Flames’ win over Arkansas ‘probably the biggest in school history’

Those words still hadn’t come to him Monday morning. How could he adequately describe the program’s first win over an SEC program, especially when the Flames had picked up several marquee victories in his three-plus year tenure?

“I think it would probably be hard to argue that it’s not the biggest win in school history,” he said Monday morning.

The triumph over Arkansas trumps the Flames’ 2020 triumphs over Syracuse and Virginia Tech and gives the young FBS program a marquee win in a hostile Power Five environment.

Those 2020 wins came in front of an empty stadium in Syracuse and only 1,000 fans at Lane Stadium. The Flames won Saturday in front of 70,072 stunned Arkansas fans expecting the Razorbacks to come back and record the victory.

“You’re not talking about an SEC team that’s not having a winning record — and they’re going to win more games, I believe — and what we did on that day outside of the fourth quarter, I thought we were the better team for three quarters,” Freeze said.

The Oct. 22 triumph over BYU is still considered the biggest home win in program history.

“It was a huge win. I don’t think I can quantify it in words,” Freeze reiterated by the triumph over Arkansas. “Big, big win. I think probably the biggest in school history and obviously we’re thrilled to do it.”

A typical Monday during the season features the team going through a walk-through to get a start on preparing for the upcoming opponent that is followed by a team meeting.

Freeze elected to skip the on-field work and focus only on the team meeting Monday morning with multiple players needing extra time to heal up in preparation for Saturday’s game at UConn.

“They had yesterday and today really off to hopefully get those guys [ready],” he said. “You’ve got the injured crew, which obviously it is what it is, but then you’ve got the others that I’m going to play, but, boy, I could use a little recovery time. We’re trying to balance that the best you can and get prepared.”

Running back Dae Dae Hunter was scheduled to have an MRI Monday afternoon on his left knee. Hunter suffered an injury, needed assistance off the field and was taken by a cart to an on-site medical facility during the first half of the Flames’ win.

Freeze said Saturday he was hopeful it was lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury but wasn’t sure until seeing the results of the MRI.

Wide receiver Caleb Snead (Heritage High) started Saturday’s game at Arkansas as the Flames opted to go with the 12 personnel package. It was the group Snead worked with during the week’s practice as the staff elected to gradually work him back into the rotation.

Snead hadn’t played since Sept. 17 when he suffered a stress reaction in his right foot against Wake Forest. He practiced the Tuesday before the BYU game on Oct. 22 but was unable to participate the remainder of the week and was held out for a return against the Razorbacks.

The 6-foot-4 Snead was targeted four times in his return and finished with two catches for 14 yards.

“I think this will be a big week for him. We really only asked him to handle one personnel grouping when we were in 12 personnel,” Freeze said, “and hopefully now this week he can get back to running with both 12 and 11 and our posse personnel and the rest of those. Hopefully he can get back in the flow of the whole thing.”

Liberty’s first home game against one of the two in-state Power Five conference programs was set early Monday afternoon.

The Flames are hosting Virginia Tech on Nov. 19 and the game will kick off at noon and will be streamed on ESPN+.

This is the second of a six-game series between the programs. Liberty opened the series in 2020 with a 38-25 win at Lane Stadium, and the teams will play in Blacksburg in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The finale of the series is scheduled for Sept. 7, 2030, in Lynchburg.