2017 Liberty Flames football team

The 2017 Liberty Flames football team represented Liberty University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Turner Gill and played their home games at Williams Stadium. They were a member of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 2–3 in Big South play to finish in fourth place.

2017 Liberty Flames football
ConferenceBig South Conference
2017 record6–5 (2–3 Big South)
Head coachTurner Gill (6th season)
Offensive coordinatorJoe Dailey
Co-defensive coordinatorRobert Wimberly
Co-defensive coordinatorVantz Singletary
Home stadiumWilliams Stadium
(Capacity: 19,200)
2017 Big South Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 8 Kennesaw State $^  5 –0     12 –2  
Monmouth ^  4 –1     9 –3  
Charleston Southern  3 –2     6 –5  
Liberty *  2 –3     6 –5  
Presbyterian  1 –4     4 –7  
Gardner–Webb  0 –5     1 –10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • * Liberty ineligible for postseason due to FBS transition
Rankings from STATS Poll

The school owned by Jerry Falwell Jr. announced plans to undergo the two-year transition period join the Division I FBS as a football independent, while remaining in the Big South Conference in all other sports.[1] While normally against NCAA rules to transition to FBS without a conference invite, Liberty was granted a waiver.[1]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 27:00 p.m.at Baylor*
FS2W 48–4545,784
September 96:00 p.m.Morehead State*No. 20
BSN
ESPN3		W 58–1717,118
September 166:00 p.m.Indiana State*No. 19
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
BSN
ESPN3		W 42–4116,060
September 237:00 p.m.at No. 5 Jacksonville State*No. 16
OVCDNL 10–3123,944
September 306:00 p.m.Saint Francis (PA)*No. 22
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
BSN
ESPN3		L 7–1315,886
October 146:00 p.m.Kennesaw State
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
ESPN3L 28-4217,726
October 211:00 p.m.at Monmouth
ESPN3L 39-564,235
October 28Noonat Gardner–Webb
STADIUMW 33-173,850
November 43:30 p.m.Duquesne*
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
BSN
ESPN3
MASN		W 27–2414,634
November 113:30 p.m.Presbyterian
  • Williams Stadium
  • Lynchburg, VA
CFDSW 47–2818,001
November 18Noonat Charleston Southern
L 19–203,345

Game summaries

at Baylor
See also: 2017 Baylor Bears football team
Liberty @ Baylor
1 234Total
• Flames 6 111714 48
Bears 0 171414 45
  • Date: September 2
  • Location: McLane Stadium
    Waco, TX
  • Game start: 7:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 3:48
  • Game attendance: 45,784
  • Game weather: 92 °F (33 °C) • Fair Skies • SSE 5–10 MPH
  • Referee: Dan Lewis
  • TV announcers (FS2): Eric Collins, AJ Hawks and Danny Kanell
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

Morehead State
See also: 2017 Morehead State Eagles football team
Morehead State @ Liberty
1 234Total
Eagles 0 1070 17
• No. 20 Flames 24 2176 58
  • Date: September 9
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 3:12
  • Game attendance: 17,118
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C) • Partly Cloudy • NE 4 MPH
  • Referee: Stuart Mullins
  • TV announcers (BSN/ESPN3): Mike Tilley, Matt Warner and Rett McGibbon
Overall record Last meeting Result
5–3 1991 L, 10–12

Indiana State
See also: 2017 Indiana State Sycamores football team
Indiana State @ Liberty
1 234Total
Sycamores 7 17143 41
• No. 19 Flames 14 14140 42
  • Date: September 16
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 3:29
  • Game attendance: 16,060
  • Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C) • Cloudy • NE 5 MPH
  • Referee: Jerry Magallanes
  • TV announcers (BSN/ESPN3): Mike Tilley and Matt Warner
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–2 2014 L, 19–38

at Jacksonville State
See also: 2017 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team
Liberty @ Jacksonville State
1 234Total
No. 16 Flames 3 070 10
• No. 5 Gamecocks 0 10147 31
  • Date: September 23
  • Location: JSU Stadium
    Jacksonville, AL
  • Game start: 7:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:57
  • Game attendance: 23,944
  • Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C) • Clear • ENE 3 MPH
  • Referee: Dustin Whitehead
  • TV announcers (OVCDN): Mickey Shadrix and Butch Barker
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–3 2016 L, 19–48

Saint Francis (PA)
See also: 2017 Saint Francis Red Flash football team
Saint Francis (PA) @ Liberty
1 234Total
• Red Flash 0 670 13
No. 22 Flames 0 007 7
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:59
  • Game attendance: 15,886
  • Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C) • Clear • NE 11 MPH
  • Referee: Jeff Pumphrey
  • TV announcers (BSN/ESPN3): Mike Tilley, Matt Warner and Rett McGibbon
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–0 2010 W, 52–7

Kennesaw State
See also: 2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team
Kennesaw State @ Liberty
1 234Total
• Owls 7 2177 42
Flames 7 0714 28
  • Date: October 14
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m.
  • Elapsed time: 2:54
  • Game attendance: 17,726
  • Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C) • Sunny • SSE 3 MPH
  • Referee: Stuart Mullins
  • Television network: ESPN3
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–0 2016 W, 36–21

at Monmouth
See also: 2017 Monmouth Hawks football team
Liberty @ Monmouth
1 234Total
Flames 7 12200 39
• Hawks 21 14147 56
  • Date: October 21
  • Location: Kessler Field
    West Long Branch, NJ
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 4,235
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–1 2016 W, 52–28

at Gardner–Webb
See also: 2017 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team
Liberty @ Gardner–Webb
1 234Total
• Flames 6 6714 33
Runnin' Bulldogs 0 737 17
Overall record Last meeting Result
13–9–1 2016 W, 23–20

Duquesne
See also: 2017 Duquesne Dukes football team
Duquesne @ Liberty
1 234Total
Dukes 14 1000 24
• Flames 7 3710 27
  • Date: November 4
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 14,634
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

Presbyterian
See also: 2017 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team
Pesbyterian @ Liberty
1 234Total
Blue Hose 7 0147 28
• Flames 24 977 47
  • Date: November 11
  • Location: Williams Stadium
    Lynchburg, VA
  • Game start: 3:30 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 18,001
Overall record Last meeting Result
9–4 2016 W, 16–0

at Charleston Southern
See also: 2017 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team
Liberty @ Charleston Southern
1 234Total
Flames 0 793 19
• Buccaneers 0 7013 20
Overall record Last meeting Result
19–5 2016 L, 26–48

Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final 
STATS FCS RV 20 19 16 22 RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Coaches* NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

* Due to their transition to FBS, they are not eligible to be ranked in the FCS Coaches Poll.

References
  1. Sordelett, Damien (February 16, 2017). "LU to be FBS bowl eligible starting in 2019". The News & Advance. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.


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