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Liberty Flames at Delaware Blue Hens

Oct 2, 20266:00 PM CTNewark, DE
By JR·2 min read
Liberty FlamesLIB(3-1)
Delaware Blue HensDEL(2-2)
6:00 PM

TLDR: Two Conference USA programs meet under the Friday lights in Newark. Liberty, the road favorite, has had 2 more days to get ready than a Delaware team coming off a trip to Charlottesville.

Week 5 · FRI OCT 2, 6:00 PM CT
Liberty
(3-1)
WWWL
Delaware
(2-2)
LWLW
Kickoff76°

Liberty visits Delaware in a Friday night Conference USA game where the schedule sets things up. The Flames get 8 days off a Thursday game at Coastal Carolina, while the Blue Hens turn around on 6 days after a Saturday trip to Virginia. Delaware has already beaten Coastal at home and played Vanderbilt close on the road, so Liberty's road favorite status depends on the rest edge holding up in a second straight road game.

Liberty Flames
  • Thursday game at Coastal buys 8 days of prep
  • Hosts face a 6-day turnaround after Virginia trip
  • Second straight road game, Friday night in Newark
  • Delaware already beat Coastal, Liberty's last opponent, 22-14
Delaware Blue Hens
  • Held Coastal Carolina to 14 at Delaware Stadium
  • Put up 26 on the road at SEC Vanderbilt
  • Allowed 35 in the Vanderbilt loss
  • Friday game 6 days after a road trip to Virginia

The schedule is the story here before either offense takes the field. Liberty played at Coastal Carolina on Thursday night, September 24, so the Flames get a full 8 days before Friday, October 2. Delaware went to Virginia on Saturday, September 26, and has to turn around for a Friday home game 6 days later. Neither club plays anyone else before this, so what you see on the depth chart this week is roughly who shows up. That still depends on how both teams come out of last weekend physically.

Delaware's September gives you a feel for who the Blue Hens are in year 2 of FBS under fifth-year coach Ryan Carty. They opened with a 42-7 win over Merrimack, went to Nashville and lost 35-26 to Vanderbilt, then came home and beat Coastal Carolina 22-14. That Vanderbilt loss is the one that tells you something. Scoring 26 in an SEC building is not nothing, but giving up 35 is the part Liberty's staff will study.

There's a common opponent too. Coastal Carolina is the team Delaware held to 14 in Newark, and it's also the team Liberty just played on the road. Jamey Chadwell's program ran a September that went from James Madison on the road to Gardner-Webb and Ball State at home, then to Coastal. That's 4 games and 2 trips, and now a second straight road game.

Liberty Flames
(3-1)
09/24W@Coastal Carolina34-17
09/19WvsBall State51-15
09/12WvsGardner-Webb24-23
09/05L@James Madison13-20
Delaware Blue Hens
(2-2)
09/26L@Virginia3-42
09/19WvsCoastal Carolina22-14
09/12L@Vanderbilt26-35
09/03WvsMerrimack42-7

Consecutive road games are a real ask for a favorite, and Delaware Stadium on a Friday night is a place where a home team that has already knocked off Coastal can make a game ugly. The flip side is the calendar. The Hens are coming off a power-conference road trip and are short on prep days. That is exactly when a program still building its FBS depth feels it in the fourth quarter.

Weather looks fine for now: low 70s, a light chance of drizzle and about 10 mph of wind in the early read. It's a forecast 5 days out, so check it again Thursday. This one comes down to whether Delaware's defense can stay as sharp on 6 days as it was against Coastal, and whether Liberty's extra rest shows up after a September spent mostly on the road.

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