Some folks just can’t stick to sports.

A long-simmering debate over culture, religion and sports could boil over in Arizona when Liberty University’s football program arrives to play Oregon in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

Chances are, if you’ve heard of Liberty, it hasn’t had anything to do with football, but that’s about to change.

“Our founder, Jerry Falwell, wanted Liberty to become an evangelical Christian version of what Notre Dame is for the Catholic community and what BYU is for the Mormon community,” Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said in a recent phone interview.

It’s a big goal, but the Flames burned so hot this season that the unheralded program earned a place on one of the biggest stages in college football. The Fiesta Bowl, as a New Year’s Six game, plays host each year to a premier matchup that attracts national attention.

But the impact off the field could be the greatest legacy of this game if conservative Christians have anything to say about it. (Maybe this is the momentum of the “Moral Majority?”)

“Our mission at Liberty is to train champions for Christ,” McCaw said. “We’re a Christian university. And Dr. Falwell, when he founded the university, felt that sports and music were to really good ways to connect with young people. The university has prioritized both of those, and it’s been a great way to really engage 18- to 22-year-olds.”

The school had just 154 students when it started........

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