The Liberty Flames and the Oregon Ducks meet in the Fiesta Bowl in college football action on Monday. Can Liberty complete the undefeated season? Or will Oregon give Liberty a reality check on the grandest stage? Let’s dive in and find out with our Liberty vs. Oregon Prediction.
Liberty Team Preview
The Liberty Flames come into this game with a record of 13-0 on the year. Kaidon Salter has thrown for 2,750 yards, 31 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 60.9% passing while also rushing for 1,064 yards and 12 TDs. Quinton Cooley leads the Flames on the ground with 1,322 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns and Billy Lucas has 578 rushing yards and 6 scores. Aaron Bedgood also has 507 rushing yards and 3 TDs. CJ Daniels leads Liberty’s receiving group with 47 grabs for 988 yards and 10 touchdowns while Treon Sibley has 459 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. Noah Frith has 323 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns while another three Liberty receivers each have 200+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Tyren Dupree has a team-high 115 total tackles along with a pair of interceptions while Brylan Green has a team-high 5 interceptions and Kobe Singleton has 4 INTs as well this season. Kendy Charles and CJ Bazile Jr. each lead Liberty with 3 sacks as well this season, but Charles is in the transfer portal ahead of this game.
Oregon Team Preview
The Oregon Ducks come into the bowl game with a record of 11-2 on the year, losing to Washington twice to put them in this bowl game. Bo Nix has thrown for 4,145 yards, 40 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 77.2% passing while Bucky Irving has a team-high 1,063 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns and Jordan James has 696 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Nix may have to do a fair bit of re-tooling for this bowl game, with his top receiver Troy Franklin opting out of this bowl game and #2 receiver Tez Johnson and top tight end Terrance Ferguson also potentially opting out. On defense, Tysheem Johnson may opt out as well while Jordan Burch on the line has been practicing but is also dealing with an injury.
Liberty vs. Oregon Prediction
I’m on the over here. I sense a level of motivation here with Nix and Irving coming back to play for Oregon here with a sense of unfinished business, and I just don’t know how Liberty generates stops with those guys on the field. On the other side, I have a hard time laying this kind of number with Oregon because it sets up for a backdoor spot if Liberty scores a couple of garbage time TDs and sneaks in the back door. All in all I think a high-scoring game is in store here, so give me the over.
