Lynchburg, Va. – It is the matchup that would not be denied.
Liberty and Coastal Carolina, former Big South rivals, were scheduled to face each other during Liberty’s regular season finale on Dec. 5 at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. however, the contest was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Liberty Football program.
Liberty finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and is currently ranked No. 23 in the final regular season Associated Press and Amway Coaches national top-25 polls. Coastal Carolina replaced Liberty with undefeated BYU and handed the Cougars their first defeat. The Chanticleers were unable to play in the Sun Belt title game because of Covid reasons. Now, the matchup gets another chance, and Liberty is excited for the opportunity.
“Ours(players) are excited, you know -- to have a challenge like this, to measure ourselves at this point in our tenure here second year year two, To play a top 15 team in a ball game is pretty exciting,” Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze says.
”A lot of people are really anxious to get back on the field we’ve been sitting out for a while and I think they’re working hard to focus on the game plan the coaches gave us just trying to go out there and do the best we can,” Liberty quarterback Malik Willis says.
”We’ve regained another opportunity for the postseason to go out there and play in a ball game against a top 15 team. So there’s just a lot of excitement and energy and positive vibes that is around this building right here that we’re going to take with us down to Orlando,” Liberty safety Javon Scruggs says.
Last year, Liberty captured its first-ever bowl victory with a 23-16 win over Georgia Southern in the RBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Dec. 21 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
With the win over Georgia Southern in last year’s Cure Bowl, Liberty became the third team in NCAA history to win a bowl game during their first full season at the FBS level. Liberty finished the 2019 season with an 8-5 overall record.
The Cure Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night from Camping World Stadium in Orlando.