Fiesta Bowl: Liberty Coach Jamey Chadwell Talks Challenges of #8 Oregon

The #23 Liberty Flames are putting the finishing touches on their preparation for a showdown with #8 Oregon on Monday. While Jamey Chadwell has no illusions

© Brian Bishop-USA TODAY Sports

The #23 Liberty Flames are putting the finishing touches on their preparation for a showdown with #8 Oregon on Monday. 

While Jamey Chadwell has no illusions about whether or not the nationally renowned Ducks will be Liberty's toughest matchup yet, he noted his team has faced tough competition before - at Liberty or elsewhere.

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"Well, they are big and fast," Chadwell said of Oregon. "And I told our team, and it's no secret, they are six points away from playing for a national championship. "

Oregon's only two losses this season were both to Washington, both by three points.

"They're a tremendous team," Chadwell continued in his assessment of the Ducks. "There's no phase that they don't excel in. I think our biggest challenge is that they are fast, but they are also long length-wise, and we don't see that consistently. A lot our team has played a lot of Power 5s, SEC, ACC before. We just didn't do that this year. I think that will be our biggest challenge is getting used to their size and speed all across the board."

The Flames are undefeated on the year, but have faced some scrutiny for the strength of their 2023 schedule. College Football News called Liberty's schedule "one of the nation's easiest schedules."

Chadwell also noted the NFL potential of much of Oregon's roster as a significant obstacle they'll have to deal with.

"Bo Nix is phenomenal," Chadwell stated about Oregon's quarterback. "Obviously a top three in the Heisman. And then you look defensively, they have NFL players all around. So a big challenge for the Flames."

The Flames will play the Ducks on Monday, January 1, with kickoff set for Noon ET on ESPN.