception in 2023.

Buffalo has only turned the ball over once through two games, a fumble against Fordham. On the flip side, the Bulls have just two takeaways, a pair of interceptions.

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Players Mentioned

Kaidon Salter

Game Day: Buffalo

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