The "Flames" of a million prayer candles still won't make Jesus love this school.
The 2019 Syracuse Football Orange open the season on the road, down in Lynchburg, VA against the Liberty Flames. Liberty is just moving up to FBS eligibility and has new Head Coach Hugh Freeze.
Let's get a few things out of the way. Basically non-football related. First, this university was founded by Jerry Falwell, Sr. Here's a small sample of some really awesome, open-minded, tolerant, welcoming things he's said:
AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.
If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.
The whole global warming thing is created to destroy America's free enterprise system and our economic stability.
He's been dead for a bit, but luckily his son, Jr., took over as president of this fine institution of learning. Here's a gem from him:
In my opinion, Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping others as Jesus taught in the great commandment. He cannot be bought; he's not a puppet on a string like many other candidates... who have wealthy donors as their puppet masters.
I'm not ripping on anyone's religion or beliefs, and am a Catholic myself. I'm just calling out blatant hypocrisy when I see it. This thing only exists for profit (not to be confused with prophet) and I just can't imagine that the Jesus in the Bible would ever sign on to much of anything either of these Falwell dudes have soapboxed.
Whether or not Syracuse should be playing this school is a discussion to be had in a different forum, though I know there are several Syracuse fans very salty about this. With valid points, to be sure, but there are lots of schools out there with other opinions we might not like, and quite frankly Syracuse doesn't have a squeaky clean history (even in recent memory) with what should seem to be common sense human decency issues, so who am I to really cast a stone here?
And so, onto football. Liberty competes as an independent, and as it enters its first year of FBS eligibility, it faces some huge hurdles. QB transfer Malik Willis just learned he will not be eligible this season and has to sit out, so that leaves the Flames to start Stephen Calvert. Willis was the "dual-threat" quarterback, while Calvert is the traditional pocket passer. Now that Syracuse knows what it's facing, it'll be easier to prepare and probably easier to defend, though Calvert had some decent numbers throwing downfield last year. However, he's prone to interceptions, and this veteran Syracuse defense is one that loves to create turnovers. On offense for Syracuse, Tommy DeVito inherits the reins from Eric Dungey. NJTom has a completely different style than Eric, so we won't see a ton of QB runs or scrambles or hurdling or clotheslines, but instead we'll see a gunslinger who can get the ball downfield accurately and has some talented receivers to help him out. And with a great running game led by Moe Neal, the Orange offense has the ability to keep the defense on its heels and run up the score. The Syracuse O-line is young and its ability to hold for passes or block for runs will really be the the difference. With better talent there, I see Syracuse winning 53-17, blowing by the Vegas spread.
The game is exclusive to the ESPN+ subscription-only service at 6:00pm EDT. Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze might be watching that way, if his immune system can't handle people yet and he's coaching from a hotel room. Brian and I will both be north of the border and listening to the dulcet tones of Matt Park on the radio call via SiriusXM 203 or other app type things. If we happen to not be driving, you can catch us on the tweets @jbren and @BH_Orange44. It's okay to be giddy like a kid on Christmas morning: GO ORANGE!
Labels: ACC, Bad Religion, Football, Preview
0 Responses to “Liberty Quick Predictions”
Post a Comment