Game Day: UTEP

Liberty (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) will travel to UTEP (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) on Wednesday for the Flames' first midweek contest of the season.

Broadcast Information:
TV: CBS Sports Network

Broadcast team: Alex De Barrio (play-by-play), Adam Breneman (analyst)

Radio: LFSN Radio (Local: 88.3 FM | Liberty Flames Mobile App | LibertyFlames.com)

Broadcast team: Alan York (play-by-play), Jason Porter (analyst) and Nick Pierce (sidelines)

Game Day Information:
Location: El Paso, Texas
Stadium: Sun Bowl Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT

News and Notes:

The Flames are 2-0 all-time against UTEP, defeating the Miners in each of the last two seasons by an average of 16 points per contest.
Liberty is 23-5 all-time against CUSA opponents (at time of meeting) but is seeking its first CUSA victory of 2025.
Jamey Chadwell is 22-9 in his third year at Liberty and owns a 53-15 coaching record dating back to the start of 2020. The Flames are 8-5 on the road under Chadwell and 13-4 in CUSA matchups.
Redshirt freshman QB Michael Merdinger made his first career start in place of the injured Ethan Vasko, Sept. 27 at Old Dominion.
WR Donte Lee, Jr. paces the Flames in receiving yards (261) and receiving TDs (3). He ranks No. 7 nationally with 26.1 yards per reception.
Liberty's defense recorded four takeaways (three fumble recoveries and an interception) during their most recent outing, a 21-7 setback at Old Dominion on Sept. 27. That marked the Flames' most turnovers forced since Nov. 23, 2024 vs. WKU.
LBs Joseph Carter (career high-equaling 13 tackles, forced fumble) and Derrell Farrar (career-high 11 tackles, forced fumble) spearheaded the Flames' defensive efforts at Old Dominion. Farrar (36 tackles) and Carter (32) are the team's top two tacklers this year.

"4 Downs" with UTEP

#1 Both Liberty and UTEP are in search of their first CUSA win of the season and their first victory over an FBS opponent in 2025. The Flames' first-ever visit to the Sun Bowl (Nov. 25, 2023) wrapped up their first undefeated regular season. Wednesday's game begins a span of two contests in seven days for the Flames, marking their tightest turnaround of the year.

#2 The Flames are seeking their first game with 200+ rushing yards this season. Liberty has averaged 314 rushing yards per contest in its first two meetings with UTEP, including 441 yards on the ground in El Paso two years ago. Liberty is 2-0 against second-year UTEP head coach Scotty Walden. In addition to last season's 28-10 victory, the Flames topped Southern Miss 56-35 on Oct. 24, 2020 when Walden was serving as interim head coach.

#3 Wednesday will mark the third and final matchup between Liberty and UTEP as CUSA foes. The Miners will join the Mountain West Conference in 2026. Liberty has only played on Wednesday twice in program history, resulting in back-to-back losses to Kennesaw State and Jax State in 2024. The Flames will look to avoid their first three-game losing streak in CUSA play.

#4 Liberty is wrapping up a stretch of playing four out of five contests away from home spanning Sept. 6-Oct. 8. Liberty has dropped four straight road games dating back to 2024 but is 8-5 on the road during Jamey Chadwell's three seasons. Conversely, this will mark UTEP's fourth home game of 2025.

A LIBERTY WIN WOULD...

Mark the Flames' third win over UTEP in as many years, improving Liberty's record to 3-0 in the head-to-head series.
Improve the team's all-time record against CUSA opponents (at time of meeting) to 24-5, including 15-4 since the Flames joined the conference in 2023.
Boost the Flames' all-time record against opponents from Texas to 8-3, including a 5-2 mark in the Longhorn State.
Be the Flames' first road win of 2025, snapping a four-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
Halt the Flames' four-game losing streak and prevent their first five-game losing skid since losing the final 10 contests of the 2005 season.
Move the Flames' October record under Jamey Chadwell to 6-2 and give Liberty an 18-3 record in October contests since the 2020 campaign.
Improve the Flames' record in October midweek CUSA tilts to 6-2, marking the team's first win in three tries on Wednesday.

TEXAS TWO-Step
Liberty is 7-3 all-time against teams from the state of Texas and 4-2 when playing in the Longhorn State.

The Flames won at Texas State (17-14, Sept. 18, 1993), at Baylor (48-45, Sept. 2, 2017), at North Texas (35-26, Oct. 23, 2021) and at UTEP (42-28, Nov. 25, 2023). Liberty's only losses in Texas were Sept. 17, 2016 at SMU (29-14) and Nov. 29, 2024 at Sam Houston (20-18).

Prior to last year's loss at Sam Houston, Liberty had won each of its last four meetings with teams from Texas since a 47-7 home loss to North Texas on Sept. 22, 2018.

COMEBACK KIDS
Liberty's 42-28 win at UTEP on Nov. 25, 2023 was the team's last game in which the Flames never trailed.

Since then, Liberty has gone 10-9, trailing at some point in all 19 games.

Last season, Liberty led all FBS teams with eight come-from-behind wins. That includes the Flames' last meeting with UTEP (Sept. 14, 2024), which the Miners led 3-0 before the Flames took over and won 28-10.

CUSA SUCCESS
Liberty is 23-5 all-time against Conference USA opponents at time of meeting. That includes a 14-4 record versus CUSA teams since joining the league in 2023.

The Flames went 8-0 in conference play during their first year in the league, on the way to the CUSA title and a New Year's Six berth.

Liberty was the first CUSA team to win each of its first 11 regular-season Conference USA games, prior to the Flames' loss to Kennesaw State, Oct. 23, 2024.

CHADWELL vs. UTEP
Jamey Chadwell is 2-0 all-time against UTEP, as he has been at the helm for both meetings between the Flames and Miners.

The Flames rushed for the second-most yards in a game in program history on Nov. 25, 2023 at UTEP, grinding out 441 rushing yards in a 42-28 road triumph. Last year, Billy Lucas' 104 rushing yards helped spur Liberty to a 28-10 win over UTEP.

This season, UTEP allows 154.8 rushing yards per game, compared to 225.0 rushing yards allowed for the Flames.

MIDWEEK MADNESS
The Flames are 5-2 so far during October midweek Conference USA games, including 4-0 on Tuesday, 1-0 on Thursday and 0-2 on Wednesday.

Liberty won each of its first five CUSA midweek contests before falling at Kennesaw State and at home to Jacksonville State in a pair of Wednesday matchups in 2024.

Schedule

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Players Mentioned

Joseph Carter

Derrell Farrar

Donte Lee, Jr.

Billy Lucas

Michael Merdinger

Ethan Vasko