No. 23 Liberty (10-1) knocks No. 12 Coastal Carolina (11-1) from the ranks of the unbeatens thanks to a blocked field goal by Elijah James in overtime, as the Flames win 37-34.
“Elation,” Freeze said of his emotions following the blocked kick. “We tried to give the game away, it felt like, a couple different times. To know that you still found a way to win, it was pretty good. We called a timeout. That was the first time we’ve gone max block, I think Elijah got his hands on it, but there were some other guys that got some good push, Ralf and those guys up front. Elijah got his hand on it. Obviously, just thrilled to beat a top 15 team tonight. Excited about the way we finished. That was our whole theme. Our program needs to be about finishing. We felt like it was our ending for our program to finish in a bowl game and then we like to win them when we get there. We’ve had pretty good success in the times I’ve taken teams to bowl games, 5-1 now. I’m glad that our kids were able to finish.”
It was a wild and thrilling game, as most Liberty and Coastal games have become in recent matchups. The former Big South rivals have had numerous games decided in the final minutes and even into overtime, and Saturday’s game in the Cure Bowl was no different.
The game was tied at 28 after Coastal tied the game with a Grayson McCall touchdown run and then a two point conversion with 3:01 left in the game. The Flames were able to move the ball deep into Chanticleer territory thanks to two straight completed passes by Malik Willis to Kevin Shaa and Noah Frith for 15 and 10 yards, respectively. The Flames’ quarterback then broke free for a 26 yard run to move Liberty to the Coastal 24 yard line. Liberty would pick up another first down three plays later on a 15 yard screen pass to Joshua Mack to move the team to the Coastal 3 yard line.
The Chanticleers had exhausted all of their timeouts on the prior three plays, and with less than two minutes remaining, it looked as though Liberty would run the clock out and set up for a game clinching field goal with little to no time remaining. Everything went to plan on first and goal as Mack took the handoff, stood at the line of scrimmage for a few seconds, before taking a knee at the 3. On 2nd down, Mack, somewhat surprisingly, went into the line of scrimmage and pushed towards the goal line. Coastal’s defenders were pulling him towards the end zone while the Flames were attempting to keep him from getting into the end zone. During that scrum, the ball poked free as Mack fell into the end zone. The play was ruled a fumble and the Chanticleers recovered inside the 1 where they would then run the clock out to head to overtime.
“They used all their timeouts and we wanted to run one more play and go down around the 2 or 1, then I’ve got my two timeouts so we can use all of the clock,” said Freeze. “Then either decide to run it on 3rd down and try to score or run another one, call a timeout and kick a field goal. We’ve got to take care of the ball. The game is close because of their competitive spirit and their quarterback and because we turned the ball over and that was certainly a critical time to do that.”
It marked the third game in the storied Liberty-Coastal Carolina rivalry that went into overtime, with the Chanticleers winning each of the previous overtime games, 27-21 in triple overtime in 2005, and 55-52 in double overtime in 2013.
Liberty would begin the overtime period on offense, picking up 5 yards on first down with a completion to Kevin Shaa. The next two plays combined for a loss of a yard and then the Flames had a delay of game penalty called on them as Alex Barbir and the special teams unit came on for a field goal attempt. After the penalty, it was a 44-yard attempt from the walk-on Barbir who drilled it to give the Flames the 37-34 advantage.
Needing a touchdown to secure victory or a field goal to move the game to a second overtime, the Chanticleers took to the field for their overtime possession. Quarterback Grayson McCall, who completed 21 of 32 passes for 318 yards and 3 touchdowns to go along with his 96 rushing yards and another score, threw three incomplete passes in the overtime period. All three were defended by Liberty freshman nickel back Quinton Reese. Kicker Massimo Biscardi took the field, and after Hugh Freeze called a timeout to attempt to ice him, James was able to get his right hand on the ball to block the 42 yard attempt.
The blocked field goal brings back memories from the 2014 meeting between the former conference rivals when Chima Uzowihe blocked the Coastal field goal attempt as time expired lifting Liberty to a 15-14 win over the FCS No. 1 Chanticleers who were 11-0 entering that game, just like they were Saturday night. Blocked field goals have ended three games in the series, now, as Coastal got the upper hand in 2013 by blocking John Lunsford’s kick in double overtime.
Alex Barbir made all three of his field goal attempts on the evening, including the eventual game winner. He’s had an up and down season, but the former Penn State kicker who took three years off from football as a student at Liberty, owns game winning field goals in the two biggest wins in Liberty football history.
Willis was awarded the MVP of the Cure Bowl following his performance where he finished with 4 rushing touchdowns. The former Auburn quarterback completed 19 of 29 passes for 210 yards and 2 interceptions, but he was most dangerous on the ground with a game high 137 rushing yards and the 4 scores on 21 carries. On the evening, Willis broke two of Mike Brown’s records. He became the single-season record holder for rushing yards by a quarterback finishing with 944. Willis also finishes the year with 14 rushing touchdowns, the most in a single season by a Liberty quarterback, and 34 total touchdowns responsible for breaking Brown’s single-season program record of 32, also set in 2010.
Despite the costly fumble, Mack had a very productive day with 105 rushing yards on 14 attempts. DJ Stubbs and Demario Douglas each had 5 receptions for 68 and 51 yards, respectively.
Liberty concludes what is without a question the best season in school history at 10-1. Entering bowl season ranked No. 23 in both the Coaches and Associated Press Top 25 polls, the Flames will certainly remain in those polls when they are updated following the conclusion of the 2020 season. Hugh Freeze and Liberty picked up the program’s first two wins over ACC opponents this season, defeating Syracuse and Virginia Tech, and Saturday night’s win was the first in program history at the FBS level over a top 25 opponent. The Flames end the year just one blocked field goal away from a perfect season.
“Man, what a year,” Freeze said. “It’s one of the more memorable years that I have had in coaching. I just really can’t wait to kind of reflect on it. Obviously, there were a lot of obstacles that our program had to handle along with many others that had to play college football. Just thankful, thankful for our administration, all of the staff of nutritionists, medical team, equipment staff, everybody that worked so many extra jobs to make this happen. Most of all, I’m just thankful for our kids and staff that I get to work with. We had a tremendous year, what a way to end it in the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl again. Heck of a game tonight. Thankful that our guys found a way to win it.”
The Flames become the first team ever to win multiple Cure Bowl titles after Liberty knocked off Georgia Southern, 23-16, in the 2019 version. Liberty’s 10 wins on the season tie a program mark set by the 2008 team who finished 10-2.
