No. 25 Liberty (10-0) left no doubt, coming away with a dominating win over Old Dominion (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt), 38-10, on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Perhaps feeling some disrespect from not getting the same amount of attention on a national scale as the other unbeatens at this point in the year, Liberty left nothing back, jumping out to a quick lead that it would not relinquish.

“We talked to our team this week about earning respect,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell following the game. “We, at Liberty, and our conference doesn’t get the respect we deserve. This team played six games in the Sun Belt – three up, three down and every game was within a touchdown, and we completely dominated them. I don’t want to hear that, ‘Oh, you don’t play nobody.’ Our conference got us prepared for this game and you saw what happened. We will take on anybody anywhere and I believe in our team and our conference.”

On the opening drive of the game, facing a 4th and 3, Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter would connect with CJ Daniels on a 43-yard touchdown pass. Daniels was able to make the catch despite the defender being called for pass interference. The 7-0 lead would be just the start for the home team on Veteran’s Day.

The Flames improved to 4-0 against Old Dominion since moving to the FBS level in 2018, winning those games by an average margin of 28 points. Liberty has also moved to 10-3 all-time against Sun Belt opponents, a conference that gets more respect than Conference USA.

“Being in-state, being from another conference that is well respected, and making sure that we’ve got to earn our respect,” Chadwell explained. “How you do that is you go play and you go dominate. We were able to do that. We talked a lot about earning respect, that we don’t get it. The only way you are going to get it is if you go earn that. I think we showed that today.”

The Liberty defense would force punts on the first two Old Dominion drives of the game, followed by a Quinton Reese interception on the third. During that time, the Flames would seize complete control of the game by pushing the lead to 28-0. It would extend to 35-3 before halftime.

Salter accounted for all five of Liberty’s first half touchdowns, running for two and passing for three others. In addition to the pass to Daniels, he would also connect with Noah Frith for a 42-yard touchdown strike and a second toss to CJ Daniels, this one coming from 8 yards out.

Liberty’s defense has struggled the past few games. The Flames have surrendered at least 29 points in each of the last three contests against Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and Louisiana Tech. Liberty allowed over 300 yards passing in each of those games.

The defensive unit would get the best of the Monarchs on Saturday though. The Flames held ODU to 280 total yards, with just 161 coming through the air. The Flames forced four punts, three turnovers on downs and had an NCAA leading 18th interception. Liberty also tied a season high with 11 tackles for loss and 5 sacks.

“Our defense played tremendous,” Chadwell said. “That is probably the best overall game, four quarters, that we have played, maybe all year. We are capable of doing that if we will handle the things that we can.”

With 85 rushing yards on the day, Liberty running back Quinton Cooley surpassed the 1,000 rushing yard mark on the season. He becomes the first Liberty player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Frankie Hickson in 2019.

As a team, Liberty has set a new program record for team single-season rushing yards. The Flames have rushed for 2,780 yards to eclipse the previous record of 2,614 yards in 2003. Liberty rushed for its ninth 200-yard rushing game this season to also set a new program record, surpassing the 2020 Flames which rushed for 200 or more yards eight times.

Salter finished the game completing 13 of 22 passes for 225 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also rushed for 41 yards and 2 scores on 11 attempts.

Daniels led the team with 7 receptions for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The Flames are 10-0 for the first time in program history. Prior to this season, the team’s best start was 8-0 during the 2020 season. Liberty has also tied its program record for most wins in a single season, set in 2008 and 2020. That’s an impressive performance for a team under a first year head coach that had approximately 50% of the roster turnover from the end of the 2022 season prior to the 2023 campaign.

“All the credit goes to those players because they made a choice,” Chadwell said of his first year success at Liberty. “They had a choice to either go one way or the other. They decided to trust each other, to buy into each other. This is the result of that.”

As Liberty fights for a ranking in the College Football Playoff Rankings for the first time in school history, and look to continue to build its case to be included as the highest ranked Group of Five team which would put the Flames in line for a New Year’s Six bowl game, the Flames made an emphatic statement on Saturday.

“When you talk about us and you talk about this conference, I do believe we deserve more respect than we are getting,” said Chadwell. “Hopefully that was shown today against an opponent who has been within one touchdown of every opponent they have played. Thankful for the win and what an awesome crowd and an awesome experience. We are excited to be 10-0.”