Liberty’s defense and running back Billy Lucas helped the Flames overcome injuries and some offensive malaise to knock off UTEP, 28-10, on Saturday night. 21,805 fans were in attendance at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was the fourth-largest crowd in Williams Stadium history and the largest to see a Liberty Homecoming contest.
“It was unbelievable,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell said of the crowd. “They were phenomenal. They were loud. They stay in it. When we need them to be loud, they’re loud, and it’s the best home field advantage in this conference, bar none. I don’t know what our record here is right now, but it’s a lot versus a little. I know that, and the big reason because of that is our fans and how committed they are. Students were awesome. Our loyal alumni that came back, and want to see a homecoming victory. We wanted to pay homage to our alma mater, our band, and the great job they did by standing for our alma mater and stuff on homecoming. We thought everybody coming back and to be able to come back to a place they love, and teaching our players about that as well.”
After opening the year with consecutive 100-yard rushing games and willing the Flames to victory last week at New Mexico State, Liberty’s all-conference running back Quinton Cooley exited the game in the first quarter with an injury and would not return. He was one of several Liberty players to leave the game with an injury.
In his absence, and the other players, the Flames turned to its defense and running back Billy Lucas to pick up the win as Liberty improved to 3-0 on the early season and 2-0 in CUSA play.
Lucas rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries, scoring a career-high three rushing touchdowns, accounting for each of Liberty’s first three touchdowns of the game. It was his ninth 100-yard rushing game and second as a Flame since transferring from Duquense. He also surpassed the 2,500 career rushing yard mark in the win between his time at Duquesne and Liberty.
“When you’re in a game like that, your best player, best running back, goes down, you gotta put somebody in the game that you can trust,” said Chadwell. “He’s gonna do what he needs to do consistently. We and the defense and the whole coaching staff and the players, they have a lot of trust in Billy.”
After a game opening three and out, the Miners took advantage of a shanked punt from Max Morgan. Starting field position at the Liberty 45, UTEP was able to drive into the red zone before settling for a 26-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead as the Flames fell behind in the first half for a third straight game.
Liberty turned to their all-conference running back Quinton Cooley on the next drive. His 28-yard run set the Flames up in Miner territory and got the offense rolling. Cooley would leave the field with an injury during the drive, and Billy Lucas would punctuate the scoring possession with a 12-yard sprint into the end zone. The 10 play drive consisted of nine runs and went 84 yards as the Flames got into the end zone to take the 7-3 lead.
The Flames’ defense continued their strong play from the second half of last week’s game at New Mexico State. Christian Bodnar recorded the first interception for Liberty this season. On the next defensive possession, Dexter Ricks picked off a second pass at the UTEP 24. Kaidon Salter would connect with Vaughn Blue for a 23-yard pass to the one, and then Lucas scored his second touchdown of the night.
UTEP would miss a 42-yard field goal in the second quarter, and both offenses struggled to move the ball consistently. The teams exchanged punts throughout much of the second quarter, entering the locker room with the Flames leading 14-3.
To open the second half, the teams exchanged fumbles before the Miners connected on a 60-yard touchdown pass and run to cut the deficit to just four points. Both teams would fail to put any points on the scoreboard on each of their next two possessions as the game entered the later stages of the third quarter.
With Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter and the offense unable to find any consistency and rhythm, he was able to connect with Jacob Jenkins. The Liberty tight end’s first catch of the season went for 33 yards and helped jumpstart the Flames’ offense. The drive would last 7 plays and 81 yards, ending in a two-yard Billy Lucas touchdown run, his second of the night, pushing the Liberty lead to 21-10.
“That was a huge play, great call by Coach Korn,” Chadwell said of the pass play to Jenkins. “He got lost. Kaidon stayed in the pocket, found him, and that gave us the momentum. Got us up 21-10, and then we were able to keep that 11 point swing. I thought that was a huge play from a momentum standpoint.”
UTEP attempted to remain in the contest as the game moved into the fourth quarter. The visitors, making their first trek to Williams Stadium, reached the Liberty red zone at the 13-yard line. Instead of opting for a 30-yard field goal which would make it a one-possession game, Miners’ head coach Scotty Walden elected to go for it on fourth and four. The pass play would fall incomplete as UTEP turned it over on downs.
On the ensuing drive, Salter would complete all four passes, part of his final eight passes which were all completions, to help engineer the Liberty drive which would result in a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Mobley. That score would be for the final margin of 28-10 and virtually put the game out of reach.
With the win, the Flames extended their regular season winning streak to 15 games. Only Georgia owns a longer active regular season winning streak than the Flames, as the Bulldogs have now won 42 consecutive. Washington saw its regular season winning streak snapped at 20 by Washington State on Saturday night.
Liberty would finish the game with 415 yards of offense on the night. The Flames rushed 43 times for 187 yards while Salter completed 15 of 19 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown.
“We feel like our running back room is as good as there is in this league, from top to bottom,” said Chadwell. “It’s going to be tested, we’ll see, it’s going to be tested. For him to be able to carry the ball that much, he looks strong. He was running through some tackles, really finished well. I mean, it was needed. It wasn’t easy tonight. As I said, we’re still a work in progress offensively. But, most likely the MVP of the game. I mean, realistically, from an offensive standpoint, did a fantastic job.”
Cooley rushed six times for 45 yards in the first quarter. He would exit the game after a 28-yard run down the left sideline when he fell awkwardly as he ran towards the sideline. He would not return to the game. Additionally, Liberty wide receiver Darius Copeland left the game early in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury.
“Darius does not sound good, we’ll see,” Chadwell said of the injuries. “Cooley’s does not sound good. But, you know, it’s gotta be a next man up mentality. That changes it a little bit. Darius was a big part of that game plan. He went out, first quarter. Went out early. So that changed up some things there. He had a great week of practice. It’s one of those things there where, you know, you got to figure out a way to overcome. Our guys did.”
In addition to those two, the Flames also had a few defensive players leave the game early due to injury including defensive tackles Eliyt Nairne and Bryce Dixon.
The Flames would give up 335 yards of offense on the night as the Miners had 73 plays. Still, they were held to just 10 points, and, once again, it was just one big play that led to the touchdown score. Other than that, the Liberty defense did its job throughout the night. The defensive front was able to force pressure on UTEP quarterback Skyler Locklear, as he had to escape the pocket frequently during the contest. Locklear would complete 26 of 43 passes for 244 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions.
He threw two interceptions, as the Flames picked off their first two passes of the season. Christian Bodnar and Dexter Ricks each pulled in their first interceptions in their career.
“I thought they (the defense) did a fantastic job, said Chadwell. “I mean, if you look right here, they end up playing 73 plays. Anytime you’re playing against a team like that, to run some tempo and things that’s hard to do. Held them to 10 points. Stopped them numerous times, 3 of 14 on third down and 1 of 3 on fourth down. Fantastic job. I thought they were, with the exception of the one big play right there, we gave up the big play. They were able to get some yards, but, man, when we needed to stand up, we did. So I think our defense was exceptional.”
After being the most penalized team in the country through the first two weeks, having over 100 penalty yards each game, the Flames were only whistled for two penalties Saturday night for 20 yards.
“I think we’ve always been, honestly, a mentally tough team,” said Chadwell. “We’ve had some penalties the first couple weeks that were unlike us. Then you get all the the outside noise and the social media on it and it puts a little bit more pressure on you. We just had to start playing and take a deep breath. What we are, how we play the discipline piece, the mental toughness,, that’s who we are as a program and a team. It’s not what the penalties were for the first couple of weeks. It just needed some guys to understand that and work through it. They did. I thought you saw we played a cleaner game.”
Liberty will step out of conference play the next two weeks, taking on East Carolina next Saturday night at Williams Stadium in a game that is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. The Pirates will be making their first trek to Williams Stadium. They are currently 2-1 and coming off a loss at home to Appalachian State, who the Flames will play on September 28.
