Behind a strong rushing attack, Liberty (6-0, 4-0 CUSA) ran away from the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (5-2, 3-1 CUSA) on Tuesday night in Alabama, winning the game, 31-13. With the win, Liberty becomes bowl eligible for the fifth year in a row, each season the Flames could reach bowl eligibility since moving up to the FBS level.
“It’s a great checkpoint for us,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell said of becoming bowl eligible. “Obviously, now we’re in a conference. Our mountain is still to climb. It’s awesome for our team to be 6-0 and to be bowl eligible. We are excited about that. More importantly we move to 4-0 in the league which is awesome with four to go. Excited about that. It was a great celebration.”
Playing in front of a national television audience on ESPNU and in its first ever Tuesday night football game, Liberty regained sole possession of first place in Conference USA in this battle of previously unbeaten teams in conference play.
The win was also Liberty’s first ever over Jacksonville State, having dropped the previous four contests with the most recent coming in 2017 when both teams were at the FCS level.
“This was a quick turnaround,” said Chadwell. “This is a hard place to play. They are playing with a lot of confidence. We were able to physically do a great job. We challenged our guys that we had to be physical on both sides of the ball. We were able to do that and pull away in the fourth quarter.”
Liberty, who came into the game ranked No. 2 in the country in rushing offense, surpassed the 200 yard mark on the ground for the fifth time in six games to begin the season. The Flames finished with 245 yards on the ground in Alabama and dominated the time of possession stat, maintaining possession of the ball for nearly 38 minutes of the game, including 20 minutes of the 30-minute second half.
Running back Quinton Cooley had a career night, finishing with a career high 28 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns, his first career multiple touchdown game.
With the game tied at 10 at the intermission, the Flames made the necessary halftime adjustments and dominated the second half, outscoring the home team, 21-3. Jacksonville state came into the game having scored a combined 42 points during the fourth quarter and overtime of its prior two games. However, Liberty held its fifth opponent without scoring during the final 15 minutes this season to seal the road victory.
Quarterback Kaidon Salter struggled in the first half, completing just 4 of 12 passes for 32 yards. After intermission though, he completed 8 of 9 passes for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns as he finished the game 12 of 21 for 177 yards and the two scores.
“I don’t know if we were helping him out as much with some of the calls we needed to get into,” Chadwell said of Salter. “We needed to help him just get into the flow of the game. I think he gets so jacked up. He wants to do so well and sometimes he won’t let the game come to him, he tries to take it. Got him calmed down and put him in positions there in the second half to make some nice plays. He really did a nice job.”
Liberty scored a touchdown on its each of its first three offensive possessions in the second half, pushing the lead to 31-13 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. The final score came on a 16 play, 79-yard drive that took 9 minutes and 39 seconds off the clock, all but sealing JSU’s fate.
Treon Sibley finished the game with 3 receptions for 65 yards and Aaron Bedgood had two catches for 41 yards, both finding their way into the end zone.
Liberty’s linebackers paced the Flames’ defensive effort. Tyren Dupree and Joseph Carter each had career nights, leading the team with 12 and 11 stops, respectively.
The Flames will return home next week, hosting Middle Tennessee on Tuesday night at Williams Stadium. It will be the third of four straight CUSA midweek games and the final Midweek on the Mountain contest. The game on Tuesday, Oct. 17 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics
