FILE - Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell reacts to a call during the first half of the NCAA Fiesta Bowl college football game against Oregon, Jan. 1, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

The Liberty Flames find themselves in a familiar position favored to win the Conference USA title with added motivation of bouncing back from a disappointing 2024.

Coach Jamey Chadwell and his Flames were favored a year ago only to miss the title game. They also finished on a two-game skid capped by a loss in the Bahamas Bowl.

“Maybe a bad taste in the mouth about how we finished thinking that we could've had a better season than we had last year, and I think the guys returning knew that and they knew why we didn't and they're focused on making sure we don't beat ourselves moving forward,” Chadwell said.

Liberty had a game canceled by Hurricane Helene in September, then stumbled to a 5-3 mark in league play and 8-4 overall. It was a big drop from 2023 when Liberty went undefeated in winning the C-USA championship and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl in Chadwell's first season.

Now Chadwell is managing the transfer portal that saw quarterback Kaidon Salter go to Colorado. Ethan Vasko is among 13 portal additions, and the quarterback threw for 2,110 yards and 14 touchdowns last season at Coastal Carolina. Vasko also ran for 447 yards and five more scores.

Chadwell said the challenge now in Conference USA is knowing which teams got “plucked” through the portal and who's actually back. He sees his fellow coaches now having to build teams each season rather than programs.

“We lost a bunch of guys just like everybody else, but I do think we have a good nucleus,” Chadwell said. “I think we have a chance to have a really, really good year if we can stay together and stay connected.”

Liberty also will be relying on Vaughn Blue and JuJu Gray to keep an offense clicking after ranking fourth nationally last season averaging 250.7 yards rushing per game.

Western Kentucky also is a heavy favorite after the Hilltoppers lost in the title game last December. Defending C-USA champ Jacksonville State will try to defend its league title with a first-year head coach. Louisiana Tech is expected to bounce back after a 5-8 season as well.

Transfer portal help

Western Kentucky went back to the portal for a quarterback with Maverick McIvor transferring from Abilene Christian. McIvor threw for 3,847 yards and 30 touchdowns with seven interceptions. McIvor should be comfortable with offensive coordinator Rick Bowie, brought along for the same job.

Other portal additions include running back George Hart III and a pair of wide receivers in K.D. Hutchinson and Noah Meyers.

Newcomer coach

Jacksonville State has Charles Kelly in his first season as a first-time head coach replacing Rich Rodriguez, who went to West Virginia.

Kelly was hired away from Auburn where he had been co-defensive coordinator to return to where he started his coaching career at Jacksonville State in 1994. The Gamecocks hope to ease Kelly's transition with the addition of running back Cam Cook, who transferred from TCU after scoring nine TDs in 2024.

Tony Franklin's back

The offensive coordinator is back at Louisiana Tech where he was coordinator between 2010 and 2012. He's also had a stint in the same role at Middle Tennessee for six seasons before retiring in January 2021.

Louisiana Tech already has quarterback Evan Bullock returning after throwing for 2,104 yards with 14 TDs and only three interceptions. The last time Franklin was the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator, Louisiana Tech led FBS scoring 51.5 points and piling up 577.9 yards per game.

Waiting for bowl options

Delaware and Missouri State are in the second year transitioning from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. That means they're not eligible for bowl games. But if the record is worthy, they each could become eligible if not enough FBS teams are available to fill the slots.

Notable matchups

The season starts Aug. 23 when Sam Houston visits Western Kentucky. C-USA has packed its schedule with some heavyweight games starting with Kennesaw State visiting Wake Forest on Aug. 29 and Missouri State at Southern California on Aug. 30.

Sept. 6 is a big day for C-USA with FIU at Penn State, Kennesaw State at Indiana, Delaware going to Colorado, Middle Tennessee playing at Wisconsin and Louisiana Tech visiting LSU. UTEP goes to Texas on Sept. 13, and Western Kentucky visits LSU on Nov. 22 before the season finale at Jacksonville State.

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