Liberty Football Rallies From 12-Point Deficit To Overcome UNT 35-26

Only a week removed from an uncharacteristic loss to the 33-point underdogs Louisiana-Monroe, Liberty football prevented another upset by beating the University of North Texas 35-26 Oct. 23.

Even though game projections favored the Flames, the team struggled early and placed itself in several rough positions throughout the game. Liberty trailed by six points at the half before the deficit  doubled in the middle of the third quarter. An injury to quarterback Malik Willis compounded  Liberty’s woes in the second quarter. 

Despite everything set against the Flames, the team found a way to win. This win marks Liberty’s sixth on the year and qualified the team for bowl eligibility for the third year in a row.

After winning the coin toss and electing to defer, Head Coach Hugh Freeze sent his defense out in hopes that the unit would get an early stop. UNT methodically marched down the field in a 70-yard, 13-play drive. Calamity struck for the Mean Green, however, when Javon Scruggs intercepted Austin Aune’s pass at the Liberty 1-yard line. 

Plagued by the poor field position,  the Flames’ offense could not get the ball rolling and punted the ball back to UNT. A short punt by Max Morgan gave UNT excellent field position. Undeterred by the mistake on the last drive, the Mean Green once again drove down the field before DeAndre Torrey rushed for a 2-yard touchdown score. 

Liberty did little offensively on the following drive and punted the ball back to UNT. The Mean Green’s 11-play drive placed the Liberty defense on its heels once again, but a costly turnover on downs in the red zone kept UNT’s lead at seven points. 

Liberty finally found its stride in the next drive and earned its first score on a deep heave from Willis to Kevin Shaa. An early jump offsides by the UNT defense provided the Flames with a free play, and Willis took full advantage of the situation to cash in to tie the game.

With a freshly tied game, UNT looked to the run game for success, and the Mean Green found it. Keeping every play on the ground, the UNT gained 65 yards on three plays with a 42-yard dash by Ayo Adeyi providing the score. The made extra point by Aaron Bechkam returned UNT’s lead to seven points.

Liberty could not provide a response and sent the punt team out for a third time. Matters only worsened for Liberty when Morgan’s punt issues during the game continued, and his punt traveled only 1 yard. Liberty’s defense held up its end of the bargain and forced the Mean Green to settle for a short field goal after a three-and-out. 

Liberty’s misfortune continued when Willis sustained a left foot injury during the second quarter and left the game. Quarterback Jonathan Bennett entered the game for the Flames but could not gain any traction on his first drive. A failed fourth down conversion on a rush by Bennett handed the ball back to UNT. 

UNT gained possession and proceeded to kick another field goal.

Bennett’s second drive proved to be his best of the game as he engineered a five-play, 90-yard drive and capped it off with a 39-yard touchdown pass to CJ Daniels. 

Liberty’s defense, energized from the momentum shift, made another big play near the end of the half and intercepted Aune’s first pass of the drive. This defensive effort proved to be futile, however, as Liberty’s offense failed to gain any points on the takeaway. Freeze elected to go for it on fourth down at the UNT 27-yard line instead of attempting the long field goal, but the team failed to convert. 

The first half ended with the Mean Green ahead 20-14. 

After the break, Liberty had quick position before Morgan was once again sent out to punt. 

UNT took full advantage of the chance to further wound the Flames. Another long drive resulted in a touchdown for the Mean Green on a 6-yard touchdown reception by Jason Pirtle. A failed two-point conversion kept the score at 26-14 and marked UNT’s final score of the contest. 

Willis returned to the field on the following drive to begin a heroic comeback. Two connections to Daniels accounted for 60 yards with the second being a 20-yard touchdown. The score cut Liberty’s deficit to five points.

eded afterwards and forced the UNT punt team onto the field. 

In what might have been Liberty’s most electric play of the night, DeMario Douglas returned the punt for 70 yards to the end zone and gave Liberty its first lead of the night. Following the stellar punt return, Liberty led 28-26 with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

UNT failed to respond, but a perfect punt placed the Flames deep into their own territory at the their own 3-yard line. 

Willis narrowly avoided disaster following the punt as UNT’s defense flooded the backfield on one of the next plays. Willis was spun around and it looked as if he would be sacked in the end zone. Facing his own goal post, Willis threw the ball over his head and out of bounds to avoid the
game-tying safety. 

“I was scared to death,” Willis said about the play after the game. “There was a man in front of me, and I was in the end zone, and I couldn’t break the tackle. I was really, really scarred, but I knew where the sticks were, and I know I was outside the pocket, so I just had to get it past the line of
scrimmage.”

After barely avoiding the safety, Willis and company marched toward the UNT end zone. A 37-yard reception by Shedro Lewis gave Liberty a two-score lead. This score proved to be the last of the game. 

Willis finished the game with 222 yards and three touchdowns through the air. On the ground, Willis finished with a loss of eight yards as the whole team only mustered 41 total rushing yards. 

After the game, Freeze expressed pleasure at how his team found victory despite its struggles. 

“I tell you there’s one thing I don’t question, and that’s the fight of our kids,” Freeze said. “It was adverse. It was hot. It was physical against a good offense and a good defensive line, and our kids just battled. You play for 60 minutes and see what the score says.”

While Freeze appreciated the victory, he also acknowledged the ways in which the team could improve, namely penalties. Liberty garnered 11 offensive and defensive penalties, which accumulated into 97 yards. 

“I’m not used to coaching a team that has that many penalties, and there certainly were a lot called,” Freeze said. “We’ve got to get the penalties cleaned up, or it’s going to haunt us in games to come.”

Bennet, who finished the game with 88 passing yards, stated that he was glad to see Willis’ return after the second quarter injury. 

“We know how much Malik cares for us, and I know how hard he worked, so I was warmhearted when I saw Malik running out the tunnel,” Bennett said. “I asked him, “Man, you good?’ He was like, ‘Let’s go finish.’”

Douglas stated that he appreciated the performance of his backup quarterback after Willis left.

“I’ve got trust in all my QBs, so when 7 [Willis] went down, I knew JB was going to step up,” Douglas said. “I saw it in his face, and then he came out throwing it. Having Malik back, I’m happy, but JB stepped up for sure.”

Liberty’s next challenge will come Oct. 30 when the UMass Minutemen come to Lynchburg. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. EST. 

Shields is the asst. sports editor. Follow him on Twitter.