Liberty falls to 6-4 following a heartbreaking 31-24 loss at BYU. Here are our quick-hit notes:

  • Tough way to lose that one as Antonio Gandy-Golden had the ball in his hands with a first down conversion on 4th and 21. How he ever got his hands on the ball is amazing, but he was unable to bring the ball in for the first down. BYU takes over on downs and kneels on it to run out the clock.
  • Hard to blame AGG. He finished with 10 catches for 162 yards and if it wasn’t for his play the game wouldn’t have been that close.
  • The story of the game was really the defense unable to make enough stops, particularly on 3rd and long. The Cougars finished 7-of-13 on 3rd downs and they converted several of them from 10+ yards out.
  • Liberty was down two touchdowns in the 4th quarter before Calvert found Foutz for his 2nd touchdown catch of the evening to bring it within 31-24. BYU got the ball back with just over 6 minutes to play and had intentions to run the clock out. They were able to drive into Liberty territory where they lined up for a 47-yard field goal on 4th and 2 with less than 2 minutes to play. The Cougars elected to fake the kick and Liberty was not fooled. Javon Scruggs, who had a terrific game, stopped the fake and got Liberty the ball back with a chance to tie or win the game.
  • The Flames began the game with the ball and were able to successfully march down the field and into the end zone to take the early 7-0 lead. That’s the 7th time in 10 games where Hugh Freeze, Buckshot Calvert, and the Liberty offense has scored a touchdown on the team’s first drive.
  • BYU would respond with a touchdown of its own and it seemed like the Flames would have to match scores to stay in this one.
  • Freeze went to a more methodical offensive philosophy this game as he attempted to shorten the game with longer drives.
  • On it’s second drive, Liberty got deep into BYU territory again, had to settle for a 42-yard field goal that Alex Probert missed wide right by mere inches. It looked to be right above the upright and would have likely bounced off of it if it were a bit lower.
  • That missed field goal really hurt as the Cougars answered with a field goal of their own and then a touchdown on a double pass to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
  • Liberty got a huge turnover on BYU’s opening drive as Elijah Benton forced a fumble that Bejour Wilson recovered. The Flames would have to settle for a 24-yard Alex Probert field goal.
  • Following the field goal, Liberty’s defense forced BYU into a 4th-and-2 at the Flames’ 41 yard line. After calling a timeout, the Cougars complete a wide receiver screen pass that Aleva Hifo caught and sprinted down the sideline untouched for the touchdown to push the lead to two touchdowns at 24-10. A huge turning point in the game. Liberty gets a stop there and the Flames have the ball back with a chance to tie the game going into the 4th quarter.
  • Final attendance in Provo was 54,683 which checks in as the 4th highest attended game Liberty has ever played. The three largest were in 2018 at Auburn (81,129), 2016 at Virginia Tech (62,234), and 2009 at West Virginia (57,950).
  • This game was a long time coming. Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. always referenced BYU and Notre Dame and building Liberty into the equivalent for Evangelicals. Just being on the same field with them was a huge victory. Of course, no one likes moral victories, but it is important to realize how far Liberty University, its athletic department, and this football program has grown just in the past few years, not to mention the past four decades.
  • Liberty heads into a bye week now before the final two games of the regular season. The Flames need one win in its last two games to become bowl eligible. Liberty heads to Charlottesville to face Virginia following the bye week and then returns to Williams Stadium to face New Mexico State.