The Flames have done all that without running back J. Marshall, who is out for the season with a leg injury. The offense hasn't missed a beat. Liberty put up 35 on Sam Houston, 34 on Kennesaw State and 49 on FIU after he went down. New Mexico State's injury report is clean, so the Aggies' problems are about production, not bodies. Nobody is coming back to fix them, which is why the only real lever left for Sanchez is who takes the snaps.
The Liberty defense might be the bigger story. Over this 5-game run, the Flames have given up 17, 14, 3, 6 and 10 points. That's 50 total across 5 opponents, and nobody has reached 20. A New Mexico State offense that just got shut out at home, and may be breaking in a new starter on top of that, is not the group you'd pick to break that streak.
The common opponents make the gap look even bigger. Both teams played Sam Houston. Liberty won 35-3 at home, and New Mexico State won 30-24 on the road. Both also played FIU. The Aggies lost 22-3 in Miami, and Liberty beat the Panthers by 39 in Lynchburg. Those are 2 shared opponents, and in both games Liberty's result was much more one-sided.
The Aggies still have a few things going for them. They beat Western Kentucky 34-13 at Aggie Memorial Stadium, which shows this offense can score at home. They also played on a Wednesday, so they've had 10 days between games while Liberty turned around in a normal week. Liberty has to fly from Virginia to the high desert for a Saturday night game. The forecast at kickoff is 54 degrees and partly cloudy, with almost no wind, so the weather won't bail anybody out.
For New Mexico State to make this a game, it needs a passing attack that just threw for 29 yards to show up against the best defense it has seen in weeks, possibly with a new quarterback. Liberty can lock up more of its Conference USA lead with a business-trip win. A home team with extra rest and a trip that long have produced weird results before, but 2-3 against 5-0 is a big gap to close.
