Lynchburg, Va. – It’s been something of a rollercoaster at Liberty over the past month or so. The Flames were nationally ranked after defeating BYU and then taking down Arkansas on the road.
Unfortunately, they followed up the success with three straight losses including a blowout while visiting New Mexico State in the season finale. That loss came as rumors swirled about coach Hugh Freeze’s imminent departure to Auburn.
Freeze would depart for the SEC soon after, and new head coach Jamey Chadwell would be hired to replace him just days later.
Meanwhile, holdover interim coach Josh Aldridge was tasked with taking the team into the team’s fourth straight bowl. It’s fair to say it is a lot for any program and it is a lot and group of kids to be handed for certain.
Coach Aldridge said he is focusing on getting the team focused on the task at hand.
“Probably about week five or six we were about as good as anybody in the country from a ‘group of five’ standpoint. Whenever that was, whenever we got ranked and all that stuff. I felt like we are hitting on all cylinders really on both sides of the ball, that was when we were hitting a little bit of a stride on offense too. And at some point we just kind of lost that edge there at the end and I just try to get that edge back. That’s been our emphasis – our edge, our spirit, whatever you wanna call it – confidence – all that stuff, just trying to get that back, and refocus and get to that point has been my focus,” Interim coach Aldridge said.
The Flames are set to battle MAC champ Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl on December 20. The Rockets are 8-5, Liberty comes in 8-4.