Saturday, December 5, 2020, Brooks Stadium, Conway, South Carolina, 2 p.m. ET
Flames at Chanticleers Betting Preview: Flames (+10.5), Chanticleers (-10.5)
Liberty Flames Betting Preview
The Flames (9-1), an independent program ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press Top 25, are off to their most successful 10-game start to a season, breaking the previous best of 8-1-1 to start the 1979 season.
But they could easily be on the outside looking in when it comes to bowl season because as an independent they have no conference access to a post-season game. Without any win requirement for teams to qualify for bowls this season because of COVID-19, bowls are expected to fill their games with their designated conference affiliations.
“No idea if we will beat Coastal or not, but if we do, I think we have … the most impressive wins in the nation compared to the other Group of Five schedules,” Flames coach Hugh Freeze said about his team’s bowl prospects.
Liberty has a balanced offense. Quarterback Malik Willis, is the first in program history with 20 touchdown passes and 10 rushing touchdowns in the same season.
Willis has completed 151 out of 236 pass attempts for 2,040 yards with 20 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also leads the Flames with 807 rushing yards on 120 carries with 10 TDs.
The Flames have averaged 252.1 yards a game rushing, 231.4 passing.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Betting Preview
Coastal Carolina continues to make history, moving up two spots to No. 18 this week in the College Football Playoff ratings, its highest standing in the rankings.
The CFP rating comes two days after the Chanticleers posted the highest AP Top 25 ranking in program history at No. 14, which is also the loftiest rating ever for a Sun Belt Conference team.
“I’m sure we’ll see those media mentions skyrocket this weekend,” Coastal Carolina athletic director Matt Hogue said. “Already, the buzz you have during this week is going to bring enormous attention to our university. What a great time.”
The No. 18 Chanticleers (9-0) clinched the Sun Belt East Division title last week with a 49-14 win at Texas State, their 10th straight win dating to last season. The Chanticleers were picked to finish last in the conference’s preseason poll.
“That’s so special,” Coastal Carolina running back CJ Marable said. “We’re all excited because we know last few years since I’ve been here, we’ve been 5-7 back to back. Everything falls into line like we thought it was going to be. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing to be there.”
Marable ran for 157 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in a driving rainstorm at Texas State.
“It wasn’t an easy game to play with the weather up here,” Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell said. “Everybody was talking about how this could potentially be a trap game with the big win we had last week, but our team came out focused from the opening kickoff.”
The win followed a 34-23 victory against visiting Appalachian State that put the Chanticleers in prime position in the division race.
Flames at Chanticleers Betting Pick for December 5, 2020
The series between the two teams is knotted up at 7-7 with each team holding a 5-2 advantage on its home field. The last meeting was back in 2016 with the Chanticleers romping to a 42-7 victory.
Flames at Chanticleers Betting Pick:
Chanticleers 34, Flames 27
Flames at Chanticleers Best Bet for December 5, 2020
Both teams have electrifying quarterbacks with Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall throwing for 218 yards a game and rushing for 366 for the season and Malik Willis passing for 226.7 and rushing for a team-high 89.7 average.
The Flames are scoring at a 38.3 points a game clip and the Chanticleers have averaged 38.7 per game. They both have held their opponents to under 20 points a game.
Flames at Chanticleers Best Bet: OVER 57.5
