Liberty remained unbeaten thanks to a win over Louisiana Tech (3-7, 2-4 CUSA), 56-30, on Saturday night at Williams Stadium. With the win, the Flames have clinched home field in the Conference USA championship game on Friday, Dec. 1 against an opponent to be determined later as the team improved to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play.
The Flames have started the season at 9-0 for the first time in program history. The team’s best start prior to this year was 8-0 in 2020, a team that went on to finish the year at 10-1. This also marks the first time the program has won nine straight games within in a single season. The nine game win streak is the longest since Liberty won 10 in a row from Nov. 30, 2019 through Nov. 14, 2020.
“I’m very pleased with where we’re at,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell said following the win. “I’m thankful for the job and people entrusting us and our staff to build a program and be able to qualify for the championship in the first year is awesome. That credit goes to the players buying into each other, our strength and conditioning, all those things. Our credit goes to those people for helping our guys every week be ready to go.”
The win also marked Liberty’s first November home win since Nov. 27, 2020 when the Flames defeated UMass, 45-0. It snapped a string of four straight November home losses.
Liberty’s offense was nearly unstoppable against the Bulldogs. The Flames scored touchdowns on seven of the team’s first eight offensive possessions. The only drive during that span the Flames didn’t get into the end zone was an unforced fumble between Kaidon Salter and Quinton Cooley as they mishandled a handoff exchange.
The Flames were very efficient and effective on third downs, converting on their first seven third downs of the game and finishing 7 of 8 on third downs for the evening.
After surrendering a 26-yard field goal on the first drive of the game, the Liberty defense was very strong in the first half. The Flames forced three straight punts following the field goal. That trend would stop on the Bulldogs’ final drive of the first half, as they were able to string together a touchdown drive.
Louisiana Tech would carry over that offensive momentum into the second half, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives of the final 30 minutes. This would allow the visitors to remain within striking distance moving into the fourth quarter.
The Liberty offense was too good and did not allow the Bulldogs to seriously threaten. The Flames finished scoring touchdowns on eight of ten offensive possessions on the night. The team totaled 602 total yards of offense, with nearly an even split at the 300 yard mark between rushing and passing. It marked the team’s highest yardage output since totaling 604 yards against UMass on Oct. 30, 2021.
“Thankful that our offense played really well and took care of the ball for the most part,” said Chadwell. “We had the one hiccup there, but anytime you can rush for 300 and about throw for 300 that’s a pretty good day.”
Kaidon Salter finished the game 16 of 25 passing for 297 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed for 50 yards on 6 carries. The Liberty quarterback now has 30 touchdowns responsible for on the season, the most by a Liberty player since Malik Willis was responsible for a program-record 40 touchdowns in 2021.
Noah Frith led the team with 96 receiving yards on three receptions while also scoring a touchdown. CJ Daniels had three catches for 79 yards and a score. Bentley Hanshaw and Aaron Bedgood were also on the receiving end of Salter touchdown passes.
“I’m really happy for Noah,” Coach Chadwell stated. “Noah probably leads the country for number of catches that get called back for penalties. He had a great game tonight, touchdown, for a senior, a 6th year senior. Love that kid. Just how awesome, did you see how happy everybody was for him? He works hard, doesn’t complain. We ask him to block, he got his shot tonight. Really happy for him.”
Quinton Cooley finished the game with 20 carries for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. It marks his sixth 100-yard rushing game this season, the most by a Liberty player since 2014 when DJ Abnar rushed for 100 or more yards six times.
“He’s really good,” Chadwell said of Cooley. “He can make one cut and he can make it and get vertical. Then, he can run through an arm tackle. He’s not obviously the fastest guy out there. He can see the cut and he puts his foot in the ground and he can run through any type of arm tackles.”
James Jointer rushed for 27 yards on five carries, scoring his first career rushing touchdown which was the final score of the game.
As a team, Liberty rushed for 305 yards, making this the first time in program history the Flames have registered three straight 300-yard rushing games. Coach Chadwell led teams are now 30-0 when rushing for 300 or more yards. Liberty’s eight 200-yard rushing games this season tie a program record, as the 2020 Flames rushed for 200 or more yards eight times.
Liberty matches the 2005 Central Florida team for the most conference wins by a first year CUSA member with 7. The Flames have won 15 straight over CUSA opponents and have a 16-1 record all-time against CUSA foes.
With 21,647 fans in attendance on Saturday night, it marked the 6th largest crowd in Williams Stadium history and the most to ever watch the Flames for homecoming.
The Flames will return to action next Saturday, Nov. 11 at Williams Stadium to take on Old Dominion. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Lynchburg, Virginia and will be streamed on ESPN+.
