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For Jamey Chadwell, Thursday night's standalone college football game was a homecoming. The fourth-year Liberty head coach had spent six seasons at Coastal Carolina, four as head coach, transforming the Chanticleers from an FBS newcomer into a Sun Belt contender. He returned to the teal turf of Brooks Stadium for the first time since leaving, and just as he had in 18 of his final 20 games there, he walked away with a win.
Liberty blanked Coastal Carolina 24-0 in the second half to earn a 34-17 road victory. The Flames' offense, which had found its rhythm the previous week against Ball State, kept rolling in Conway, South Carolina. Running back Kam Davis set the tone with a 56-yard burst on the game's first play, sparking a career-high 166-yard rushing performance. The Florida State transfer led a ground attack that amassed a season-best 263 yards, echoing the run-heavy style Chadwell employed during his Coastal Carolina tenure.
That success on the ground opened up the passing game for quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 216 yards. Nearly half of his completions went to Makai Jackson, who hauled in five receptions for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson scored the game's first touchdown on a 58-yard slant.
Coastal Carolina's offense found far less success in front of a raucous, sold-out Brooks Stadium. Chanticleers quarterback Deuce Bailey, who had thrown 135 career passes and 10 touchdowns entering the game, threw his first career interception on the opening drive. That set the tone for a mistake-filled night. Coastal Carolina was plagued by drops throughout, officially recording five but with arguments for several more. The Chanticleers also committed 15 penalties for 117 yards, primarily on offense, leading to an average third-down distance of 12.4 yards.
Bailey was often forced to play hero on third downs. In the first half, he delivered some impeccable throws in adverse situations. Late in the second quarter, he converted a 3rd-and-11 and a 3rd-and-10 on back-to-back touchdown drives, helping Coastal Carolina take a 17-10 halftime lead. But Liberty dialed up the pressure in the second half, and Bailey was frequently scrambling for his life. Four different Flames recorded a sack as the Chanticleers regularly moved backwards after halftime. Three of Coastal Carolina's six second-half possessions resulted in negative yardage, and five of the six gained fewer than three total yards. Perhaps no moment summed up the struggles better than an unorthodox flea flicker where two players collided in the backfield, resulting in a drop.
Before Liberty's second-half surge, the game was marred by a terrifying moment in the late first quarter. Defensive end Ethan Crisp suffered a serious injury on a kickoff return, and play was stopped for an extended period before he was carted off and taken to a nearby hospital. In lighter news, Crisp raised a thumbs up as he left, and Chadwell told the radio broadcast that Crisp had movement in all extremities, according to Bryson Gordon of NewsAdvance.com. Jeffrey Hairston Jr. stepped in for the injured Crisp and consistently disrupted Coastal Carolina's offense. The sophomore recorded four fourth-quarter tackles, including a key seven-yard sack on a 2nd-and-20 to snuff out any Chanticleer comeback hopes.
Coastal Carolina (1-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) finishes its non-conference schedule without a win against an FBS opponent. The Chanticleers have led at halftime in each of the past two weeks against Delaware and Liberty but have been scoreless in consecutive second halves. Liberty (3-1, 0-0 CUSA) has now won three straight since dropping its season opener at James Madison. The Flames are one win away from matching their total from a disappointing 2025 season. They are now 2-0 against Coastal Carolina as an FBS program, having also defeated a Chadwell-led Chanticleers squad in the 2020 Cure Bowl when both teams were ranked.
Originally reported by yahoo.