Flames Quarter. It has been Liberty’s mantra for the fourth quarter under second-year head coach Jamey Chadwell. On a Saturday night that turned into Sunday morning in Las Cruces, New Mexico, it was the final 15 minutes where the Flames (2-0, 1-0 CUSA) were able to find their groove and come back from a 14-point deficit for a 30-24 win over New Mexico State (1-1, 0-1 CUSA).
“It was one of those that just nothing seemed to be going your way,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell post game. “I thought, obviously the first half was just atrocious, and then had opportunities to get some points on the board and touchdowns, and we settled for field goals. And defensively, we started out bad, but thought our defense really picked it up there late second quarter, third played really well. Offensively, it took us a while, but the whole strike the stone is a mentality that we talk about all the time in our program. I told them in the fourth quarter, I said, ‘Hey, this is it. This is going to show the character that we have is going to need to show up. It did.”
Liberty entered Flames Quarter facing a 17-9 deficit. The Flames offense sputtered throughout the first three quarters, unable to find any consistency. Three times the Liberty offense moved the ball into the red zone, all three times having to settle for Colin Karhu field goals. The Flames had to punt on 5 of their 10 drives entering the final period.
It was a play by the defense in the fourth quarter that sparked the energy and woke the Flames up.
Facing a 3rd and 5 from their own 37, NMSU’s Parker Awad dropped back to pass. A safety blitz had Liberty’s Quinton Reese break free through the Aggies’ offensive line with a clear shot on the quarterback. The senior captain sacked Awad, knocking the ball free, allowing preseason CUSA Defensive Player of the Year CJ Bazile to scoop it up and jaunt the 22 yards down the field to the end zone.
Coming with 9:45 left in the contest, it marked the first touchdown Liberty scored on the evening, cutting the deficit to 17-15 after the two-point try failed.
“Changed the momentum at least,” Chadwell said of that play. “They went down and scored the next drive anyway, but it gave us hope. I mean, offensively we were terrible. Let’s just be honest. We were terrible until the last two drives. That gave us some hope, which our sideline needed.”
First year NMSU head coach Tony Sanchez had his Aggies fired up from the start and they would not let that play derail them. The Flames forced NMSU into six straight punts prior to that strip sack, scoop, and score. But Sanchez, Awad and New Mexico State got things going on offense one last time, getting back in the end zone just four plays after the LU defensive score. That touchdown pushed the lead to nine at 24-15 with just 2:59 to play.
For an offense who hadn’t scored all day, it seemed as though hope was lost.
Led by Kaidon Salter and Quinton Cooley, the Liberty offense woke up just in time, scoring touchdowns on two straight possessions to take their first lead of the game and eventually the final margin of 30-24.
The first was a 6 play 82 yard march down the field. It was capped by a 27-yard Cooley run. The senior running back had 3 carries for 44 yards on the drive.
After the Liberty defense forced a 7th and final New Mexico State punt of the game, the Flames were back at it. Salter completed passes to Hanshaw (4 yards), two to Sibley (11 yards, 8 yards), while also picking up first downs on two runs for 18 yards on the drive. Cooley would finish the drive, breaking through the NMSU defense and racing to the end zone from 44 yards away to give the Flames the lead and ultimately the win.
Liberty’s offense amassed 178 yards on 17 plays in the fourth quarter, 117 of those on the ground. The Flames had just 100 rushing yards on 25 carries entering the final 15 minutes.
On the final two drives, with the game hanging in the balance, Liberty’s stars shined. Salter completed 6 of 6 passes for 61 yards while scrambling twice for 21 yards on those two touchdown drives. Meanwhile, Cooley had 4 carries for 88 yards.
“Those last two drives were great,” said Chadwell of Salter. “He did a good job of making some plays with his feet when we needed to get some first downs and did some nice stuff. He’s got to be, we’ve got to be way more consistent. We’re giving up plays that can be made because we’re trying to do too much stuff instead of just doing the right play. We had three dropped passes, third down, a touchdown, those plays could have changed the whole game and you don’t have to sweat it out until 2:30 am. Those are things that I’m just more disappointed in more than anything. Where there’s plays to be made, we don’t make them or we’re trying to do too much.”
For the game, Salter was 16 of 29 passing for 256 yards to go along with 10 rushed for 23 yards. Cooley eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the second straight game to open the new year. He finished the night with 12 carries for 111 yards and 2 scores.
“He gets stronger as the game goes,” Chadwell said of Cooley. “We were struggling a lot, and there was just a lot of inconsistency. We’d have a good play and then it would be a penalty in there. Those last couple drives, we just said, ‘Hey, let’s let’s go a little bit faster and let them, not necessarily, line up as quickly as normal or whatever. He was able to bust some big ones, which was big. Credit to him. He wasn’t getting what he normally does, and just kept believing. I love how he’s matured in that way.”
Treon Sibley set a career high for receiving yards in a second straight game. He was Salter’s favorite target once again, grabbing 5 passes for 155 yards.
The Flames fell behind 17-3 in the first half, the largest deficit Liberty has faced in 14 regular season games under Chadwell. The Aggies scored on their first three possessions while Liberty could only muster a 39-yard field goal. Karhu knocked in kicks from 31 and 29 yards in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 17-9.
After those first three scoring drives, the Liberty defense woke up. On NMSU’s last 10 possessions of the game, the Flames forced 7 punts, a scoop and score fumble return, and a turnover on downs.
A weakness of the team last season, the Flames were able to create pressure on Awad and the NMSU backfield, finishing the game with four sacks. Sophomore defensive end led the way with 8 tackles, 2 sacks and a pass breakup.
“Defense kept us in it,” said Chadwell. “They didn’t come out very well. I thought the defense kept us in. They had one drive there where they scored the touchdown there in the fourth quarter, but our defense kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. They’re capable of doing some really good things. I think that shows if we can just play with that same type of urgency and energy the whole time, but they kept us in it. They might have got us in the hole, but they kept us from the hole being huge. It allowed us to find our way there in the second half.”
With the win, Liberty improves to 19-1 all-time against CUSA opponents and are now 6-2 all-time against New Mexico State, making the Aggies the FBS opponent which Liberty has defeated the most in program history. The Flames have now won 14 straight in the regular season and six straight on the road.
For a second straight game, the Flames went over 100 yards in penalties, including several personal fouls, once again drawing Chadwell’s ire.
“I told the team in there (the locker room), I told them two truths – one, their character showed up, as far as them keep striking, but also the second truth, I said, we’re a selfish team,” Chadwell said. “You’re a selfish team when somebody says something to you, and you respond, and we get personal fouls that really cost us in big situations. Again, that’s me. That’s me. I’ve obviously not done a good job, and I gotta get that fixed. But you can’t be selfish if you want to have a championship level program. I’ve got to clean it up.”
