Game Day: Bahamas Bowl vs. Buffalo

Liberty (8-3, 5-3 CUSA) will play in a bowl game for the sixth consecutive season, facing Buffalo (8-4, 6-2 MAC) in the Bahamas Bowl on Saturday.

Game Day Coverage:
TV: ESPN2 (Matt Schumacker, Play-by-Play; Dustin Fox, Analyst; Coley Harvey, Sidelines)
Radio: Liberty Flames Sports Network (Alan York, Play-by-Play; Joe Jauch, Analyst)

88.3 FM (Lynchburg and Roanoke | Liberty Flames Mobile App | SiriusXM Radio Channel 81)
Pregame Starts at 9:30 a.m. – Kickoff at 11 a.m.

The Flames are 3-2 all-time in bowl games but are seeking their first bowl victory since a 56-20 triumph over Eastern Michigan in the 2021 LendingTree Bowl.

Liberty is 3-0 when facing Buffalo, including a 55-27 victory at UB Stadium last season (Sept. 16, 2023).
The Flames own a 7-10 all-time record against MAC opponents, including 5-1 in Liberty's FBS era and 1-1 in bowl matchups.

Jamey Chadwell is 21-4 in his second year at Liberty and owns a 52-10 coaching record dating back to the start of 2020. He became the Flames' fastest head coach ever to reach 20 victories (23 games). Chadwell is 1-2 all-time in bowl games and 3-0 coaching against Buffalo.

QB Ryan Burger will make his first start at Liberty. He started App State's 2023 opener before sustaining a season-ending injury.

RB Billy Lucas is expected to headline the Flames' NCAA No. 3-ranked rushing attack. He has posted a pair of 100-yard games on the ground this season, giving him 10 career 100-yard outings and putting him over the 3,000-yard mark for his career, which includes three years at Duquesne and two at Liberty.

Liberty's tackles leader (83 stops), Joseph Carter was named the TD Club of Richmond Linebacker of the Year (Top LB in Virginia).

"4 Downs" with Buffalo

#1 Saturday will mark the first time Liberty has ever played a game outside the United States. The Flames will have not played a game in over a month (36 days, to be exact), marking the longest break between contests of any FBS football team this season. Earlier this year, Liberty had just one game in a 31-day stretch between Sept. 22 and Oct. 22).

#2 Liberty is facing Buffalo for the second straight year, making this the first time the Flames' bowl opponent was a team they played the previous year. The Flames have matched up with Pete Lembo at two previous stops (Lehigh and Elon), and Liberty is 1-2 in those contests. This will be the first time in over two years that someone other than Kaidon Salter has started at QB for the Flames. Charlie Brewer started vs. New Mexico State on Nov. 26, 2022.

#3 Liberty ranks No. 3 nationally for rushing (258.7 yards/game) after leading the nation in 2023 (293.3 yards/game). The Flames are one of three teams (also App State and Marshall) to make a bowl game during each of their first six seasons of full eligibility following a move up from FCS. Liberty is averaging 39.0 ppg in its three meetings with Buffalo.

#4 Liberty will try to give CUSA its fourth straight Bahamas Bowl champion. The last non-CUSA winner was Buffalo, who beat Charlotte in 2019. The Flames' three 4th quarter/OT comeback wins are tied for the third most in FBS football this season, trailing only Duke and Illinois (four each).

A LIBERTY WIN WOULD...

Improve the Flames' all-time record in bowl games to 4-2, snapping a two-game bowl losing streak.
Boost both Liberty and Jamey Chadwell's all-time record against Buffalo to 4-0.
Push the Flames' all-time record vs. MAC opponents to 8-10, including 6-1 in Liberty's FBS era and 2-1 in bowl games.
Improve CUSA's all-time record in the Bahamas Bowl to 7-3.
Give the Flames a program-record two-year total of 22 wins, breaking the current mark of 21 wins between 2022 and 2023.
Give the Flames back-to-back seasons with nine or more wins for the first time in program history and mark their seventh 9+ win campaign all-time.
Mark Liberty's first-ever victory in the month of January.
Make the Flames' Saturday record 8-0 this season and 16-0 under Jamey Chadwell.

3-0 vs. Buffalo
Liberty is 3-0 all-time against Buffalo in football, defeating the Bulls 27-24 (OT) on Oct. 24, 1998 and giving Hugh Freeze his first win as the Flames' head coach, 35-17 over Buffalo on Sept. 14, 2019. The Flames then won a 55-27 shootout at Buffalo on Sept. 16, 2023.

Current Liberty Head Coach Jamey Chadwell is also 3-0 against Buffalo and will face the Bulls for the fourth year in a row. His Coastal Carolina team earned a 28-25 win at Buffalo on Sept. 18, 2021 before the Chanticleers defeated the Bulls 38-27 on Sept. 17, 2022.

Comeback Kids
Liberty has trailed at some point in all 11 games so far this year. The Flames have overcome deficits of 17 (Sept. 21 versus East Carolina), 14 (Sept. 7 at New Mexico State) and 13 points (Nov. 16 at UMass), in wins.

Liberty is the only FBS team to overcome deficits of 13 points or more in three games this season. The last time an FBS team overcame 13-point or more deficits in three games was 2022 (Houston and LSU).

The Flames' eight come-from-behind wins this year are the most by any FBS team this season.

Saturday Superstars
Liberty is 7-0 this season and 15-0 under second-year Head Coach Jamey Chadwell on Saturday.

Every other FBS team has lost at least one Saturday game since Liberty's last Saturday loss, Nov. 26, 2022 against New Mexico State.

Liberty, Oregon and UNLV are the only FBS teams without a Saturday loss this season.

MAC History
During its FBS era, Liberty is 5-1 versus the MAC, with its only setback coming to Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl. Liberty is 7-10 overall against the MAC.

Liberty is 1-1 against MAC teams in Bowl games, defeating Eastern Michigan 56-20 in the 2021 LendingTree Bowl and falling 21-19 to Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl.

The Flames have also faced two Sun Belt schools, so the MAC will now be Liberty's most frequently played conference in bowl games.

Conference USA teams are 6-3 all-time in the Bahamas Bowl, including 5-3 against MAC teams.

First-Year Feats
Pete Lembo is in his first year as Buffalo's head coach. Liberty is 4-0 this season against first-year head coaches, with wins over Campbell, New Mexico State, UTEP and Middle Tennessee.

Liberty went 1-1 against Elon when Lembo was head coach (L 42-14 on Sept. 22, 2007; W, 26-3 on Nov. 22, 2008). The Flames also fell to a Lembo-coached Lehigh team, 34-26 on Sept. 18, 2004.

Schedule

Game Day: Bahamas Bowl vs. Buffalo

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burger

Joseph Carter

Billy Lucas

Kaidon Salter

Game Day: Bahamas Bowl vs. Buffalo

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burger

Joseph Carter

Billy Lucas

Kaidon Salter

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