Getty Malik Willis and the Liberty Flames take on Eastern Michigan in the LendingTree Bowl.
The Liberty Flames (7-5) and the Eastern Michigan Eagles (7-5) will battle it out in the LendingTree Bowl on Saturday, December 18 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
The game (5:45 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on ESPN. But if you don’t have cable, here are some different ways you can watch a live stream of Eastern Michigan vs Liberty online:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Eastern Michigan vs Liberty live on the FuboTV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the FuboTV website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can use your Fubo credentials to log in and watch.
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 30-plus other live TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” package. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest long-term streaming service with ESPN, and you can get your first month for just $10:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Eastern Michigan vs Liberty live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can use your Sling credentials to log in and watch.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN is included in every one, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Fire Stick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Eastern Michigan vs Liberty live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can use your DirecTV Stream credentials (may still be listed as AT&T on the list of cable providers) to log in and watch.
Vidgo
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 90+ other TV channels on Vidgo, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can watch Eastern Michigan vs Liberty live on the Vidgo app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Vidgo website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can use your Vidgo credentials to log in and watch.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of ESPN and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Eastern Michigan vs Liberty live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, Nintendo Switch, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
You can also watch live via ESPN.com or the ESPN app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but if you don’t have that, you can use your Hulu credentials to log in and watch.
LendingTree Bowl 2021 Preview
Liberty has lost three straight, most recently falling to Army, 31-16, on November 27. Flames quarterback Malik Willis went 24-46 for 305 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for a score in a losing effort.
Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton said heading into this game that facing Willis will be one of his team’s biggest challenges. “Is there a word that means more than two for dual? He can run it, he can throw it, runs their offense, he’s super, super talented. We know that he’s dangerous on the ground and in the air by design and on his own when things don’t go exactly how they had planned. Huge, huge challenge for us, for sure,” Creighton said about Willis, who has thrown for 2,626 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to go with 820 rushing yards and another 11 TDs on the ground.
“Really out of all the things I want to leave, I want to leave that mindset of just that we get to and we’re blessed to be in this position,” Willis said. “That’s more important than anything when you look at what people are remembered by. Yeah, you can score all these touchdowns and you can do all these things on the field, but what impact you leave on others, the people that are looking up, the people that are watching us on TV, watching us at games, what do you represent, what’s your why, and I just want to leave kind of my why, however they may want to tweak it and make it theirs. I just want to leave that impact on people, more positive than anything.”
On the other side, Eastern Michigan is 2-2 in its last four games, last playing on November 26, when it lost to Central Michigan, 31-10. Eagles QB Ben Bryant went 24-35 for 221 yards, which was a feat in itself considering he was sacked seven times in the loss. EMU was also held to a ridiculously low five yards rushing all game. They’ll certainly need to step it up if they want a chance here.
The Flames are averaging 31.8 points a game on offense while allowing 21.7 points per game on defense. The Eagles are scoring 31.0 points a game, but they’re allowing more points on defense than Liberty, surrendering 27.8 points per contest. Eastern Michigan is the least penalized team in the nation, however, so this should be an interesting battle if EMU plays a mistake-free game.
The Eagles are 1-4 all-time in bowl games, though, and 0-3 under Creighton, but this is the worst season for the Flames since head coach Hugh Freeze took over in 2019, so both teams will be hungry for a win.
“I don’t feel like I got the most out of our team this year,” Freeze said. “I want one more shot. That burns within me, and hopefully it burns within our team and within our coaches to prepare to play a really good football team and us play very well against them on national TV.”