Liberty survives an overtime scare, defeats FIU and is 5-0

Liberty’s Kaidon Salter scored the go-ahead touchdown in overtime and then FIU’s Christian Bodnar sacked Keyone Jenkins, leaving the FIU quarterback reeling. Jerome Jolly would fall on the loose ball to give the home team a 31-24 win on Tuesday night at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.

“We got into overtime and no one on the sideline had any doubts,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “They knew they were going to win. I think the other side hoped we knew. There is a big difference.”

With the win, the Flames improved to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in CUSA play, while the Panthers fell to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference. Liberty opened its season 5-0 for the second straight year and third time in the last four years.

“I told our team that the ultimate goal is to find a way to win, which we did, and we have to learn how to finish the race,” Chadwell said. “We have to learn not to defeat ourselves in certain situations. But I was happy we found a way to win.”

For the fifth time in five games, the Flames had to come from behind to earn a win, falling behind 10-3 early in the second quarter. The teams traded field goals on their second drive before an offensive pass interference negated a third down conversion and forced a Liberty punt. FIU took the lead on a 17-yard rushing touchdown after the ball was fumbled into the end zone and dropped by the offense for the score.

Liberty responded with an 11-play drive, with 10 plays on the ground, including a 4-yard touchdown run by Quinton Cooley to tie the game at 10. The teams exchanged punts until Liberty’s final drive of the game. Salter was able to fend off a pair of attackers with a 20-yard touchdown dash, giving the Flames a 17-10 halftime lead.

After halftime, Liberty’s Amarian Williams intercepted a deflected pass from Jenkins to bring the Flames into FIU territory and extend the lead to two points. Liberty would move the ball to the FIU 1-yard line before Quinton Cooley fumbled and the Panthers recovered and kept their lead at seven points.

After a punt exchange, FIU brought the ball into the red zone. On the first play of the fourth quarter with a 4^Th and 4 at the 18, Jenkins attempted a pass into the end zone that fell incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.

The Flames would once again rely on the running game as five of the next eight plays came on the ground. The drive resulted in a nine-yard touchdown run by Cooley that extended the lead to 24-10 with 10:43 left in the fourth quarter.

The guests from the 305 drove straight back into the field. A nine-play drive resulted in a touchdown and brought the game back to a 24-17 score with 6:23 left.

Liberty tried to move the chains a few times and melt the clock, opening the possession with a pass. Salter’s throw to Reese Smith was incomplete. Then Salter mishandled the snap and fell on the fumble, resulting in a three-yard return. On the 3rd^approx and 13, Salter’s pass to Smith was incomplete and the Flames had to punt after just 57 seconds.

Jenkins and the Panthers took advantage. They again needed nine plays to get into the end zone, this game tied with 1:42 left.

The Flames would move the ball to midfield before Chadwell decided to punt at the 4^Th and 1 with 27 seconds remaining in the regular season. The Panthers knelt on the ball and sent the game into overtime.

“My job as head coach, which is figuring out what I haven’t done yet, is how do we start and finish games,” Chadwell explained. “We played better in the first half than we have in a long time, which was good, but we didn’t do what was necessary to really finish the game the way we should have. Obviously the fumble right in front of the goal in the third quarter. There are some things we know we need to improve on.”

This was Liberty’s first overtime game since a four-OT win at Southern Miss in the 2022 season opener. In that game, Salter came on as a substitute to help the struggling Liberty offense win. The Flames’ last overtime home game was on October 29, 2016 against Gardner-Webb.

The Flames are now 11-0 in the CUSA regular season. They have also won 20 straight games against CUSA opponents and are 21-1 overall against CUSA.

Liberty also extended its regular season winning streak to 17 games, the longest active regular season winning streak in the FBS. Additionally, the Flames now have a 12-game home winning streak, the second-longest home winning streak in program history, behind only a 15-game streak from September 14, 2019 to October 2019. 30, 2021.

The Flames totaled a season-high 281 yards on 50 rushing attempts. Cooley led the way with a career-high 29 carries for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Salter added 60 yards and 2 scores on 12 carries. Salter was 9 of 16 passing for 125 yards, a season low for the team in passing yards.

We made our decision in overtime whether we would ride with him or die. We went down and scored. KSalt pulled the ball for a play, but we would ride or die with it in overtime. We didn’t finish the game. If we go down, we will go down by getting the ball to our most productive player on offense. We have made this decision. We get the ball and will try to run down their throats and then it happened

After a three-touchdown game, Reese Smith led the team with four catches for 68 yards. He left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent right knee injury, suffering a torn ACL and a torn meniscus in the same knee, causing him to miss the entire 2023 season before tearing his meniscus again last summer.

“Hopefully it’s not as bad as it looked,” Chadwell said of Smith’s injury. “Sometimes you just pull at the scar tissue and it feels worse than it is. We hope that’s it. We hope so. We’ll find out. He was there in the locker room and seemed to be feeling better. Hopefully it’s not structural damage.”

With 17 days between games due to the cancellation of the Appalachian State game, the Flames now have 15 days until their next game. Liberty is scheduled to play at Kennesaw State on Wednesday, Oct. 23, where the team will attempt to secure bowl eligibility and remain undefeated in the regular season under Chadwell.