Liberty University is a private Christian University located in Lynchburg, Virginia. It plays in the NFCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. They are known as the Flames and play at Arthur L. Williams Stadium, often shortened to Williams Stadium.
History[edit | edit source]
Although the Flames were around before the 2018 season, nobody really cared about them. Because of the University's inability to keep records, most of the scores and players before that time are lost. What is known is that the Flames started out as a Division 2 Independent, before moving to the FCS and playing in the Big South Conference. Eventually the team moved up to FBS and joined the Sun Belt.
Bumbly C. Tumbleton Era (2018-)[edit | edit source]
2018 (Season 1)
Bumbly C. Tumbleton (u/Bkfootball) took over Liberty's football program after the previous coach was fired for an unimpressive 1-2 start. Tumbleton immediately got to work, implementing the Spread on offense and focusing on a pass-heavy air raid. Liberty's Freshman quarterback, Beavis Bacon, performed incredibly well under this new offense. However, the poor defensive play meant that almost every game Liberty played in was a shootout.
Tumbleton's team would finish the season with a 3-3 record as the team struggled to find their identity.
2019 (Season 2)
| Week | Opp | Score |
| 1 | Northern Illinois | W 42-28 |
| 2 | Kent State | W 36-35 |
| 3 | Louisiana-Monroe | W 54-30 |
| 4 | Western Michigan | W 15-13 |
| 5 | Appalachian State | W 42-21 |
| 6 | New Mexico State | W 35-20 |
| 7 | Georgia Southern | W 28-23 |
| 8 | Georgia State | L 35-21 |
| 9 | Cincinnati | W 35-28 |
| 10 | Troy | W 46-40 |
| 11 | Coastal Carolina | W 31-10 |
| 12 | Arkansas State | W 22-0 |
| Sun Belt Championship | South Alabama | L 38-27 |
| Bowl Week | Oklahoma | L 38-34 |
Beavis Bacon would return for 2019, as well as most of the wide receiving corps from last year. One key addition was 4* WR Frederick Tinnitus, who would become Bacon's favorite target and score the majority of the team's touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Tumbleton would do a great job in recruiting twin 5* cornerbacks Morris Jeckings and Norris Jeckings. These two would make up almost all of the team's defense, as the rest of the team was known to hotbox before games with the university's president.
The team would get off to an electrifying 11-1 start and be ranked at #7 with a chance to make it to the playoffs. However, a 38-27 upset by South Alabama in the Sun Belt's Conference Championship Game ended all of Liberty's hopes and dreams. They would go on to lose their bowl game to Oklahoma as well.
2020 (Season 3)
Liberty was still ranked after a disappointing end to 2019 and looking for revenge and a return to glory. The team would end up going 7-5 mostly against mediocre teams. However, they did win their bowl game against Georgia.
2021 (Season 4)
Tumbleton was still looking to prove himself going into 2021, as 2019 was looking more and more like a fluke. Tumbleton would introduce the newly-developed Air Raid to his offense, making things even easier for the now-senior Beavis Bacon and his receivers.