For the first few minutes Saturday afternoon, it looked like Liberty was going to put the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs away in a hurry.
Then, almost inexplicably, the offense disappeared.
The Flames scored two touchdowns on their first three offensive plays, building an early 14-3 lead and giving every indication that the heavy favorite was about to turn this into the kind of afternoon everyone expected.
Instead, Liberty spent the rest of the afternoon fighting to avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in recent program history.
The Flames ultimately escaped Williams Stadium with a 24-23 victory over Gardner-Webb, ending a five-game losing streak in the process. But the final score did little to hide just how close Liberty came to suffering a stunning loss to an FCS opponent it entered as a four touchdown favorite.
“We are fortunate to come out with a victory,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell following the game.
With just over two minutes remaining, quarterback Jaylen Henderson connected on a late touchdown pass to give Liberty the lead and, ultimately, save the Flames from disaster. It was the kind of finish Liberty desperately needed. It was also the kind of performance that left far more questions than answers.
Liberty couldn’t have scripted a much better start. On the second offensive snap, Deshawn Purdie threaded a needle to Makai Jackson down the left sideline. The Liberty receiver skirted the sideline and scampered down the field for a 65-yard scoring play to put the home team ahead, 7-3.
On the ensuing Gardner-Webb possession, Liberty’s Brenton Williams sacked Cole Pennington, forcing a fumble that Lorenzo Payne recovered and returned to the 20-yard line. The Flames would get on the scoreboard for a second time on its next play when Purdie tossed the ball to his left on the option play and Jaylon Coleman sprinted towards the pylon to get into the end zone. In just over two minutes of game action, the Flames looked like they were seizing control at a 14-3 early lead.
But after that fast start, the offense stalled.
Liberty managed only three more points until the game’s final minutes, allowing Gardner-Webb to hang around, gain confidence and eventually turn the game into a legitimate fourth-quarter upset threat. What should have been a comfortable bounce-back game instead became a gut-check. And with the Flames unable to consistently move the football, the pressure eventually shifted to the defense and special teams to keep the game within reach.
Gardner-Webb took advantage.
The Runnin’ Bulldogs continued to battle, and the longer Liberty failed to create separation, the more realistic the possibility of an upset became. By the fourth quarter, this wasn’t about covering a 27.5-point spread. It was about simply finding a way to win.
After starting Liberty’s season opener at James Madison, Purdie again got the starting nod Saturday. But his performance was anything but consistent. There were moments when Purdie looked capable of making the throws necessary to keep Liberty’s offense moving, like the touchdown pass to Jackson. There were other stretches when the Flames simply couldn’t generate enough offense with him behind center.
The inconsistency eventually became too much for Liberty to live with. Late in the game, head coach Jamey Chadwell turned to Henderson. And the decision paid off.
Henderson provided the spark Liberty desperately needed, leading the late drive that culminated in the go-ahead touchdown pass with 2:34 remaining. Suddenly, after spending most of the afternoon watching a 14-3 lead disappear, Liberty had life again. And more importantly, it had the lead. The late touchdown was the moment that ultimately defined the afternoon. After everything that had gone wrong, Liberty needed one drive. Henderson gave the Flames one.
“We started well but then we fell apart there from an execution standpoint,” said Chadwell. “Every time we had something going or could make a play, we either shot ourselves in the foot and just weren’t consistent at the quarterback position. Some of the things we had, we didn’t execute. I felt like we just needed a spark and somebody that could hopefully play a little more consistent for us at that position. We had opportunities to make some plays down the field. We have confidence in Jaylen, put him in there, and he obviously did a nice job. The drive before, he gets us down the field and we get the penalty there and have a chance to be in the red zone again. The last drive, he made a nice play with Darius (Copeland) there.”
His touchdown pass with 2:34 remaining put Liberty ahead 24-23 and gave the defense one final job: protect the lead. Gardner-Webb still had an opportunity to respond, but Liberty held on to secure its first victory since last November, snapping a five-game losing streak.
“I told Deshawn, ‘I said I’m not saying this is long term at all. We’ve got to get a spark and find a way to win the game.’ I had confidence in Jaylen,” Chadwell said of his quarterbacks, refusing to say there is an open competition again. “I know he has done well. He had a good camp. If we can’t get better at that position, yes (it will be a quarterback battle once again). I told him, ‘I’m making a decision based off just one game, sometimes it happens.’ Jaylen got a lot of confidence playing. The team believes in him. He found a way to get it done.”
There is a difference between winning a game and playing well enough to win a game comfortably.
The five-game losing streak is over. That matters. But the Flames didn’t erase the concerns that came with that losing streak. If anything, Saturday’s performance created more of them.
The quarterback situation remains unsettled. The offense remains inconsistent. And a team that appeared ready to cruise after its opening three offensive plays instead found itself needing a touchdown with 2:34 remaining simply to avoid an embarrassing loss.
“It’s hard to win,” said Chadwell. “I would love for the way we started, just let it keep growing. It didn’t go that way. We don’t need to let outside noise and this or that…our guys found a way to win it. We’d love to blow somebody out. We’re not capable of doing that the way we’re playing right now because we beat ourselves a lot…None of us wanted a close game. When you find a way, that can be great confidence for your team moving forward.”
Liberty got the result it needed. It just didn’t get the performance it wanted. And after escaping Gardner-Webb 24-23, the Flames will have plenty to clean up before they can start believing Saturday was anything more than a much-needed win.
“We wanted to win the game,” Chadwell stated. “You have high hopes for your team and what you think you’re capable of doing. We obviously weren’t doing that. It ended up in a victory, we are thankful for that, but we all know we have to play better going forward.”
