Riding a three-game win streak and coming off the team’s most complete game of the season, Liberty aimed to keep the momentum going, but the visitors from Missouri State mounted a late comeback, scoring with 27 seconds remaining to pull out the 21-17 win. The Flames fall to 4-5 on the season and 3-2 in CUSA play while the Bears improve to 6-3 and 4-1.
“We did not make enough plays in the first half,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. “We had them on the ropes, we did not make enough opportunities to separate the score. In the third quarter, they came out and made some adjustments and we took a little while to adjust offensively. We gave up some plays there from a defensive standpoint. I thought we did some good things overall, but we needed to make some plays, drops hurt us, we missed on some big plays that could have helped us. We had some penalties that helped extend some drives. There was a time when we thought we had control of the game, just frustrated.”
For a third time this season, Liberty won the battle of total yards but lost the game. On Saturday against Missouri State, the Flames had 398 yards of offense compared to 332 for the Bears. Liberty dominated on the ground, rushing for 202 yards to 46 for Missouri State, the second straight game Liberty rushed for more than 200 yards. The Flames were 24-2 under Chadwell when outrushing its opponent.
Following a 17-day break, the Liberty offense had a breakout game last week against Delaware, scoring a Chadwell-era high 59 points. Against Missouri State, the Flames received the opening kickoff and had a very efficient, 7 play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown run by Evan Dickens. Liberty scored a touchdown on its first possession for the third time in the last four games as the Flames looked like they would continue the offense’s momentum for a second straight week. The Flames reached Missouri State territory three additional times in the first half, but could only muster three more points, unable to take complete control of the game. Liberty went into the locker room with a 10-0 lead at halftime, with a 253-84 edge in total yards.
“This game’s about patience versus a good team like that,” Chadwell said. “We were on the plus side of the field two drives in a row, and went backward. Then the next drive, maybe a drop or a mistake. They make you stay with it—those three-yard runs can turn into more, and they started to toward the end. I think we maybe got away—not from the game plan—but from sticking to what we needed to do. They’re a good defense. We had two drops on first downs or big plays, and drops are like turnovers—they stop momentum. We had chances to make plays to keep drives going and didn’t.”
7th-year quarterback Jacob Clark struggled in the first half, passing for just 76 yards while being sacked four times – a Liberty team high on the season for sacks. After intermission though, the Minnesota transfer figured it out. He threw for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing for a third to help lift the Bears to the road win as Liberty falls to 40-9 as an FBS member. Clark and the Bears finally got things going on a drive late in the third quarter, as he completed pass play to Tristian Gardner for 31 yards and then 28 yards to Jmariyae Robinson for a 28-yard touchdown pass, cut the Liberty deficit to 10-7 going into the fourth quarter.
Clark led the offense on a second consecutive touchdown drive, capped by his one-yard run, as the Bears took their first lead of the game at 14-10 early in the fourth quarter. As Missouri State took all of the momentum and the Liberty offense failing to find any success since the first drive of the game, Ethan Vasko led Liberty on a 75 yard touchdown drive. It was spurted by runs of 22-yards by Vaughn Blue and 23-yards by Jaylon Coleman.
The Liberty defense got a stop, forcing a punt to get the ball back in the offense’s hands with a chance to end the game. The Flames took over at their own 17 with 5:23 remaining. One of the top rushing offenses in the country each of the past two seasons under Chadwell, Liberty needed to pick up a few first downs to run out the clock and escape with a victory. Five straight runs would pick up one first down and 36 yards as the ball moved across midfield.
Coming out of the two-minute timeout and facing a 3rd and 3, Ethan Vasko lined up in the shotgun but appeared to run to his left before he secured the snap. He lost the ball, a Missouri State player was able to pick it up and looked like he was going to return it for a touchdown. Liberty tight end Caleb Ryan punched the ball out from behind inside the 5-yard line, causing it to go into the end zone where Vasko recovered it for a touchback.
Ultimately, the play resulted in a 33-yard loss for the Flames but a first and 10 at the 20 with less than two minutes remaining. Missouri State still had all three timeouts, so one first down and the game would be over. Dickens rushed for seven yards on two plays. On 3rd down, the Flames called a screen pass to tight end Jacob Jenkins. He caught it but was tackled one-yard short of the first down at the 29. Following Missouri State’s final timeout, Chadwell sent his offense back on the field on 4th and 1. Liberty center Aaron Fenimore was whistled for a false start to make it 4th and 6 and the Flames would punt with 1:27 remaining. Following the game, Chadwell said he thought long and hard about going for it, but he ultimately elected to trust his defense to get the final stand.
Clark and Missouri State needed little time, able to traverse 70 yards in just 4 plays for the game winning score with 27 seconds remaining. The Bears picked up chunk plays of 22 yards, 20 yards, 15 yards, and 13 yards for the touchdown with 27 seconds remaining on the clock as Missouri State picked up the win, 21-17.
Saturday marked the first time under third-year Head Coach Jamey Chadwell that Liberty lost when leading after three quarters, falling to 18-1 under Chadwell when entering the fourth quarter with a lead. The last time a Chadwell-led team lost when leading after three quarters was on Nov. 4, 2017 when Coastal Carolina led 31-25 after three quarters at Arkansas before losing 39-38.
It was certainly a tale of two halves. The Flames were 14 of 24 passing for 160 yards and 6 of 10 on third downs in the first half. After intermission, the Vasko was just 4 of 11 passing for 36 yards and the team was 3 of 8 on third downs. Vasko finished the game 18 of 35 passing for 196 yards while throwing one interception. Dickens record his third career 100-yard rushing game and second ina row, carrying the ball a career-high 28 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. Reese Smith had a season high 62 receiving yards on four catches.
“It’s hard because obviously there was a pathway for us to get back to the championship game, which is what we wanted,” said Chadwell. “We had opportunities to take it, but you get what you deserve, and we didn’t deserve to win based on the things we didn’t do—catching the ball in key situations or covering in key situations. That goal is now gone unless something miraculous happens, but we still want to get to a bowl game and have an opportunity to win one. There’s still a lot to play for—this university, it is important to me. But it’ll hurt tonight, especially for our seniors who wanted that opportunity. That’s tough. But men of character pick themselves back up and keep fighting. That’s what men of character do. If you care about each other, you focus on the process of finding ways to get better, and that’s what we’ll have to do.”
