Liberty (8-0, 6-0 CUSA) defeats Western Kentucky (4-4, 2-2 CUSA), 42-29, on Tuesday night at in Bowling Green, Kentucky. With the win, the Flames remain unbeaten and, more importantly, clinched a spot in the CUSA championship game.

The Hilltoppers received the opening kickoff, converted all four third down conversions on the drive, and took a 7-0 lead with the touchdown. Liberty will quickly respond to tie the game at 7 on a Kaidon Salter 20 yard touchdown run.

WKU regained the lead with a field goal, 10-7, before Liberty took its first lead of the game. Salter connected with CJ Daniels on a 47 yard touchdown toss on a play where the wide receiver was wide open. The Flames would then make another stand in the red zone, forcing another field goal attempt, this was no good though. Liberty would enter the locker room at halftime with the 14-10 lead.

Out of the intermission, the two teams would exchange three and outs before Liberty took control of the game on the ground. The Flames ran 9 plays, all rushing plays, for 83 yards, ending in Victor Venn’s first career touchdown on a 9-yard run to push the lead to 21-10.

The Liberty defense would force another Western Kentucky punt, followed by another touchdown drive. This one went 10 plays for 80 yards and took 5 minutes off the clock as the lead swelled to 28-10 early in the 4th quarter.

The Hilltoppers would score three touchdowns, on blown assignments, in the final quarter to stay within striking distance, but the Flames would prevail

FLAMES CLINCH SPOT IN CUSA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

With the win, the Flames officially have clinched a spot in the Conference USA Championship game on Friday, December 1. There’s still a week until Halloween. Liberty is also in really good shape to host the title game, which goes to the regular season champion.

Head coach Jamey Chadwell treated this like a championship game, being very aggressive, especially in the first half. The Flames’ first year head man elected to go for it on 4th down on three different occasions in the first half from Liberty’s own territory, including at its own 17 once. The Flames converted all three of those fourth downs.

RED ZONE DEFENSE CRUCIAL

In the first half, Western Kentucky had three trips into the red zone. Those ended in just 10 points as the Liberty defense forced two field goal attempts, one of which was missed.

The first trip in the red zone came on the first drive of the game as the Hilltoppers took the early lead at 7-0. The next two opportunities, WKU could have taken the lead with a touchdown, but the defense forced the field goal as the Flames held onto the lead.

FLAMES TAKE CONTROL IN 2ND HALF

Just like a couple weeks ago at Jacksonville State, Liberty took complete control of the game after halftime. Both games were close, and the Flames just went to work and took control of the game.

Liberty did the same thing on the road in Alabama against the Gamecocks, getting behind that big offensive line and letting the rushing attack do the work.

Boasting the 2nd best rushing attack in the country, Liberty had just 87 yards rushing in the first half. That quickly changed after the break as the Flames rushed for 139 yards in the 3rd quarter alone, including all 83 yards on a touchdown drive to extend the lead to 21-10.

The Flames finished the night with 323 rushing yards on the evening.

Up Next

Liberty now has a bit of a break in the schedule, not playing for nearly two weeks. The Flames return to the field, for the first of three straight home games, on Nov. 4 against Louisiana Tech. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kick and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The Bulldogs are currently 3-6 on the season and 2-3 in conference play following a 27-24 loss to New Mexico State Tuesday night.