Thor Nystrom tracks players opting out of upcoming bowl games as well as the coaching changes around the college football landscape. Thor will update the article through the remainder of the season to keep you updated on bowl games, college prospects, and the 2023 NFL Draft.
And below we’ll take a closer look at the upcoming bowl game: Boca Raton Bowl.
Check out Thor’s projections for all college football bowl games
Boca Raton Bowl: College Football News, Player Opt-Out Tracker & Game Preview (Liberty vs. Toledo)
Boca Raton Bowl | Boca Raton, FL
- Tuesday, December 20 | 6:30 PM
- Toledo (-5) vs. Liberty | Total: 54
- ATL: Pick ‘em | ATT: 61
Liberty
- RB Dae Dae Hunter (Injury)
- WR Jaivian Lofton (Transfer portal)
- OG Jacob Bodden (Transfer portal)
- DT Dre Butler (Transfer portal)
- DE Stephen Sings V (Transfer portal)
- DE Marquise Brunson (Transfer portal)
- LB Ahmad Walker (Transfer portal)
Liberty suffered a rash of injuries in the regular season, and was particularly ravaged at the quarterback position. But both QB1 Charlie Brewer and QB2 Kaidon Salter — along with QB3 Johnathan Bennett, who played a much larger role this season than expected due to the injuries— played in the regular season finale. You’d figure both would be healthier for this game. Liberty’s quarterback situation is much-improved for this game in comparison to the majority of the regular season.
RB Hunter suffered a season-ending torn LCL in November. It was a devastating loss for Liberty’s offense. A transfer from Hawaii, Hunter was one of Liberty’s two-most valuable assets on offense. The ground game has not been the same since he went down. RBs Shedro Luis and TJ Green have assumed Hunter’s workload. Green barely played at the beginning of the year but did show some flashes in the last few games with increased usage. WR Lofton was the team’s second-best PFF-graded receiver, but he was being used as a backup. OG Bodden and DE Brunson barely played.
DL Butler was a rotational piece who appeared in all 12 games. He did decent work this fall, but Liberty has the depth to cover for his defection. Basically the exact same thing could be said about DE Sings, though he appeared in 11. Liberty will be fine up front so long as they don’t suffer an in-game injury. LB Walker’s loss hurts. Walker, who posted 64 tackles this fall, was the team’s best linebacker. Walker transferred to SMU.
Toledo
- QB Tucker Gleason (Injury)
- OG Lavel Dumont (Transfer portal)
No impact, here. QB2 Gleason was inactive for the MAC Championship Game due to a hand injury. In that game, QB1 Dequan Finn returned from injury and played the entirety, helping the Rockets down Ohio 17-7. Finn’s good to go – he ran for 96 yards against the Bobcats when you take out the yardage of the one sack he took. OG Dumont did not acquit himself well in the four games he appeared in this fall.
Coaching News
Liberty HC Hugh Freeze left to become Auburn’s head coach and will not coach in this game. The Flames will play for interim HC Josh Aldridge, a staffer since 2019. Liberty started 8-1, but didn’t appear as prepared during the three-game losing streak to end the regular season as Freeze flirted with Auburn and rampant rumors swirled around the team. From that perspective, Liberty is in a better spot coaching-wise in this game than it was over the latter-part of November.
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