Going on the road to begin the season for the first time in Jamey Chadwell’s tenure, Liberty fell behind by two touchdowns early and was unable to claw all the way back in the fourth quarter. The Flames dropped their season opener for the first time since 2019, losing at James Madison, 20-13, on Saturday afternoon in each team’s first game of 2026.
“We’re very disappointed in the outcome, but I’m not discouraged with this group,” said head coach Jamey Chadwell. “We fought and put ourselves to where we had a chance to come back in the second half.”
A strong weather system rolled through Harrisonburg beginning around 10 a.m., about two hours before kickoff. It lasted for about an hour, pushing back kickoff nearly 20 minutes while reducing each team’s warmup time.
Once both teams took the field, it was Deshawn Purdie who made the start in his first game at Liberty. He helped the Flames engineer a 16-play, 62-yard drive that consumed 10:26 on the team’s second offensive possession. The drive would stall in the red zone after Purdie was stopped for a three-yard loss on 2nd and 3 at the JMU 8. The hit knocked his helmet off and forced Jaylen Henderson into the game for one play at quarterback. After a false start, Henderson rushed for three yards and Liberty had to settle for a 30-yard Chase Reeves field goal to cut JMU’s lead to 7-3.
Liberty controlled the time of possession for nearly 17 of the game’s first 21 minutes. It was Chadwell’s plan all along.
“Our goal coming in was to keep the ball away from them, try to control the clock, and be good on third down.”
The Flames did that to a degree, converting 7 of 16 third-down opportunities while controlling the clock for much of the first half. But they struggled to turn those extended possessions into touchdowns.
Liberty repeatedly found itself in manageable situations before penalties, negative plays or missed opportunities stalled drives. The biggest missed opportunity came late in the first half when the Flames appeared poised to find the end zone but were unable to finish the drive, entering halftime trailing 17-6.
The offensive struggles continued into the second half as Liberty was unable to establish the running game the way Chadwell had hoped.
Behind first-year head coach Billy Napier, James Madison pleased its home crowd of more than 25,000 with scoring drives on the team’s first four possessions. Two field goals and two touchdowns allowed the Dukes to build a 20-6 lead early in the second half.
While the offense struggled to consistently move the ball, the Liberty defense eventually settled in. JMU finished with just 291 total yards and, after scoring on each of its first four possessions, was held to four straight punts on drives lasting four plays and 10 yards or fewer.
“There’s a lot to build off of,” Chadwell said of the defense under first-year defensive coordinator Shawn Quinn. “We’ll be better for it. He’s learning who his players are and how they respond. None of us know how some of those guys are going to respond, it’s the first time with them. We will get better from there.”
That defensive stand eventually gave Liberty an opportunity to make it a one-score game.
Purdie connected with Makai Jackson for a 34-yard touchdown strike with 8:33 remaining, cutting JMU’s lead to 20-13.
Purdie remained composed throughout his first start for the Flames, completing 17 of 27 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball seven times for three yards.
“First game for him you’re trying to simplify as much as you can, hopefully the different looks and different things they’re doing, try to calm him down so he can see the things he need to see,” Chadwell said. “I thought our quarterback played solid. We can build off that.”
The defense then gave Liberty one final opportunity.
Getting the ball back with 7:25 remaining, the Flames picked up a first down on three straight runs. Purdie then connected with Jackson for 21 yards to move the Flames toward midfield and pick up another first down.
Runs by Kam Davis and Peyton Jones set up a 4th and 2 for the Flames at midfield with 2:21 remaining.
Purdie rolled out to his right with both of his tight ends, LaKelsey Johnson and Zeke Wimbush, in position as potential targets. He fired toward the pair, but the pass fell incomplete.
The Dukes took over on downs and were able to run out the clock, leaving Liberty to settle for a 20-13 loss despite holding JMU to just 291 total yards.
For Liberty, the loss was a frustrating one because of how many opportunities slipped away.
“The disappointing thing is we couldn’t run the football as effectively as we wanted to, and we had some penalties that just killed us – took some points off the board,” Chadwell said. “Also, we had some dropped passes that took some points off the board.”
Liberty rushed for just 91 yards on 38 carries, averaging 2.4 yards per carry. Davis led the team with 51 rushing yards on 16 carries, while Jones added 25 yards on nine carries.
Three false starts were particularly costly for the Flames.
“Those are the ones that you are frustrated by,” Chadwell said. “We had three false start penalties up front. That’s a lack of detail, a lack of discipline. Those are things easily fixable.”
Liberty was 1-of-3 on fourth down, with the final failure coming on the 4th-and-2 at midfield that ended the Flames’ comeback bid.
The penalties, missed opportunities in the red zone and inability to consistently run the football ultimately left Liberty playing from behind throughout the afternoon.
“We had some false starts that put us in some positions where we didn’t extend drives. We had a touchdown taken off the board, that was a big deal. The drive before we scored, we had an opportunity to catch a touchdown in the end zone and didn’t make it. There’s a lot there that if it goes your way, maybe you have a different outcome.”
Jackson was Purdie’s favorite target, hauling in three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. He also had a second touchdown wiped away because of a holding penalty and had an opportunity to make another touchdown catch on a third-down play in the fourth quarter, but the pass went through his hands in the end zone. Liberty would eventually turn the ball over on downs on that drive.
Despite the mistakes, Chadwell was encouraged by how his team responded after falling behind.
“Disappointed we couldn’t run the ball more effectively, and disappointed we didn’t make some plays in the red zone,” Chadwell said. “I like how our guys fought. It gave ourselves a chance to win. It’s something we will improve from.”
The Flames will now turn their attention toward correcting those mistakes before returning home for their next game.
“We need to be better running the football,” Chadwell said. “I thought our quarterback played solid. I thought he made some plays when we really needed to. At the end of the day, from an offensive standpoint, we have to be better there.”
