Liberty’s season came to an end in disappointing fashion on Saturday evening in front of 12,695 fans, the lowest-attended game at Williams Stadium during the Flames’ FBS era, excluding the 2020 COVID season. The Flames lost in double overtime to Kennesaw State, 48-42, finishing the season at 4-8 overall and in 8th place in the 12-team CUSA with a 3-5 conference record.
“There’s no moral victories,” Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell opened his post game press conference saying. “The feeling that we’ve had the last four weeks, it stinks. I’d use a worse term, but I’m a man of faith, so I’m not going to use that. It stinks.”
The expectations were high once again for the Flames entering the 2025 season. Having won at least eight games in each of the prior six seasons, including a 13-1 CUSA championship in 2023 and Fiesta Bowl berth, and a 13-3 record against conference opponents the last two seasons, many expected Liberty to compete at the top of the league again. Bowl eligibility was a foregone conclusion. Instead, Liberty stumbled out of the gate to a 1-4 season start, seemed to find their groove in a three-game win streak in the middle of the season, before dropping the final four games of the season.
“Our guys could have laid down when we went through these valleys,” Chadwell said. “We had opportunities the last four weeks, even (Saturday). They kept fighting and gave us a chance (against Kennesaw). I’m proud of them not quitting, I’m proud they stuck together when we could have surrendered and they kept putting themselves in a position to win football games. We gotta figure out how to win, that’s disappointing by me. We had opportunities (Saturday) and could not get it done. Congrats to Kennesaw State, they’re a good team and they got a good chance to win the CUSA Championship. I’m disappointed in the outcome but not the effort. I think we’re at our lowest. We had opportunities in the last four games and if we win every game, we’d be playing for the championship. I got more resolve knowing what we got to do to clean things up and get back to where I know we can be a championship program.”
Liberty running back Evan Dickens nearly carried the team to the win over the Owls on Saturday evening by himself. He recorded his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game, sixth of the season, his second straight 200-yard game and third of the season, with a career-high 267 rushing yards on 43 carries and four rushing scores. He is the first Flame since Rashad Jennings in 2007-08 with five or more consecutive 100-yard rushing games. Dickens also becomes the first Liberty player with three 200-yard rushing games in the same season. In five November games, Dickens rushed for 945 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 95-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter was the longest rushing play in program history and second longest play from scrimmage. His 267 rushing yards are the third most in a single game in program history and most since Lawrence Worthington’s program-record 305 against Charleston Southern in 1994. His 1,339 rushing yards this season are the third most in a single season in program history and most since Rashad Jennings’ program-record 1,500 rushing yards in 2008. His 16 rushing touchdowns on the season are tied for the second most in a year in program history and the most since Quinton Cooley’s 16 scores in 2023.
“It’s going to be hard to keep him, I’ll tell you that,” Chadwell said of Dickens. “That’s part of the problem when a guy breaks out like that. Hopefully we can get him back. He’s been tremendous. We had the plan that we wanted to keep the ball, limit their opportunities, not turn the ball over, and feature him and the run game. Obviously, the number of carries he had, he was a bell cow and phenomenal. The runs, running through arm tackles, he was physical. I thought he was tremendous.”
The Flames had to turn to backup quarterback Michael Merdinger after Ethan Vasko was injured last week in the overtime loss at Louisiana Tech. Chadwell said following the game Saturday that Vasko will need surgery and be unavailable for approximately six months. Making his second start this season, Merdinger was 12 of 21 passing for 212 yards and one touchdown pass and eight rushes for 13 yards with another score. He record both his first career rushing touchdown and passing touchdown against Kennesaw State. His 59-yard touchdown pass to Vaughn Blue was the longest passing touchdown to a running back by a Flame since Vasko’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Juju Gray at Jacksonville State back in week two this season.
“I thought Michael (Merdinger) did a nice job,” said Chadwell. “He made some nice throws, checked the ball down. He made some mistakes for a young guy, but he gave us a chance to win, especially on the last drive. I was proud of him.”
Liberty had over 500 yards of offense, outgaining the CUSA Championship bound Owls. It is the fifth time this season the Flames have outgained their opponent in total offense despite finishing with a loss. The Flames also went over 500 yards in a loss to the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Alabama in week two. Those two teams, Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State, will meet on Friday night for the CUSA Championship.
“In this game, we had a couple of three-and-outs, which you can’t have,” said Chadwell. “A big key was when we went up 28-21 early in the fourth quarter, and then they scored on two straight drives. We went three-and-out after that. Anytime we’ve had momentum, they snatched it back from us. We haven’t been able to keep momentum; someone answers immediately. We haven’t been able to stop the bleeding. When a team is questioning themselves, maybe you have a chance to get the ball back and put points on the board—we weren’t able to do that. No matter how many yards you have, you have to score enough points to win, and we didn’t. We had opportunities at the end of the game and in both overtimes, but couldn’t make a play in a big moment. We’ve talked a lot about stepping up in big moments. The last four weeks, there have been key moments where we haven’t risen to the occasion. We have to get that fixed. I’ve got to get that fixed. We’ve had opportunities for games to go our way, and we haven’t made the necessary play in those key moments. We have to get that fixed and improved.”
For the first time at the FBS level, Liberty finishes the season without getting the necessary six wins to reach a bowl game. It also ends a 20-year streak of Liberty winning at least six games in a season and not finishing the year with a losing record. The Flames finished 3-3 at home this season, the first time since 2005 the Flames have not had a winning home record. Liberty finishes the season with the straight losses in overtime, the first time Liberty has ever played three games in overtime in a season. The Flames also finish the year 1-4 in games decided by eight points or fewer.
