What Does Liberty Bring to Saturday's Game at Arkansas?

Which Razorback strengths line up against the Flames' weakness and vice versa?

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Nov 2, 2022 11:51 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Contrary to popular belief, college football isn't about records. It's about match-ups.

That's why it was easy to predict Arkansas would struggle with Missouri State earlier in the season. Athletic, highly accurate quarterbacks with fast deep threat receivers are the achilles heel for the Razorbacks.

Every stat sheet, piece of film and the soft chanting of revenge curses rising up from Bobby Petrino's house clearly indicated Arkansas would find itself in a shootout.

So what do the tea leaves and game footage suggest fans should expect Saturday afternoon when Hugh Freeze brings his 7-1 Liberty Flames to town?

First off, it should be noted that not all 7-1 records are equal. Liberty's slate features a literal Who's Who of ESPN's Bottom 10 weekly feature.

Not only does it feature the weakest of FBS teams, but it also showcases weak FCS schools also. Remember the Mercer team that Auburn trounced 42-16?

Well, that same Mercer team beat Garner-Webb, 45-14. Liberty beat survived the Bulldogs by a single point.

The pride of the Liberty football team is its offensive line. BYU ran a four-man front last week and rarely got penetration that the Flames didn't allow on purpose.

However, the effect of a powerful offensive line is minimal against the Arkansas defense. Barry Odom just dials up a three-man front to avoid direct contact while also providing extra support in pass defense.

While the linemen aren't much of an issue for a defense that puts as much pressure on a quarterback as he might face in that carnival game where you pick up ducks for a prize, the running game is a different story.

Dae Dae Hunter is a legit back with explosive speed. His line makes large holes for him and he knows how to utilize the opportunity to gain as many yards as possible as quickly as he can.

The Arkansas linebackers will have a hard time containing Hunter. If they take a poor angle or don't properly wrap up he could be dancing in the end zone before Razorback fans can get the lid off the cheese for their pretzel.

Hunter is on the heels of Raheim "Rocket" Sanders with 821 rushing yards, 149 receiving yards and an average of nearly seven yards per carry. He can house it from long range also with multiple career carries over 80 yards.

It should also be noted that Hunter isn't a shake and bake kind of running back. He may shift his hips a bit, but his shoulders are usually going to be centered over his core.

Hunter ran for 213 against BYU last week while averaging nearly a first down per carry.

He has good power also. If Arkansas finds a way to lose this game, there's a good chance Hunter will be a major reason why.

Also, keep an eye on back-up running back Shedro Louis. He doesn't get the ball often, but when he does, it's electric.

He's the type of back fans see blur toward the hole, they literally blink, and he's already past the secondary before their eyes refocus.

As for the quarterbacks, there's not a huge running threat from either Charlie Brewer nor Johnathan Bennett. However, neither has to be.

While the wide receiving corps isn't the most athletic or speedy, they get open just barely enough for either quarterback to thread the needle and threading the needle is what Brewer and Bennett do best.

Go back and watch the highlights of the BYU game. You will notice three things about Liberty:

1. If the receivers can get just an inch or two on sideline routes, a Liberty quarterback is going float one in. These quarterbacks throw to the outside shoulder like a magnet is in use.

2. The Liberty receivers aren't fast, but they are laterally quick. Once second these guys are there on an underneath route and the next they have skipped five yards to their right and are planting to drive themselves into the open for a big play.

3. Liberty doesn't utilize the Arkansas kryptonite of a wide receiver running to the deep middle.

On the defensive side, the Flames have good speed, but not great speed. If there ever was a game to find a conventional way to get the ball in the hands of Malik Hornsby this is it.

There are holes in this secondary so there should be opportunities for receivers to get open. This isn't a defense that requires a great deal of trickery, so as long as the Razorbacks don't get cute in their play calls, there will be plenty of chances to extend plays in the passing game.

If there's a true weakness in Liberty's game it's the defensive line. The Flames are neither big, strong, nor fast across the front.

The tape shows defensive linemen easily controlled by the offense while being virtually incapable of penetration. Arkansas hasn't seen a defensive front line mismatch for the size and running abilities of KJ Jefferson and Sanders like this all year long.

At times, Liberty will try to crowd the line of scrimmage to compensate for its line, which creates one-on-one passing situations that should result in receivers running free. It should also be noted that the Flames struggle to maintain the edge against the running game.

So with so many opportunities to take advantage of this team, outside of the weak schedule, how has Liberty found so much success.

The answer is through discipline. While Liberty isn't going to physically blow anyone away, the Flames are precise in everything they do and do not miss assignments.

They're the old guys at the local tennis club who just block the ball back over the net. Freeze's team is going to keep doing things the right way until the other team makes a mistake.

Because the Flames run the play exactly as it's designed every single time, when a mistake does happen, it's usually one of consequence. Arkansas cannot afford to get out of position even in the slightest.

A team of equal discipline in what it should be doing while also deploying SEC talent should take down the Flames rather handily. Unfortunately for Sam Pittman, while his Razorbacks have many enviable traits, discipline isn't one.

The Hogs are prone to penalties, mental mistakes, missed assignments and just straight up being out of position more often than any SEC team ever should. That's why there's every reason to believe that the Razorbacks will take a game where talent dictates they should win in a blowout and find a way to make it a nail biter for at least three quarters.

Unless Arkansas went and purchased a new secondary at the Texas A&M NIL Discount Store this past Sunday, this game will devolve into a shootout that, once again, the offense will have to claw its way through.