Flames football continues winning streak

The Liberty University Flames have once again begun their season 3-0 after defeating the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners 28-10 at home Saturday night. The Homecoming victory was claimed in front of the largest Homecoming crowd in school history with 21,805 fans in attendance, and it extended the Flames’ regular-season winning streak to 15 games. 

“It was unbelievable,” Flames Head Coach Jamey Chadwell said postgame. “I don’t know what the announced attendance was, but they were phenomenal. They were loud, they stay in it and when we need them to be loud, they are loud. It’s the best home-field advantage in this conference, bar none.”

After receiving the opening kick, the Flames’ offense was put to work, but the team’s first drive was short and ineffective, going just 7 yards in three plays and forcing a punt. 

The Miners responded to the sputtering Flames by leading their offense down to the 6-yard line. A UTEP touchdown seemed inevitable until sophomore defensive end TJ Bush Jr. and junior linebacker Joseph Carter met at the quarterback and brought down the Miners’ redshirt sophomore signal caller Skylar Locklear for a loss of 4 yards. The credit for the sack would be split between Bush and Carter, and it was the first sack of the season on the Flames’ home turf. 

After the sack, the Miners would try twice more to find the end zone but to no avail, forcing them to trot out the kicking unit to get three on a successful field goal. 

The Flames received the ball and began marching toward the opposite end zone. Liberty seemed to still be sluggish offensively, starting its drive with six consecutive plays for 7 or fewer yards. That is until the Flames’ senior running back Quinton Cooley made a quick cut and broke off a 28-yard run. Following the play, Cooley walked off the field and was checked out by the Flames’ medical staff before being taken to the locker room for the remainder of the half, and he would later return in street clothes to the sideline, out for the night. 

“We lost a lot of people tonight,” Chadwell said. “Cooley’s (injury) doesn’t sound good, but it’s going to be a ‘next man up’ mentality, right?”

Although Cooley was out, he had already gifted the Flames’ offense the momentum it had lacked prior to his explosive run. After another 5-yard run, the Flames broke off back-to-back plays of 12-plus yards, the second going for a touchdown as senior running back Billy Lucas took it unobstructed to the house. 

Down 7-3, the Miners took over after the Lucas touchdown, but their drive came to a screeching halt after a deep pass from Locklear was batted into the air by the Flames’ junior safety Brylan Green and pulled in for the interception by redshirt freshman cornerback Christian Bodnar. This pick was the first of Bodnar’s young career. 

After the interception, the Flames went three-and-out yet again, but a lovely punt from Liberty’s junior punter Max Morgan pinned UTEP on its own 1-yard line. Two good screen plays got the Miners out of the danger zone, but their drive would again come to a screeching halt after an interception. Sophomore corner Dexter Ricks Jr. claimed this second pick of the season. Similar to Bodnar, the interception by Ricks was the first time in his career that he, too, got to don the grizzly Joker mask in celebration.

The Flames’ offense came back onto the field to build on their defense’s second takeaway, and after a completed pass to redshirt freshman running back Vaughn Blue at the 1-yard line, they were able to punch it in again with Lucas as the back.

After Lucas’ second touchdown of the game, the Flames held a 14-3 lead, which they maintained for the remainder of the half largely due to the excellent performance from Bush.

“He (Bush) brings a great motor, great effort,” Chadwell said. “He plays hard. He plays with excitement and urgency. He empties his tank. We challenge our team about emptying the tank; he’s one that empties his tank all the time. He’s becoming a better teammate and better leader by the way he’s practicing and preparing.”

Bush was a constant disruptor Saturday night for the Flames, consistently finding his way into the backfield and in the face of Locklear. Along with his 1.5 sacks, the second coming in the fourth quarter, he ended the game with 1.5 tackles for loss, five total tackles and two passes broken up.

With the third quarter underway, the Miners struck first, capitalizing on a fumble from a mishandled handoff to Blue, which they converted into 7 points after an explosive 60-yard catch-and-run. 

The Flames’ lead was cut to just four, but that touchdown would be the last time UTEP would score in the game. After four consecutive drives that ended in punts, two from each team, Liberty scored its third touchdown of the game with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter. The touchdown came after back-to-back-to-back handoffs to Lucas, the first of which he took 19 yards to the Miners’ 6-yard line, and the third he took all the way into the end zone for his third touchdown of the night.

“When you’re in a game like that and your best running back goes down, you’ve got to put someone in there you trust,” Chadwell said. “We have a lot of trust in Billy.”

Lucas ended the game with 21 rushing attempts, which he turned into 104 yards and three touchdowns. He also hit a new career milestone of 2,500 rushing yards. 

“Oh, no, that’s crazy. I didn’t even know that, man. That’s a blessing. All glory to God,” Lucas said. “That’s just amazing to come here and hit that milestone, … just knowing all that hard work is going to something. Every time you hit a milestone, you just get to sit back and reflect on where you came from and where you are now. It’s just an amazing feeling to know that I hit that check mark, and hopefully I can keep going to hit another one.”

The Flames scored once more after an acrobatic reception from redshirt junior wide receiver Tyson Mobley. This final nail in the Miner’s coffin claimed victory 28-10.

With this win over the Miners, Liberty has advanced to 3-0 on the season with back-to-back conference wins. The Flames are the only undefeated team in Conference USA and the only member of CUSA with two in-conference wins. Next, the Flames will host the East Carolina Pirates Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. in Williams Stadium. 

Palsgrove is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion.