Author : Aryan Virani
We were in Lynchburg to see The BYU Cougars take on the Liberty Flames. The Flames set the Cougars on fire, taking a 41-14 victory. Let’s take a closer look at this matchup.
The Flames would get the ball after a quick defensive stop and the offense went to work. Junior quarterback Johnathan Bennett would get the offense started with back to back completions to Demario Douglas. Running back Dae Dae Hunter got going early as well. The Flames would get to first and goal but would settle form3 for an early lead. BYU would respond with a quick 6 play, 76 yard touchdown drive led by quarterback Jaren Hall who would throw a 46 yard strike to Puka Nacua. 2 plays later, BYU defense would get an interception in Flame territory. Hall would throw another touchdown, this time to Isaac Rex and now it was 14-3 BYU.
The Flame didn’t want to go down anymore, and from here on out they would control this game. It started with a 75 yard touchdown drive capped off by a Shedro Louis 3 yard run. They would then get a stop, and get back on offense. Johnathan Bennett did a great job managing the game after the interception, leading the offense 80 yards down field to score another touchdown, this time a throw to Austin Hunter for a 5 yard score. BYU would get back on offense after giving up 14 unanswered points. They would get into Liberty territory but were unable to score after going for 4th down and not converting. The flame had a minute to score again and extend the lead. Bennett would make great passes down field to put the Flame in field goal territory. They would make a 43 yard field goal, and would go into the half up 20-14.
Liberty got the ball to start the half. After scoring 17 unanswered they were looking to add on and take a comfortable 2 score lead. The running back duo of Dae Dae Hunter and Shedro Louis were almost unstoppable. They were moving the ball down field along with a few nice throws from Bennett. The Flame would get down to the goal line but would be stopped short. Liberty coach Hugh Freeze decided to roll the dice and keep the offense out there. On 4th and 1 from the BYU 6, running back Shedro Louis would not only get the first, but would punch it in for the score. The flame had gone up 27-14 with all the momentum in the world. After the touchdown, BYU was forced to punt again. Back comes out the offense. From their own 20 yardline, Dae Dae Hunter would take the handoff all the way to the house for a 80 yard touchdown and the Flame were up a comfortable 3 scores. The BYU offense could not get going and would not score for the rest of the game. Johnathan Bennett would throw for 1 more touchdown, to CJ Daniels. The Flame offense would put up 547 yards and would win 41-14. Those yards were led by Bennett with 247 passing yards and Dae Dae Hunter with 213 rushing yards.
The Flame who are now 7-1 will play Arkansas. They will look to continue their success against a solid SEC team. BYU who is now 4-4, will host East Carolina.