Every week on “Is it Saturday Yet?” (found on Apple and Spotify) myself, Andrew Diaz, and Bryce Hopwood all choose a group of five school to highlight. We try to do this in five minutes, hence the name “G5 Five.” This week, my shoutout goes to the 8-0 Liberty Flames, who have flown under the radar a bit. Air Force and James Madison have stolen a lot of the spotlight. They are also off to 8-0 starts and deserve the love as well. However, this is all about the Flames.

How they got here

When it was first announced that Jamey Chadwell was leaving Coastal Carolina for Liberty, it felt like a lateral move. He had gone 39-22 at Coastal Carolina and had stud QB Grayson McCall returning for another season. However, after digging deeper, Chadwell was set for quite the pay increase. His base salary at Coastal was $900,000 with incentives that could see him and his staff make up to $2.6 million. At Liberty, Chadwell will be making more than $4 million a season. That seems like a smart choice for the 46 year-old. The Falwell money hits different. This gives him a chance to have a Hugh Freeze-like move to a big time school if he continues his success at Liberty.

Not to discredit the Flames, but they did enter the season with the easiest schedule in the country. However, a team like Jacksonville State that seemed like a walk in the park is now 7-2. Liberty beat them 31-13. QB Kaidon Salter transferred from Tennessee two years ago and in his first full season starting he has flourished. Salter has thrown for 1,662 yards, 19 TDs, and just 3 INTs. He has added an additional 614 yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground. RB Quinton Cooley is 16th in the FBS with 802 yards rushing.

The Flames defense hasn’t been stellar, but it has forced turnovers. Liberty is 3rd in the nation in turnover differential at +10. This speaks to both the offense and defense clicking. 488.4 yards of offense a game ranks as the 8th best in the country.

What’s Next?

Liberty has a very good chance at finishing the regular season 12-0. They face Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, UMass, and UTEP. All four of these teams are currently at or under .500. This would see them in the Conference USA title game, most likely against New Mexico State with Jacksonville State ineligible. Unfortunately, with Air Force also undefeated and in a stronger Mountain West conference, it is pretty unlikely we see Liberty in a NY6 bowl. With that being said, it is still important for Chadwell to have a season like this. Next year, the highest G5 team will get a spot in the 6-team playoff. It isn’t all that crazy to think with the money being spent on the football program, this Liberty team could be in playoff contention down the road. For now, they’ll have to settle with being my G5 shoutout of the week.