Missouri State Shocks Liberty With A Wild Finish In Lynchburg (11-8-25)
By: Ty Tracy
Headline Photo Credit: Brynne Smith-LMS Network
Head Coach Jamey Chadwell and the Liberty Flames are back at home once again against the Missouri St Bears before they hit the road next Saturday The Flames are riding on a three-game winning streak finding ways to win, as they look to extend their winning streak to four games and still give them a chance to compete for the Conference USA title. Meanwhile, the Missouri St Bears, have been winning some key games in C-USA only being three games behind from the top spot in their first season in the FBS level. The Flames know this is an important matchup coming into Williams Stadium, compared to last Saturday’s 59-30 victory over Delaware.
Right when the game kickoff, RB Evan Dickens and the Flames offense didn’t waste no time as they marched down the field scoring on the first drive of the game off of Dickens one yard rushing touchdown, but later in the game turned into a defensive battle as the Missouri St defense was keeping the Flames away from the endzone as both teams punted the ball total of six times the entire first half until the Flames was able to kick a field goal making the score ten to zero at the end of the first half. As the second half began, it was still a defensive battle until the middle of the third when the Missouri St Bears offense found the endzone for the first time of the game as QB Jacob Clark hit Jmariyae Robinson on a 28-yard touchdown pass cutting to a field goal game, seven to ten. As the Bears got the ball back at the beginning of the fourth quarter as they took the lead for the first time after QB Jacob Clark rolled out and decided to run it in himself on a one-yard touchdown run taking a 14 to 10 lead. But QB Ethan Vasko and the offense turned around and scored right back regained the lead 17-10 after 8 8-play drive for 80 yards from Vasko’s three-yard rushing TD.
Midway through the fourth quarter after the two-minute timeout, the Flames had the ball on the Missouri St 47-yard line as they were looking to drain the clock while still having the lead 17-14. But right when the Flames snapped the ball QB Ethan Vasko lost control of the snap and fumble the ball then a Missouri St defensive player scooped up the fumble, running down the sideline looking to score until a Liberty Flame offensive player saved the touchdown by forcing a fumble right at the one yard line as Ethan Vasko was able to recovery the fumble at the endzone resulting a touchback, giving the Flames the ball back. Moments later, the Bears’ defense forced a three-and-out with 1:27 left on the clock giving their offense the ball back.
At the start of the drive, the Missouri St offense scored in 53 seconds from a 22-yard pass, a 20-yard pass, and then a 13-yard pass that ended up being a go-ahead touchdown 21-17 with QB Clark finding Tristian Gardner on the final play, taking the momentum out of the Flames. Giving the Liberty Flames their second conference loss dropping down to 3-2 in conference play and 4-5 overall record knocking the Flames out of the conference USA championship picture.
Head Coach Jamey Chadwell and the Liberty Flames were stunned knowing their conference title is slim now unless a miracle happens. Coach Chadwell mentioned that “we didn’t make enough plays in the first half. In the opportunity, I felt like we had them on the ropes for a little while. We didn’t make enough opportunities to separate the score.” The Missouri State Bears held the Flames to seven points in the entire second half. The Flames’ rushing offense was efficient a little bit in the second half with Evan Dickens leading the running backs over 100 yards again, rushing for 131 yards with 14 carries, but the Missouri St defense was making Evan Dickens work for those yards especially in the second half. As the Flames offense did not capitalize on crucial possession when they needed to from dropping passes that could’ve changed the scenarios in the game.
Coach Chadwell preached about making big plays when they needed to be stating “We needed to make some plays. I thought some more drops on offense that really hurt us. We had some chances at big plays that could’ve extended the score.” The Flames’ defense played well in the first half sacking the Missouri st QB four times, but in the second half, they barely got any pressure in the second half which was giving QB Jacob Clark a lot of time in the pocket. Coach was asked about the final drive of the game wondering if they were in man or zone coverage saying they were on a soft man or soft zone and missed two tackles, “In situations like that you have got to get guys down and keep them in front of you.”
The Flames have three games left on the schedule to be bowl eligible. Coach Chadwell and the Flames will be on the road Saturday in Miami, Florida taking on the FIU Panthers looking to bounce back. As for right now the Flames are sitting four games behind while Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State are both remaining undefeated in C-USA while Western Kentucky is trying a half game behind.
