LU beats BYU 41-14 in historic game at Williams Stadium

After BYU went up 14-3 early in the first quarter, the Flames responded by scoring 38 unanswered points on their way to a historic 41-14 win  Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.

With the win, Liberty’s fifth in a row, the Flames move to 7-1 on the season heading into their annual bye week. BYU drops to 4-4 following its third loss in a row.

The game was played in front of 24,012, the largest crowd in Williams Stadium history.

The contest also held historical significance for longtime Liberty Flames fans. When the school was founded in 1971, Liberty’s founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, had a vision that included Liberty Athletics programs offering Christian student-athletes the chance to play at the highest level of collegiate competition like Notre Dame offered to those of the Catholic faith and BYU provided to Mormon student-athletes.

The Flames finished the game with a season-high 547 total offensive yards, including a season-best 300 yards on the ground. Liberty limited BYU to 258 yards on the day (71 rushing, 187 passing).

Liberty’s Johnathan Bennett had a career game, finishing the contest with a career-high 247 passing yards, while completing 24-of-29 attempts with two touchdowns.

Dae Dae Hunter also had a career game, finishing the contest with 213 rushing yards on 23 carries (9.3 yards per rushing attempt) and an 80-yard touchdown run. Shedro Louis followed with 10 carries for 35 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Bennett’s top target in the game was Demario Douglas, who finished the game with eight receptions for 69 yards.

Liberty’s stout defense was led by defensive tackle Kendy Charles who had a career-high eight tackles, while linebacker Tyren Dupree finished with four stops.

This is Liberty’s first win over BYU in football, evening the series at 1-1. The Cougars edged the Flames 31-24 on Nov. 9, 2019, in Provo, Utah.

This is the fourth time in program history that Liberty has started a season 7-1 or better through eight games (also 8-0 in 2020 and 7-1 in 1997 and 2008).

“The vision that Dr. Falwell cast many decades ago, to be able to walk in that today and to see the stadium full, the excitement around campus today … even downtown today, there was a lot going on. Restaurants were full. All that was a product of Dr. Falwell’s vision,” said Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze. “To our fans, what an incredible atmosphere. To see them so ecstatic having the time they had brings me great joy. I’ve gotten to experience that twice before, and it never gets old. I just think it was a big night. Our players, man did they fight. All week long, I kind of knew that we had a great plan and that our kids had a little edge about them. We had a great week, a great Monday. I was so happy for JB (Johnathan Bennett). He takes the brunt of a lot of our inconsistencies that we’ve had this year with our injuries. For him to raise his game tonight in such an important night in the history of our program, that’s just so dang awesome.”

For full game coverage, visit LibertyFlames.com.