Liberty jumped ahead early and, unlike last week, never looked back as the Flames rolled to a 51-15 win over Ball State on Saturday afternoon in front of 18,330 fans at Williams Stadium. The Flames improve to 2-1 and pick up their first win against an FBS opponent since Nov. 1, 2025.
** The Flames got off to a quick start for a second straight week, scoring touchdowns on its first two drives once again. This time, the strong play continued throughout the first half with Liberty scoring on four of its five first half possessions to take a 23-7 lead entering halftime. Jamari Person hauled in two first half touchdowns, his first touchdowns of his Liberty career. Deshawn Purdie was 10 of 15 passing for 149 yards and 3 touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes.
** Coming out of the locker room, Liberty put the hammer down. The Flames scored a touchdown on its opening drive, forced a three and out and then added another touchdown. This put Liberty up 37-7 moving late into the third quarter. It’s the first time the Flames have had a 30-point lead in a game since Nov. 18, 2023 against UMass.
** After having a pretty solid debut in a Liberty uniform last week at JMU and then struggling last week against Gardner-Webb before being pulled late, starting QB Deshawn Purdie bounced back with a strong game against the Cardinals. He completed his first 7 passes and finished the game 13 of 20 for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns. Purdie added 29 rushing yards on 6 carries, setting a new career high in rushing yards. He also had no turnovers.
** Jamari Person had just one touchdown in 31 career games entering Saturday’s contest, but he recorded two in the first half against Ball State. Person finished the game with 4 catches for 37 yards and the two scores.
** Makai Jackson led the Flames with 88 yards and a touchdown on 4 receptions. Darius Copeland added 4 catches for 43 yards, including three that came on crucial third downs in the opening half.
** Liberty continues to rotate its running backs throughout the game. Terron Kellman led the Falems with 3 rushes for 51 yards, with a long of 43. Peyton Jones had 9 rushes for 35 yards while Kanye Udoh had 4 rushes for 32 yards. Kam Davis had 3 rushes for 26 yards and a touchdown.
** On the defensive side of the ball, Quavo Marshall, Jeremiah Vessel, and Ronald Moore, Jr. led the team with 4 tackles each.
** The 36-point margin of victory is the largest under head coach Jamey Chadwell. It also ends a streak of six straight one score games for the Flames dating back to last season.
** Liberty edged the Cardinals in total yards, 460-249. The Flames had 212 on the ground and 248 through the air. A week after going 2 of 12 on third down, the lames were 10 of 13 on third downs and 1 for 1 on 4th downs against Ball State. The Flames also had just 3 penalties for 25 yards.
** Play of the Game: Facing a 4th and 1 on their own 22 to start the second quarter with a 13-7 lead, Jamey Chadwell opted to send his offense out on the field. Kam Davis took the handoff from Purdie and rumbled forward for a gain of 5 to keep the drive alive. The Flames would tack on a field goal at the end of the drive to take a two-score lead and would not look back.
** Up next: Liberty has a short week and heads to South Carolina to take on Coastal Carolina on Thursday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The game will have plenty of storylines including the renewal of the Liberty-Coastal Carolina rivalry and head coach Jamey Chadwell returning to the place he called home for several years. The Chanticleers are currently 1-2 on the season after a 22-14 loss to Delaware on Saturday.
