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Saturday, November 23
Lynchburg, Va.
1:00 PM ET
Liberty University
8-2 , 5-2
38
vs
21
Western Kentucky
7-4 , 5-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Western Ky.
0
7
14
0
21
Liberty
0
21
7
10
38
Seniors Shine in Critical CUSA Win over Western Kentucky
11/23/2024 5:40:00 PM | Football
LYNCHBURG, Va. – With its backs against the wall and needing two wins to make the CUSA Football Championship game, Liberty's seniors rose to the occasion. They carried the Flames to a 38-21 Conference USA win over Western Kentucky, Saturday afternoon.
With the Flames' third win in a row, Liberty raises its record to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Conference USA play. Western Kentucky drops its second in a row, falling to 7-4 on the year and matching Liberty's CUSA record at 5-2.
With Jacksonville State's win over Sam Houston earlier today, the Gamecocks wrap up hosting the CUSA Football Championship game on Dec. 6.
Liberty, Sam Houston and Western Kentucky all enter the final week of the regular season with identical 5-2 CUSA marks and all three have paths to the title game in Jacksonville, Ala.
Prior to the game, Liberty honored 15 seniors who played their final games at Williams Stadium. The seniors included Jahmar Brown, Quinton Cooley, Seth Ellsmore, John Paul Flores, Xavior Gray, Nate Hampton, Bentley Hanshaw, Teylor Jackson, Jerome Jolly, Jr., Colin Karhu, Billy Lucas, Quinton Reese, Kaidon Salter, Treon Sibley and Charles Yates, Jr.
The Flames continued to pound the ground game to help secure the victory. After rushing for 339 yards against Middle Tennessee and 309 yards at UMass last weekend, Liberty's No. 5 nationally ranked rushing attack tallied a season-best 419 yards and four touchdowns.
Three seniors paced Liberty's stout rushing attack, as both running backs Quinton Cooley (24 carries, 166 yards, two touchdowns) and Billy Lucas (19 carries, 131 yards. one touchdown) both surpassed the 100-yard mark.
For Cooley, it was his eighth 100-yard game of 2024 and 15th at Liberty. He also surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season (2023 – 1,401 yard; 2024 – 1,164 yards).
For Lucas, it marked his third career 100-yard game as a Flame and 10th of his playing career, following seven 100-yard games at Duquesne.
Kaidon Salter, who also participated in Senior Day, but still has one year of eligibility remaining, rushed 11 times for 66 yards and a touchdown. He also completed 6-of-11 passing attempts on a blustery day for 108 yards and a key touchdown at the end of the first half.
Julian Gray paced Liberty's limited receiving yards, finishing the game with two receptions for 47 yards, including an acrobatic touchdown reception to put Liberty up 21-7 at halftime.
Liberty's defense held Western Kentucky's nationally ranked passing attack to 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The Flames forced a season-best four turnovers, intercepting WKU's Caden Veltkamp three times on the day and forcing a fumble.
Liberty's defensive leaders were linebackers Joseph Carter, who record his fifth 10-plus tackle efforts of the season (10 stops), and senior linebacker Jerome Jolly, Jr.
Jolly matched his career high on Senior Day, finishing the game with eight stops and recording one of Liberty's three interceptions. Cornerback Amarian Williams had the other two picks in the game for the Flames, also marking a new career single-game high.
Box Score Highlights:
Final Score: 38-21
Liberty (8-2, 5-2 CUSA)
Western Kentucky (7-4, 5-2 CUSA)
Location: Williams Stadium (Lynchburg, Va.)
Attendance: 17,930
The Flames' win today:
Play-By-Play Breakdown:
First Quarter
What's Next:
The Flames will wrap up their regular season schedule with a "Black Friday" road football game at Sam Houston (8-3, 5-2 CUSA), next week.
The contest from Bowers Stadium will have significant implications on the 2024 CUSA Football Championship game. Should the Flames win next week's game, Liberty would earn its second-straight berth into the CUSA Football Championship game, which would be hosted by Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala., on Dec. 6.
Both Western Kentucky (7-4, 5-2 CUSA) and Sam Houston also have paths to the championship game, but either would need to win next weekend's regular season finale.
Jacksonville State travels to Western Kentucky, next Saturday, for a road game at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium on Saturday, November 30 (Kickoff: 4 p.m. EST/TV: ESPNU).
WKU can secure a championship berth with a win over Jax State and a Liberty loss. Sam Houston's path to the championship game requires a win over Liberty and a Jax State win.
Date: Friday, Nov. 29, 2024
Location: Huntsville, Texas (Bowers Stadium)
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: LFSN Radio (Flagship Station: The Journey 88.3 FM Lynchburg)
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. (EST)
With the Flames' third win in a row, Liberty raises its record to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Conference USA play. Western Kentucky drops its second in a row, falling to 7-4 on the year and matching Liberty's CUSA record at 5-2.
With Jacksonville State's win over Sam Houston earlier today, the Gamecocks wrap up hosting the CUSA Football Championship game on Dec. 6.
Liberty, Sam Houston and Western Kentucky all enter the final week of the regular season with identical 5-2 CUSA marks and all three have paths to the title game in Jacksonville, Ala.
Prior to the game, Liberty honored 15 seniors who played their final games at Williams Stadium. The seniors included Jahmar Brown, Quinton Cooley, Seth Ellsmore, John Paul Flores, Xavior Gray, Nate Hampton, Bentley Hanshaw, Teylor Jackson, Jerome Jolly, Jr., Colin Karhu, Billy Lucas, Quinton Reese, Kaidon Salter, Treon Sibley and Charles Yates, Jr.
The Flames continued to pound the ground game to help secure the victory. After rushing for 339 yards against Middle Tennessee and 309 yards at UMass last weekend, Liberty's No. 5 nationally ranked rushing attack tallied a season-best 419 yards and four touchdowns.
Three seniors paced Liberty's stout rushing attack, as both running backs Quinton Cooley (24 carries, 166 yards, two touchdowns) and Billy Lucas (19 carries, 131 yards. one touchdown) both surpassed the 100-yard mark.
For Cooley, it was his eighth 100-yard game of 2024 and 15th at Liberty. He also surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season (2023 – 1,401 yard; 2024 – 1,164 yards).
For Lucas, it marked his third career 100-yard game as a Flame and 10th of his playing career, following seven 100-yard games at Duquesne.
Kaidon Salter, who also participated in Senior Day, but still has one year of eligibility remaining, rushed 11 times for 66 yards and a touchdown. He also completed 6-of-11 passing attempts on a blustery day for 108 yards and a key touchdown at the end of the first half.
Julian Gray paced Liberty's limited receiving yards, finishing the game with two receptions for 47 yards, including an acrobatic touchdown reception to put Liberty up 21-7 at halftime.
Liberty's defense held Western Kentucky's nationally ranked passing attack to 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The Flames forced a season-best four turnovers, intercepting WKU's Caden Veltkamp three times on the day and forcing a fumble.
Liberty's defensive leaders were linebackers Joseph Carter, who record his fifth 10-plus tackle efforts of the season (10 stops), and senior linebacker Jerome Jolly, Jr.
Jolly matched his career high on Senior Day, finishing the game with eight stops and recording one of Liberty's three interceptions. Cornerback Amarian Williams had the other two picks in the game for the Flames, also marking a new career single-game high.
Box Score Highlights:
Final Score: 38-21
Liberty (8-2, 5-2 CUSA)
Western Kentucky (7-4, 5-2 CUSA)
Location: Williams Stadium (Lynchburg, Va.)
Attendance: 17,930
The Flames' win today:
- Keeps the Flames unbeaten all-time against Western Kentucky at 5-0.
- Also makes the Hilltoppers just the third team Liberty has faced at least five times without a loss (also 6-0 vs. St. Paul's and 5-0 vs. Concord).
- Marks the Flames' 150th victory at Williams Stadium, making their all-time record 150-56 at the facility, which opened in 1989.
- Secures the Flames' sixth consecutive season with eight-plus victories and the 16th in program history.
- Improves the Flames' all-time record vs. CUSA opponents (at time of meeting) to 23-3.
- Keeps the Flames' hopes of a second straight trip to the CUSA Championship Game alive.
- Makes Flames' November record under Chadwell 7-0.
- Keeps the Flames unbeaten (15-0) in Saturday contests under Chadwell.
- Improves the Flames' all-time home record to 10-1 when facing opponents from Kentucky.
Play-By-Play Breakdown:
First Quarter
- Neither team found the end zone during the first quarter of the game and the first 15 minutes of play saw three turnovers.
- Liberty intercepted Western Kentucky twice, once by Amarian Williams and another by Jerome Jolly, Jr., in the red zone. The Flames turned the ball over on the second to last play of the quarter on a Cooley fumble near midfield.
- The two teams took very different methods to move the ball during the first quarter. Liberty ran the ball 17 times on its 20 offensive plays, gaining 101 yards on the ground. WKU got 87 of its 99 total offensive yards off Caden Veltkamp completing 5-of-7 passing attempts, despite the two picks.
- Western Kentucky was the first team to put points on the board, taking a 7-0 lead at the 13:17 mark. Working off the Cooley fumble to end the first, the Hilltoppers capped a six-play, 64-yard drive when Veltkamp connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Smith.
- The Flames answered right back on the next drive, getting their ground game going to tie the game, 7-7, at 9:30. Liberty kept the ball on the ground six times during the eight-play, 92-yard scoring drive, ending on a two-yard touchdown run by Billy Lucas.
- Liberty would score twice more before during the closing minutes of the half. Cooley scored on a 22-yard run at 2:05, while Julian Gray caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Salter in the back of the end zone with 10 seconds later to give Liberty a 21-7 halftime edge.
- The Hilltoppers made it a one-score game on the opening drive of the third quarter, getting a two-yard rushing touchdown from George Hart, III, at 10:33. The nine-play, 75-yard drive saw WKU convert on a fourth-down play near midfield to keep the drive alive.
- Julian Gray almost single-handedly pushed Liberty's lead back to 14 points, 28-14, on the following drive. Gray opened the drive with a 56-yard kickoff return, followed by a 36-yard pass from Salter to set up Cooley's second rushing touchdown of the day on a two-yard play just 49 seconds later at 9:44.
- All three of the completed drives of the third quarter ended in a touchdown, as WKU pulled back within seven, 28-21, at the 3:44 mark on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Veltkamp to Kisean Johnson.
- Western Kentucky's nationally ranked red zone defense was able to make its presence known midway through the fourth quarter. Liberty got to the WKU 11-yard line, but was stopped by the No. 3 ranked red zone defense in the country, forcing the Flames to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Colin Karhu at 11:13 to push its lead to 10, 31-21.
- The Flames put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter when Liberty pieced together a 13-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Salter at 2:59, giving Liberty its final margin of victory.
What's Next:
The Flames will wrap up their regular season schedule with a "Black Friday" road football game at Sam Houston (8-3, 5-2 CUSA), next week.
The contest from Bowers Stadium will have significant implications on the 2024 CUSA Football Championship game. Should the Flames win next week's game, Liberty would earn its second-straight berth into the CUSA Football Championship game, which would be hosted by Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala., on Dec. 6.
Both Western Kentucky (7-4, 5-2 CUSA) and Sam Houston also have paths to the championship game, but either would need to win next weekend's regular season finale.
Jacksonville State travels to Western Kentucky, next Saturday, for a road game at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium on Saturday, November 30 (Kickoff: 4 p.m. EST/TV: ESPNU).
WKU can secure a championship berth with a win over Jax State and a Liberty loss. Sam Houston's path to the championship game requires a win over Liberty and a Jax State win.
Date: Friday, Nov. 29, 2024
Location: Huntsville, Texas (Bowers Stadium)
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: LFSN Radio (Flagship Station: The Journey 88.3 FM Lynchburg)
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. (EST)
Team Stats
WKU
LU
Total Yards
368
556
Pass Yards
262
137
Rushing Yards
106
419
Penalty Yards
26
20
1st Downs
19
29
3rd Downs
6
8
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
25:17
34:43
2nd Quarter
WKU 7, LU 0
WKU - Smith,Dalvin 9 yd pass from Veltkamp,Caden (Carneiro,Lucas kick) 6 plays, 64 yards, TOP 02:37
WKU 7, LU 7
LU - Lucas,Billy 2 yd run (Karhu,Colin kick), 8 plays, 92 yards, TOP 03:44
WKU 7, LU 14
LU - Cooley,Quinton 22 yd run (Karhu,Colin kick), 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 03:49
WKU 7, LU 21
LU - Gray,Julian 11 yd pass from Salter,Kaidon (Karhu,Colin kick) 7 plays, 90 yards, TOP 00:45
3rd Quarter
WKU 14, LU 21
WKU - Hart III,George 2 yd run (Carneiro,Lucas kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:27
WKU 14, LU 28
LU - Cooley,Quinton 2 yd run (Karhu,Colin kick), 2 plays, 38 yards, TOP 00:39
WKU 21, LU 28
WKU - Johnson,Kisean 16 yd pass from Veltkamp,Caden (Carneiro,Lucas kick) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:00
4th Quarter
WKU 21, LU 31
LU - Karhu,Colin 29 yd field goal 14 plays, 61 yards, TOP 07:24
WKU 21, LU 38
LU - Salter,Kaidon 3 yd run (Karhu,Colin kick), 13 plays, 86 yards, TOP 06:35
Game Leaders
CMP
6
TD
1
YDS
108
INT
0
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
29
INT
0
Players Mentioned
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