No. 23 Liberty (13-1) was upended on New Year’s Day in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, falling to No. 8 Oregon (12-2), 45-6, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in front of 47,769 fans.
The Flames were unable to slow down one of the top offenses in the country, as Oregon racked up 45 and 584 yards. Quarterback Bo Nix led the way for the Ducks by completing 28 of 35 passes for 363 yards and 5 touchdowns. He tied a Fiesta Bowl record with his five touchdown passes.
“A lot of credit goes to Oregon,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. “They have a fine team, and they obviously laid it on us today. We knew we would have to play really well to compete and
have a chance to win the game, and they did a lot of things that made it challenging on us.”
After winning the coin toss and opting to receive the opening kickoff, Liberty had a very successful opening drive. The Flames went 75 yards in 6 plays, getting into the end zone on a 17-yard pass by Kaidon Salter to Bentley Hanshaw. A 34-yard run by Aaron Bedgood was the big play of the drive. After connecting on all 65 of his extra points this season entering the game, Nick Brown did miss this PAT as Liberty grabbed the early 6-0 lead.
The Ducks responded with an 8 play, 60 yard drive, but had to settle for a 37-yard field goal after Bryce Dixon batted down Bo Nix’s pass on 3rd down. The teams would exchange punts the next few possessions, with Liberty leading at the end of the first quarter, 6-3.
Liberty had a chance to extend their lead late in the first quarter, moved the ball to midfield, where it faced a 4th and long 2. The ball was at Liberty’s own 45 and Chadwell elected to punt the ball rather than keep the offense on the field.”
“It was more about 4th-and-3 — and-2 is normally our window to decide to go for it,” Chadwell said. “They said it was 4th-and 3. I think it was 6-3 at that time, if I’m not mistaken. Looking back, maybe you wish you had went for it there, the way the game went. I thought at the time, you pin them back and maybe you get a chance to get a stop and get the ball back there. But hindsight, for sure, I probably would have went for it, even if it was 4th-and-3 or plus. That’s something we’ve done quite a bit of. And yeah, I would have done it again and we would have went for it.”
In the 2nd quarter, the game quickly shifted in Oregon’s favor. Nix threw for four touchdowns during the 15-minute period as Oregon took the lead and extended it to 31-6 entering halftime.
Liberty stopped Oregon for the field goal on their opening drive and then forced a three and out on the next possession for the Pac-12 runner-up. After that though, the Oregon offense rolled. The Ducks scored touchdowns on six straight possessions to take command of the game and put it out of reach for the Flames. Their string of success only ended in the fourth quarter when Nix exited the game.
“I’m proud of our team,” said Chadwell. We kept fighting. We had some opportunities there, especially in the first half and some things going our way, to maybe keep it closer and have a chance. But we kept playing through four quarters. That’s hard to do when you’re getting beat like the way we were.”
The Flames were called for 6 penalties for 49 yards on the afternoon, compared to 2 Oregon penalties for 20 yards. Liberty also lost the turnover battle, 2-0.
Kaidon Salter finished the game 15 of 24 passing for 126 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception The Oregon defense did a good job of not allowing him to escape the pocket and make many plays with his legs. He rushed 10 times for 25 yards.
CJ Daniels was his favorite target, finishing the game with 8 receptions for 79 yards. Quinton Cooley led the team in rushing with 8 carries for 79 yards.
Liberty, who entered the game leading the nation in rushing offense at 302.9 yards per game, finished Monday’s contest with 168 yards rushing, the lowest rushing total of the season for the Flames. The previous low was 191 against Sam Houston State.
“They’re the best defense we played,” Chadwell said of Oregon. “You have to really scheme them up to make some things happen. When you get behind the chains, get behind the sticks, you’re not able to maybe do things that you would like to do to keep the clock running and get the yardage that you need.”
With 294 yards of offense, Liberty was also held to its lowest offensive output of the year. The previous low came all the way back in the season opener against Bowling Green when the Flames finished that game with 389 yards. These were the only two games Liberty was held to under 400 yards of offense in a game this season.
“This program will be back on this stage,” said Chadwell. “Mark that down. Conference USA will be back on this stage. We will be back in this. The reason why is because today, we saw how far we’re away. The guys that are returning and the guys we’re bringing in, this will be our benchmark. We’re shooting for the College Football Playoff and today is a great motivator, because it tells us how
far we are. And we’re far away right now. But we will be back on that, and I hope future recruits and people know that we’re heading in a great direction.”
