BYU/Liberty Football Game Officially Sold Out
Oct 20, 2022, 11:58 AM
Fans cheer in the first half of the game between the Liberty Flames and the Old Dominion Monarchs at Williams Stadium on September 18, 2021 in Lynchburg, Virginia. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – Saturday’s BYU/Liberty game at Williams Stadium in Virginia is sold out.
Liberty Athletics announced the sold out ticket allotment on Thursday. It’s the first sell out in the history of the Liberty Flames football program.
We'll see ALL of you on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/963KnD81CI
— Liberty Football (@LibertyFootball) October 20, 2022
Williams Stadium holds 25,000 seats. The previous high for Liberty was a crowd of 22,551 in 2015 against Montana. When BYU rolls into Lynchburg, it will become the new high crowd.
Liberty, a faith-based university, has not held back on what playing BYU means to them. Head coach Hugh Freeze told his team that Saturday against BYU will be the biggest game Liberty football has ever had.
It’s a lot of excitement from a Liberty program for a BYU team that is 4-3 and on a two-game winning streak. The reason for the excitement is that playing BYU fulfills a dream for the Flames.
Playing BYU fulfills Liberty’s dream
In 1971, Liberty University was founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. One of his dreams was to build “a world-class university that would compare favorably with what Brigham Young and Notre Dame provide for Mormon and Roman Catholic young people. A world-class university. Academically excellent, athletically competing at the highest level of the NCAA.”
Falwell’s vision is fulfilled by Liberty playing BYU. The scheduling agreement was such a big deal to the Flames they had then-U.S. President Donald J. Trump announce the series and other games they lined up in their transition from the FCS ranks to the FBS.
“We’re walking in the fulfillment of a vision that started from nothing, really. Other than a belief,” said Freeze during his press conference on Monday. “To be able to walk in that, and I know that Dr. Falwell would be just ecstatic to see the crowd, atmosphere, and everything that’s going to be here on Saturday afternoon; playing a team that he had such high regard for, as do I. In BYU. Hopefully, we embrace that part of it also.”
Second meeting
It’s the second meeting of all time between these two schools. The first matchup was in 2019 in Provo. A game that BYU won, 31 to 24, over a Flames squad that had NFL wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden. BYU started Baylor Romney at quarterback, replacing injured stars Zach Wilson and Jaren Hall.
BYU vs. Liberty
Location: Williams Stadium (Lynchburg, Virginia)
Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. (MT)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
