Liberty (5-0, 3-0 CUSA) held on to defeat Sam Houston (0-5, 0-2 CUSA), 21-16, on Thursday night at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia in front of an announced attendance of 17,100.

The Flames were able to hold on in the final seconds, keeping the Bearkats out of the end zone on 4th and goal from the 3 with 7 seconds left in the game. Kobe Singleton had the pass breakup to force the turnover on downs and allow Liberty to remain unbeaten.

The scoring began in bunches as the teams combined to score on four of their first five possessions and Liberty grabbed the early 14-10 lead. The Bearkats took advantage of an early Kaidon Salter interception for a field goal in the first quarter. Following three straight punts, Liberty was able to push the lead to two scores as Salter connected with a wide open CJ Daniels for a 51-yard touchdown pass, and the Flames took a 21-10 advantage into the locker room.

It was a different story in the second half as both offenses slowed down, trading punts on the first four drives. Sam Houston would get a touchdown late in the third quarter, but their two point conversion was no good, something that would come back to haunt the visitors from Texas.

Liberty would miss two field goals in the final 16 minutes of the game, kicks from 34 and 39 yards, but were still able to hold on for the victory.

KOBE SINGLETON, DEFENSE CLOSES THE DOOR

On 4th and 3, with all of Flames Nation holding its collective breath, the Liberty defense took to the field for one final play. The outcome would determine who would end up victorious. Sam Houston’s Keegan Shoemaker’s pass for Jay Rockwell would be broken up by Liberty corner Kobe Singleton in the end zone.

That play was one of three PBU’s by Singleton on the final five offensive plays for the Bearkats as they reached inside the Liberty 10 yard line with time winding down. This sequence came just a few plays after Singleton was whistled for a questionable pass interference call that kept the drive alive for SHSU. He was able to flush that and stay focused on the play at hand, helping the Flames to the victory.

KICKER WOES CONTINUE

Liberty had several opportunities to extend the lead and put Sam Houston away in the second half. The offense came up short, due to missed assignments, a lack of execution, penalties, and missed field goals.

The Flames have struggled to find success at kicker for several years now, and those struggles continue this season. Teagen Lenderink began the year as the team’s kicker, but, after having a few kicks blocked early, he decided to leave the team. Nick Brown, Liberty’s kicker last year, took his place.

On Thursday night, Brown missed field goals from 34 and 39 yards, respectively. Each kick would have put the Flames up by 8 points and provide some breathing room for the team. Of course, if both were made, the lead would have extended to two scores.

RUNNING BACK DEPTH NOW A CONCERN

A position that was arguably the team’s deepest entering the year, now becomes a huge question mark moving forward. Vaughn Blue suffered an injury a few weeks ago at Buffalo that will cause him to miss the majority of the 2023 season. Billy Lucas was held out of tonight’s game against Sam Houston with an undisclosed injury, and Quinton Cooley went down late in the first half with an injury. He did return in the 4th quarter..

With those injures, and we will have to wait and see what Lucas and Cooley’s status is moving forward, the Flames will now have to lean on redshirt-freshman and Arkansas transfer James Jointer, as well as Victor Venn and Aaron Bedgood to shoulder the bulk of the work at running back.

Entering the game against the Bearkats, those three had combined for just 20 carries on the season, most of them coming late in games when the Flames had large leads. Bedgood is more of a slot back that is used on option tosses, end arounds, and screen passes than he is a true running back.

Up Next

Liberty has a quick turnaround and a tough test as the Flames head to Alabama to take on Jacksonville State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The Gamecocks, in their first year at the FBS level and as a member of Conference USA, are currently 5-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play. They won at Sam Houston, 35-28, in overtime last Thursday and are coming off a win Wednesday night at Middle Tennessee, 45-30.