Conference USA season waits no more for Liberty and head coach Jamey Chadwell. The program will officially begin its defense of last season’s league title Saturday night when it travels two time zones over to face off with New Mexico State.
The Aggies and Flames have developed a rivalry in recent years, facing off seven times since 2018. This is the first time since 2019 that Liberty will travel west for the matchup.
It also marks a rematch of last season’s CUSA championship game at Williams Stadium, where Liberty walked out with a 49-35 win after a previous 16-point win over the Aggies in September 2023.
Aside from the logo on the helmet, however, not much is the same for New Mexico State this season as they break in a new coach, quarterback and mostly-new defense.
Tony Sanchez, in his first season after taking over for Jerry Kill, moved to 1-0 at NMSU with a 23-16 win over Southeast Missouri. Sanchez didn’t enjoy a quarterback performance as well as former NMSU standout Diego Pavia’s at Vanderbilt on Saturday, but he didn’t need it, as his team picked up on their top-15 nationally rushing performance last year with another good one.
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The defense — led by Joe Morris, who held Liberty to its second-fewest points output last season (21) when he was defensive coordinator at Sam Houston State — held Southeast Missouri to three field goals after the first quarter last week.
The Aggies had 14 first-time starters against the FCS-level Red Hawks, got out-gained overall and needed a touchdown inside the final 2 minutes to pull out the home victory.
Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell, who was frustrated at times with his own team’s Week One performance, thinks Sanchez’s crew will be up to the task of trying to knock off CUSA’s best from a year ago.
“Your first game isn’t necessarily a reflection of what your overall team looks like because you’re trying to gel so many people at a time,” he said. “At least we’ve got a game to see … I expect them to play way better than they did. I expect us to play way better than we did.”
Matchup to watch: Flames defensive front versus Aggies’ veteran offensive line
There’s no question that the strength of the New Mexico State’s team is found in its offensive line, where it boasts a combined 101 collegiate starts between the position group.
The Aggies were down their best overall lineman against SEMO in left tackle Shiyazh Pete, who remains off the depth chart this week, but that didn’t stop them from running the ball 49 times for 210 yards and two scores.
With preseason watch list candidates center Canaan Yarro and left guard AJ Vaipulu, Sanchez still has the pieces to have a formidable rushing attack, with Mike Washington and Oklahoma transfer Seth McGowan leading the way.
Co-defensive coordinator Skylor Magee mixes it up with the players during Saturday’s fan appreciation event.
Bryson Gordon, The News & Advance
It creates the most intriguing matchup of the game against a defensive front for Liberty that, aside from a 64-yard run by Campbell’s Mark Biggins, bottled up the run fairly well.
“We played 54 plays on defense and 48 of them, pretty good,” Chadwell said about Campbell. “It was just the six that we missed some tackles or didn’t execute … and gave up some big plays. Those are the things we have to avoid.”
Player to watch: Elijah Canion
Last season it was CJ Daniels who torched the Aggies secondary on both occasions, combining for 11 catches for 286 yards and two scores. He had catches of more than 60 yards in each game, and look for Elijah Canion to be able to provide the same big-play ability against the Aggies this week.
At 6-foot-4, the Purdue transfer provides a big target for Salter in the red zone as well.
Liberty receiver Elijah Canion (5) finished with three catches for 77 yards against Campbell on Saturday.
Paige Dingler, The News & Advance
Treon Sibley stole the shine with his 70-yard score against Campbell on Saturday, but Canion turned in a nice debut with three catches for 77 yards, including one for 50 yards over the middle of the field.
He didn’t start Saturday, but tied Darius Copeland for second-most receptions in the game in a Flames offense that could continue to spread things around while Salter settles in with new faces at receiver.
“I thought Elijah made some plays,” Chadwell said when asked about his receivers after the Campbell win. “You know, that first one’s always challenging, just for playing as clean as possible. And we got through it, thankfully, so I expect us to get better there and the trust factor to improve.”
How to watch the Liberty Flames’ versus New Mexico State
Radio: 88.3 FM Lynchburg
Place: Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Weather: 79 degrees, wind 10 mph SW
Odds: Liberty -22, 56.5 total
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Publish date : 2024-09-04 00:00:00
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