After a two-game skid, Liberty (6-2, 4-2 CUSA) gets back in the win column after a 37-17 win at Middle Tennessee (3-7, 2-4 CUSA) on Saturday afternoon in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Liberty got a defensive stop on the opening drive after the Blue Raiders moved into Flames’ territory. It looked like the Flames were then driving for a potential score, quickly moving the ball towards midfield, but a play that was ruled a backwards lateral pass to Juju Gray fell incomplete, was ruled a fumbled and recovered by Middle Tennessee. From there, the Blue Raiders were able to move down the field and into the end zone on just three plays to take the early 7-0 lead, as Liberty has now faced a deficit in every contest this season.

On the ensuing possession, Kaidon Salter broke free on a designed QB draw up the middle, running to a 43-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7. The Flames’ defense forced a punt after a three and out, and Liberty was again moving towards midfield where the drive was halted by another turnover. This one came on an option pitch play as Salter attempted to pitch the ball over a defender to Juju Gray, the ball was recovered by MTSU just before it went out of bounds.

Liberty’s defense against stood strong, forcing a 3 and out. CJ Bazile got the sack on third down to end the drive, two plays after Ethan Crisp blew up a screen pass for a 7-yard loss. On the Flames’ next drive, Liberty was forced to punt on a 4th and 6, but the Blue Raiders were called for an illegal formation on the punt play. The Flames then decided to line up and go for it on 4th and 1. Similar to the play last week against Jax State where Liberty was confused on the play call when trying to get the defense to jump offsides, this time it worked and MTSU jumped offsides to give Liberty a first down. That extended the drive which would end in a four-yard Quinton Cooley touchdown run to cap a 14 play, 85 yard drive, putting the Flames up 14-7.

The Blue Raiders would pick up one first down but were then forced to punt once again, the I spent being boomed over Brylan Green’s head and downed at the 4. It didn’t matter. The Flames marched right back down the field and got into the end zone again, taking a 20-7 lead (after the extra point was missed) on a 41-yard touchdown run on a reverse play for Juju Gray.

With time running out in the first half, Middle Tennessee was attempting to get something going on offense and put some points on the board before the end of the first half. The drive would end with a turnover though, as Jerome Jolly got pressure on MTSU QB Nicholas Vattiato, forcing the ball to come free. Liberty LB Ethan Crisp would recover the fumble and return it to the MTSU 23. The Flames would add seven more to the scoreboard before halftime, getting into the end zone on a short pass from Salter to a wide open Jacob Jenkins in a play-action pass from four-yards, as Liberty led 27-7 at the break.

Liberty would go three and out and punt to begin the second half. MTSU, needing points, drove all the way down to the LU 5-yard line. They went for it on 4th and inches, but the Flames got the stop and turnover on downs, keeping the Blue Raiders off the scoreboard.

The Flames added a 35-yard field goal to push the lead to 30-7 after Salter’s 3rd down pass for Tyson Mobley in the end zone was broken up. MTSU did get back into the end zone for the first time since the first quarter, cutting their deficit to 30-14 as we moved into the fourth quarter.

The Liberty offense came right back, as Juju Gray got into the end zone for a second time, catching Salter’s pass and making a man miss as he scored from 34-yards out.

MTSU would add a field go Al in the closing minutes before Liberty ran the clock out.

MUCH NEEDED WIN

The Flames have been struggling the past couple of weeks, and really for most of the season. It hasn’t felt like the team had much consistency, even during the wins, having to come from behind several times – remember NMSU and East Carolina. There were the two fumbles which could have easily been avoided in the first half, but other than that, the Flames took care of business in the first half and jumped out to a commanding 27-7 lead at the break.

It was much needed for the team’s confidence. Falling behind and potentially having to face a second half deficit might have been too much for the team to overcome. It would have been easy for the team to lose its confidence and go into the tank. Credit to the team for not allowing that to happen. Despite the losses and lots of outside noise, the team kept fighting and put together its best performance on Saturday afternoon.

GROUND GAME IS DOMINANT

This is what happened so frequently for the Flames last year. Liberty would just rely on the ground game and run away for a win. Against the Blue Raiders, Liberty heavily relief on its rushing game and racked up the yards in Floyd Stadium.

Quinton Cooley led the way with 24 rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. It is his 6th 100-yard rushing game this season and 13th over the past two seasons with Liberty.

Kaidon Salter had his season high in rushing with 94 yards on 9 attempts, highlighted by his 41 yard touchdown run. Juju Gray, in his first considerable contribution this season as he’s fought through an injury, added 3 carries for 52 yards.

Billy Lucas, typically the backup running back to Cooley, did not play, but James Jointer took over that role backing up Cooley. It was Jointer’s first time on the field since early in the season as he has also fought through injury. The former Arkansas transfer rushed 7 times for 33 yards.

The Flames also mixed in the option game frequently throughout the contest, with Salter, Gray, and Vaughn Blue taking advantage of some gains through the option.

As a team, Liberty finished the game with a season high 339 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns while averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

FLAMES ARE BOWL ELIGIBLE

Liberty is now bowl eligible for a sixth consecutive season. For the past couple of seasons, bowl eligibility has almost become an afterthought for the Flames. That’s quite impressive for such a young FBS program.

However, after the past couple of losses and the team struggling with consistency for much of the season, being bowl eligible wasn’t a slam dunk even after the team started 5-0. Coach Chadwell and his staff labels bowl eligibility as a nice checkpoint on the way to hopefully bigger goals for the team. It’s something the team should recognize and be grateful for, and now hopefully the Flames can get some positive momentum moving forward into the final few weeks of the regular season where a trip to the CUSA championship game is still alive.

The win also secures the Flames’ 19th straight season of six wins or more, a streak that began in 2006.

Up Next

Liberty steps out of conference for the final time this regular season, taking on the UMass Minutemen in a road contest next Saturday, Nov. 16. Kickoff is scheduled for noon and will be streamed on ESPN+. UMass is currently 2-7 and have an open date this weekend