CONWAY, S.C. — For one half, it looked like Liberty’s return to Conway might turn into a long night. Then the Flames took over.

Trailing Coastal Carolina 17-10 at halftime, Liberty dominated the final 30 minutes on both sides of the ball, scoring 24 unanswered points to pull away for a convincing 34-17 victory Thursday night at Brooks Stadium.

“It means a lot, not necessarily personally,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell said after the game. “This place meant a lot to me and my family. I’m thankful to come here and get a win, but I’m more thankful for our team, for our fans, our alumni. I know this is a huge game for a lot of people from a rivalry standpoint. Wanted to make sure we put our best foot forward for them. We know it’s important. All week long, we spent a lot of time talking about the importance of this rival and what it meant to Beat Coastal. Our guys took that to heart.”

The win gave Liberty its third straight victory and improved the Flames to 3-1 on the season. More importantly, it was another statement second half from a team that has quickly developed a habit of finishing games. Liberty outgained Coastal 246-47 after halftime, completely flipping a game that appeared to be slipping away late in the second quarter. The Flames scored on their opening three possessions of the second half and never looked back. The Flames have now outscored opponents 66-14 in the second half this season.

And the fourth quarter has been even more impressive. Liberty has not allowed a single fourth-quarter point through four games, outscoring opponents 42-0 in the final period.

Coastal Carolina’s offense gave Liberty problems early, particularly late in the first half. Deuce Bailey connected with Colton Hilton for a 24-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10-10, then hit Tristian Gardner for a 39-yard touchdown with just 24 seconds remaining in the half to give the Chanticleers a 17-10 lead.

After halftime, however, the Flames defense completely shut the door.

Coastal managed just 47 total yards in the second half and was held scoreless over the final 30 minutes. The Chanticleers finished with just 292 total yards for the game, including only 79 rushing yards. Ronald Moore Jr. led Liberty with a career-high eight tackles, while Aidan Vaughan added seven. The defense also got the game started with a turnover, as Jeremiah Vessel intercepted Bailey on Coastal’s opening possession and helped set up Liberty’s first points of the night.

For a Liberty team that struggled to consistently get off the field last season, the ability to completely suffocate opponents late in games is becoming one of the defining characteristics of this year’s team under first year defensive coordinator Shawn Quinn.

“They’ve played pretty well,” Chadwell said of his defense. “I think what they do is they correct their mistakes. They don’t get down when they make one. They clean it up, they fix it. They play hungry. They play relentless, that’s what we’ve asked them to do. The way they’re playing, the way they’re finishing is great. We’ve got to clean up the start. Through four games, we’ve not started the way we need to, but our second half has been unbelievable. Shutting them out to zero points in the second half is a phenomenal job.”

The Flames also found another gear in the running game. Liberty rushed for a season-high 263 yards on 45 carries, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt. And the biggest reason was Kam Davis. The Florida State transfer exploded for a career-high 166 yards on just 18 carries, averaging 9.2 yards per rush. His night included a season-long 56-yard run that immediately put Liberty in scoring position during the opening quarter.

Davis wasn’t finished there. He capped the victory with a six-yard touchdown reception from Ethan Vasko with 1:02 remaining, putting the final punctuation mark on Liberty’s 24-point second-half explosion. It was the first 100-yard rushing performance of Davis’ career and another indication of what the Flames can do when the rushing attack gets rolling. With Davis leading the way, Liberty averaged nearly eight yards per play overall and finished with 485 total yards.

Deshawn Purdie continued his strong start to the season, completing 11-of-16 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. He now has seven touchdown passes and zero interceptions through four starts.

His biggest connection of the night came with Makai Jackson. Jackson caught five passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yard touchdown in the first quarter and a 33-yard score that tied the game at 17-17 early in the third quarter. Jackson has now scored at least one touchdown in each of Liberty’s first four games of the season, quickly establishing himself as a go to threat for Purdie in the passing game.

That second Jackson touchdown was the beginning of Liberty’s takeover. After the score, the Flames’ defense forced a three-and-out. Liberty then drove 65 yards before settling for a field goal from Chase Reeves to take a 20-17 lead. From there, the Flames never surrendered control.

Of course, this night was about more than just another game. It was Jamey Chadwell’s return to Coastal Carolina.

Chadwell spent six seasons at Coastal, including four as the program’s head coach, building the Chanticleers into one of the Sun Belt’s most successful programs before leaving for Liberty following the 2022 season.

His first trip back to Brooks Stadium came with plenty of emotion and plenty of storylines. But once the game started, Chadwell made it clear that the focus was on the team he currently leads. And his Flames delivered. Liberty won in Conway for the first time since 2014. The Flames also improved to 9-7 all-time against the Chanticleers.

“I really put my emotions out of it,” Chadwell said of this week. “Some of the names I got called today was pretty interesting, I didn’t know some of them existed. To be back here, man, it is a blessing.”

There was plenty of history surrounding Thursday night’s game. But by the end, the story was pretty simple. Liberty got stronger as the night went on. The Flames ran the football. The defense completely took over. And once halftime arrived, Coastal Carolina had no answer.

After a 17-10 halftime deficit, Liberty responded with 24 unanswered points and walked out of Conway with perhaps its most impressive win of the young season. And for a program coming off a 4-8 season, the Flames are beginning to look like a very different football team.