Palsgrove’s Points

So, the Flames got pummeled by the Oregon Ducks on a national stage. If you want to read the incredibly well-written recap of the game from Annie Cory, click here. After you’ve read that make sure to come back here and hang out with me for a bit. I have a lot to say about the Fiesta Bowl and the Flames.  

Writers Note: Yes guys, I know Kaidon Salter just entered the transfer portal. This particular column will not be addressing that because of the timing of the announcement, but I will be reacting to the news shortly. Make sure to follow the Champion on all platforms to stay up to date and catch the full transfer portal column when it comes out! 

Take a seat; let’s talk about what just happened.  

The Flames lost. Hopefully you saw that coming, or at least you should’ve. Oregon is on the short list of genuine powerhouses in college football, and they came ready to play with their future-NFL quarterback at the helm. They had some opt outs, sure, but not enough to make any sort of odd-shifting impact.  

On top of Oregon being just, simply put, better than the Flames, Liberty couldn’t get out of its own way. I can think of a litany of mistakes the Flames made that made the impossible task of defeating the Ducks even more impossible. Drive-killing penalties, and I’m talking about genuine penalties that the Flames actually committed, along with stupid and careless mistakes with the ball, kept the Flames out of the game.  

Speaking of penalties, let’s talk referees. Yes, they were very bad. Yes, they missed many calls that would’ve benefited the Flames. Yes, they didn’t call blatant penalties against the Flames that benefited the Ducks. No, this loss is not the referees’ fault. Allow me to restate that, the referees are NOT the reason the Flames lost to the Ducks.  

Is there a reason to be mad? Sure. And let me tell you why — Oregon is very, very, very, very, VERY, good at football. They only lost two games this season, and both were to the Washington Huskies, who have won every single game on their schedule on their way to a National Championship Berth.  

The Flames, even after going undefeated in a magical season, have a long way to go to be in the same conversation as the Ducks. Because of that, the Fiesta Bowl was always going to be an uphill climb to victory. And if you add one-sided officiating to the mix of that? Imagine the Flames are a slight, 100-pound boxer in the ring with a 190-pound heavyweight who’s got a nasty right hook. Not an entirely fair fight, right? Now, imagine in the middle of this hypothetical boxing match someone comes up behind the smaller boxer and smacks the back of his calf every three minutes. That smack isn’t going to make the boxer lose, but it’s certainly going to be infinitely more difficult to defend himself against his opponent, much less land a punch.  

The Flames were able to land a few punches, and even knock the Ducks off balance in the first quarter, but they were never going to win this unless they played their game to perfection, which Liberty most certainly did not.  

Bo Nix is a genuine magician.  

The Flames were not prepared for Nix. I mean is anybody really, though? Statistically, he’s had the best season we’ve ever seen from an Oregon quarterback, even better than Justin Herbert, who is currently one of the best 7-8 quarterbacks in the NFL (depending on who you ask).  

Some of the passes he made, even with the Flames’ defense playing some of its best ball, were purely ludicrous. For instance, there was one time the Flames managed to take away Nix’s first and second read, get real pressure and force him to step up in the pocket and almost fall over. But instead of panicking like other quarterbacks may have, Nix calmly dropped the ball into the arms of his tight end for six.  

There isn’t much you can do against a player and a play like that. Nix is that guy, and he showed up to play against the Flames, much to my chagrin.  

 Believe it or not, that was one of the best games of the season from the Flames’ coaching staff.  

If you disagree with this point, the best argument that can be made was made on the field. Go rewatch the Flames first drive of the game. Head Coach Jamey Chadwell and his staff very clearly had a plan going into the game, and they got their guys to execute it, resulting in a touchdown and the Flames’ first and only lead of the day.  

It wasn’t until adjustments had to be made and plans A, B and C all went out the window for the Flames that we saw the true talent gap between the two rosters. And after that, it was hard to judge the schematic decisions of the coaching staff, but a football coach does more than just call plays.  

A coach’s job, along with all the on-field stuff, is to cultivate a good locker room culture and to motivate their guys to play from whistle to whistle. And the Flames did that.  

CJ Daniels is clearly an NFL wide receiver.  

Congratulations are in order for CJ Daniels. The Flames’ junior achieved his preseason goal and surpassed 1,000 yards after another magnificent performance. Against Oregon, he went for 79 yards on eight catches, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. After his really strong opening, Salter struggled to find open targets due to a ton of pressure from the Ducks’ pass rush and tight coverage on the back end by their secondary. Because of that, Daniels was an essential part of the Flames’ offense simply due to his ability to go up and get it and his knack for getting open.  

Of the 11 times Salter called on his roommate to bail him out of a tough spot, Daniels came down with it eight total times, one of which was a bit of toe touch magic that they only teach at Hogwarts. He ends the season with a career-high 1067 yards and 10 touchdowns after 55 catches. The most recent Flame to put up that amount of yardage was Antonio Gandy-Golden in the Flames’ last season of FBS football.  

Every performance by Daniels of this caliber slides him up NFL draft boards and pushes him further and further into the spotlight of NFL draft discourse (of which I am a part of, come back in the spring). Now what does this attention do for Daniels’ career? Is he going to remain a Flame?  

That’s a much longer discussion that I’ll address in an upcoming piece. But I can say that Daniels, at this current moment in time, looks more like an NFL wide receiver than former Flame Demario Douglas did in his time on the Mountain, and he has cemented himself as an NFL starter.  

Palsgrove is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X