Kicking off on Friday Night as a portion of the college football slate, the Liberty Flames will face off with the Delaware Blue Hens. These two teams enter with a 3-1 and 2-2 record on the season, and this will be a matchup that will play a major role in the Conference USA standings at the year’s conclusion.
Looking at the odds, Liberty enters as a 6.5-point favorites and hold -270 odds of winning outright on DraftKings Sportsbook. Delaware holds +220 odds of pulling off the upset, with the game total set at 49.5 points.
This article will preview both teams and provide a pick for the Week 5 CFB matchup.
Liberty vs. Delaware Preview
Liberty Preview
The Liberty Flames enter with a 3-1 record to start the year in the fourth season with Jamey Chadwell at the helm. They kicked off the year with a 20-13 loss to James Madison University, but have ripped off three consecutive wins against Gardner-Webb, Ball State, and Coastal Carolina. Liberty is 2-2 against the spread so far this season.
While the 3-1 record in itself is promising, there have been some pretty notable ups-and-downs to getting there. The Flames outgained James Madison 231-291 and dominated the time of possession battle 37:17-22:43 in the season opener, but failed to find a way to win as the 17-3 hole they fell in proved to be too significant. Liberty was then pushed to the limit by Gardner-Webb the following week, trailing 23-17 in the fourth quarter before scoring a touchdown with 2:39 left to play to produce the comeback win. Liberty has been on the right path since, defeating Ball State 51-15 and then Coastal Carolina 34-17, covering the spread in each game in relatively convincing efforts.
Quarterback Deshawn Purdle headlines the production, completing 58.8% of his pass attempts and throwing for 779 yards and seven touchdowns, and has yet to record an interception on the year. Kam Davis leads the rushing attack with 310 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Peyton Jones adds 202 rushing yards of his own. Makai Jackson has already raised quite a few eyebrows with big plays, recording 379 yards through the air and five touchdowns on the season. Jamari Person and Darius Copeland have each also tallied 115+ yards through the air and combined for three scores.
As a team, Liberty is averaging 30.5 points per game, which ranks 73rd out of the 138 qualifying D1 teams. Defensively, opposing teams are scoring 18.8 points per game against the Flames, which ranks 38th.
Delaware Preview
The Delaware Blue Hens enter with a 2-2 record on the season, looking to build off their 7-6 record from their first season in Conference USA last year. They kicked off the season with a 42-7 win over Merrimack in which they generated 547 total yards of offense. Delaware fell 35-26 in the following week against Vanderbilt before defeating Coastal Carolina 22-14. The Blue Hens covered the spread in each of their first three games. Most recently, Delaware fell 42-3 against Virginia, failing to cover the spread as 20.5-point underdogs.
Nick Minicucci opened the year as the starting quarterback for Delaware, completing 57.3% of his pass attempts for 838 passing yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions, while adding one score with his legs. But Minicucci suffered a knee injury against Virginia, which forced Braden Streeter to step in at quarterback. Streeter completed just two of his 16 pass attempts for nine yards and tossed a pair of interceptions in the loss. Riley Trujillo also attempted three passes, completing just one for 38 yards. Head coach Ryan Carty has been tight-lipped when asked about the outlook at the quarterback position, but Minicucci was considered doubtful in the early parts of the week.
Jo Silver is the team’s leading rusher with 205 rushing yards and a touchdown on the year. Kaderris Roberts and Viron Ellison Jr. have also reached the end zone on the ground. Sean Wilson headlines the production at wide receiver, pulling in 20 receptions for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Da’Wain Lofton has tallied 13 receptions for 258 yards and a touchdown, while Roberts has added 132 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield.
The Blue Hens’ defense has been impressive this season, with 14 sacks tallied through the first five games. They limited Virginia to 2.9 yards per carry and Vanderbilt to 2.6 yards per carry during the pair of losses, and the consistency push from the defensive line has been a defining overall trait. Delaware is allowing 24.5 points per game on average, which ranks 83rd out of the 138 qualifying D1 teams. Offensively, the Blue Hens are averaging 23.2 points per game, which ranks 103rd in the country.
Liberty vs. Delaware Pick
The lack of certainty at the quarterback position makes the outlook for this matchup difficult. Minicucci has not taken the leap forward as hoped for coming into the season, but the quarterback play beyond him was greatly concerning last week. This is especially an issue as Liberty has forced each of their last three opponents to complete below 50% of their pass attempts. There is fair reason for optimism about the outlook for the Blue Hens’ defense, but it would take a dominant effort from Delaware on this side of the ball to get their desired result in this matchup.
Liberty had some early growing pains but are beginning to shape into the high-powered offensive threat they desire to be. They outscored Ball State and Coastal Carolina 85-32 across the past two games and generated 945 total yards of offense in this stretch. The Flames even started relatively slow against Coastal Carolina, but managed to generate 263 yards on the ground even while losing a pair of fumbles.
Delaware was vastly outmatched by Virginia last week, in which they only produced 160 yards of offense. Their defense was gashed for 556 yards, and the pass rush was unable to put their mark on the game. Liberty will be a step down in competition, but plenty of the Blue Hens’ issues have felt self-inflicted. Not having a clear outlook at the quarterback position is problematic, and it will take this being a low-scoring battle for this game to remain competitive.
Don’t expect this to be the case as the Flames gradually push the scoring to a level that the Blue Hens cannot match. Liberty’s lone loss at the hands of James Madison has aged well – the Dukes won each of their three games since by a combined margin of 159-36 and covered the spread in all three wins. They have largely handled business since this point, and expect this to be the case in this matchup.
Expect the quarterback uncertainty surrounding Delaware to lead to some growing pains in the offense and for Liberty to score at a rate the Blue Hens cannot match. They have scored 24+ in each of their last three games, and this should be enough to win and cover on this seven-point spread. Expect Liberty to lean on their established identity and for their business-like approach to pave the way for this being a comfortable spread to clear.
