For the first time since 1979, UVa will play four in-state foes this season. The third of those is on deck tomorrow afternoon when the Cavaliers will host Liberty for the second year in a row (noon, RSN).

The Wahoos (7-3), as pretty much everyone knows at this point, are in the driver’s seat in the Coastal Division. But before they can do anything about securing a spot in the ACC Championship Game for the first time in school history, they get a November tune up of sorts, the latest they’ve closed their non-conference schedule since playing Virginia Tech in 2004.

The symmetry doesn’t end there. While both teams are coming in off a bye week, Liberty’s last opponent was BYU which, you may have heard, had a head coach named Bronco Mendenhall several years ago.

This is the second meeting in a series that looks like it’ll be going on for a while, as the schools have four more games scheduled over the next 11 years.

Liberty Flames (6-4)

Head coach: Hugh Freeze, ninth season (48-36 overall, 6-4 in his first year at LU)

Series: UVa leads the all-time series 1-0.

Last Meeting: The Cavaliers extinguished the Flames 45-24 last year in Charlottesville.

-- While Liberty changed its coaching staff in the offseason, the offense—or at least their strengths—haven’t changed from when the Cavaliers saw the Flames last fall. Through 10 games, they are averaging 32.8 points per game and have scored at least 59 points on three occasions. Liberty is averaging 6.6 yards per play and 4.4 yards per carry. The passing offense has already surpassed the 3,000-yard mark and averages 8.8 yards per attempt. Liberty converts 40.5 percent of its 3rd-down tries, but the red zone offense has left some points on the table. The Flames have scored on 33 of their 42 red zone trips, with 29 touchdowns and just four field goals. They have done a nice job taking care of the football with just 12 turnovers in 10 games, and are +3 as a team in turnover margin.

-- Liberty has a strong passing attack led by senior quarterback Buckshot Calvert. On the year, Calvert has completed 61.5 percent of his attempts for 2,941 yards and 23 touchdown tosses. He has gone over 300 yards passing in six of his starts this season, including a 474-yard effort earlier this month at UMass. The biggest improvement that Calvert has shown this year is his ability to avoid turnovers. He has just three interceptions on the year, all of which came in the first two weeks of the season. Calvert, who hasn’t thrown a pick in his last 281 throws, has cut back dramatically on bad throws after tossing 18 picks in 2018. Against Virginia, he completed just 15 passes for 149 yards and three interceptions with no touchdowns in the loss. Virginia will be looking for a repeat performance tomorrow but interceptions will probably be tougher to come by than they were in last year’s game.

-- Calvert doesn’t have to do it all for the Flames, however. At receiver, Liberty features one of the nation’s best pass catchers in Antonio Gandy-Golden. Gandy-Golden caught 71 passes for 1,037 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall and has been just as impressive this year. He has hauled in 64 receptions for 1,244 yards and eight scores and is coming off of one of his best performances of the year last weekend in Provo, when he caught 10 passes for 162 yards and a score. Last year, Virginia’s secondary contained Gandy-Golden, holding him to a pair of catches for 38 yards. One Liberty player who gave UVa quite a bit of trouble, though, was running back Frankie Hickson, who rushed 26 times for 93 yards and a pair of scores in the losing effort. Hickson’s yards are down this season after he hit 1,000 in 2018, but his 5.3 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns demonstrate the kind of season that he’s having.

-- While the Flames have held steady from a year ago offensively, their defense has improved quite a bit after a rough 2018 season. They allowed 442 points last year, or 36.8 points per game. This season, LU allows just 26.6 points per contest. That doesn’t mean that opponents haven’t found success, though. Liberty allows nearly 4.7 yards per carry and has given up 30 points or more on four occasions this year. In their last outing, the Flames allowed BYU to rack up 471 yards of offense at 6.7 yards per play. They have struggled to get off the field on 3rd downs, allowing conversions on nearly 44 percent of attempts, which is 101st best in the nation. Conversely, Liberty has done a nice job in the red zone, allowing just 27 scores on 36 opponent trips.

-- One thing Liberty has done a nice job of this year is getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Flames have 28 sacks as a team, which ranks 28th nationally in sacks per game. Senior defensive lineman Jessie Lemoier has been the catalyst and leads the team with 8.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He has recorded multiple TFLs three times this year, most recently in a 20-13 win over New Mexico State last month. Lemonier had 10 sacks a year ago but no sacks or tackles for loss in the game against the Wahoos. Junior linemen Jayod Sanders and TreShaun Clark have created quite a bit of pressure this season as well, with 4.5 and three sacks respectively.

-- While their offense doesn’t throw many interceptions, the defense is capable of forcing them. The Flames have recorded 10 picks on the season, which is 27th best nationally. Senior cornerback Bejour Wilson led the Flames with three picks last year and he has three again this year, once again tops on the defense. Wilson’s interception in the BYU game was his first since the second contest of the season against Louisiana Lafayette. Junior safety Ceneca Espinoza is the only other member of the defense with two INTs on the year, with one being returned for a touchdown in a win over Hampton in September. The secondary has allowed 11 passing plays of 40 yards which is near the bottom nationally, so there should be some potential for explosive plays from the Cavalier offense.