Liberty Scores the Last 24 and Beats Coastal 34-17
Coastal Carolina led 17-10 at halftime. Then Liberty scored the next 24 points, and the Chanticleers scored none, so it finished 34-17.
The first half was a swap. Liberty kicked a field goal, Coastal tied it, and Makai Jackson caught a 58-yard touchdown from Deshawn Purdie to make it 10-3. Deuce Bailey then threw two touchdown passes of his own, 24 yards to Colton Hinton and 39 yards to Tristian Gardner with 24 seconds left in the half, and Coastal walked off up seven. Seven was the biggest hole Liberty had to climb out of.
The turn came right after the break. Jackson caught a 33-yard touchdown from Purdie with 13:10 left in the third quarter to tie it at 17, Chase Reeves added a 24-yard field goal, and Ethan Vasko ran in from 8 yards early in the fourth. Kam Davis closed it with a 6-yard catch from Vasko with 1:02 left.
Numbers explain the rest. Liberty ran 44 times for 265 yards, with Davis alone taking 18 carries for 166. Coastal ran 31 times for 79. The Flames lost two fumbles, which on most days is a recipe for losing, and Coastal still could not use it, because the Chanticleers threw two interceptions of their own and were out-gained 487 yards to 292. Coastal Carolina did not score at all in the second half.
Liberty is 3-1. Coastal Carolina is 1-3, and I would not call that the schedule's fault anymore. For fantasy, Jackson and Davis were the two best skill players on the field by a wide margin.