LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty took advantage of three Norfolk State turnovers in a 38-point first half, sending the Flames to a 52-17 win over the Spartans in the season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.
Liberty (6-6) finished its first year at the Division I FBS level by rushing for 308 yards, 251 combined by Frankie Hickson and Kentory Matthews, to beat the Spartans (4-7) in a game which was originally scheduled for Sept. 15. The game was postponed due to Hurricane Florence.
Saturday's contest was tied 3-all until late in the first quarter when Liberty went on a run of 35 unanswered points. Twenty-one of those points came after NSU turnovers, including an interception return for a score by Liberty defensive back Rion Davis late in the second quarter.
Three long drives consumed nearly all the first quarter. Liberty took the opening kickoff and drove 76 yards in 16 plays, but the NSU defense stiffened and held the Flames to a 20-yard Aaron Peart field goal. The Spartans responded with a long 56-yard drive of their own and reached the Liberty 5-yard line, but the Flames' defense also stood tall and limited NSU to a 22-yard Josh Nardone field goal that tied the game at 3-all with 3:12 left in the opening quarter.
Liberty began its scoring run with two touchdowns in the span of 57 seconds. Stephen Calvert capped a 65-yard march by throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Michael Bollinger with 52 seconds left in the opening quarter to give Liberty a 10-3 lead. NSU fumbled the ensuing kickoff, with the Flames' Aaron Pierre recovering at the Spartans' 12. Three plays later, Hickson scored on a 5-yard run to double the Flames' lead to 17-3 just five seconds into the second quarter.
Matthews added two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter, covering 3 yards and 1 yard, and Davis returned an intercepted screen pass 22 yards for another Liberty score as part of a 28-point second period.
The Spartans broke the Liberty scoring spree with a touchdowns just before halftime. Carter capped a 75-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Justin Smith to cut Liberty's lead to 38-10 going into the half.
The Flames continued to turn to Matthews in the second half, as he scored on runs of 10 and 13 yards as Liberty widened its lead.
The Spartans added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 5-yard run by Gerald Hulett.
Carter completed 21-of-37 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He finished the season with 2,302 passing yards in 10 games played, the fourth-most passing yards in a single season in Spartan history.
Isaiah Winstead had a career-high nine receptions for 82 yards Saturday, while Chuma Awanna matched his career high with six catches and had 77 receiving yards.
For the Flames, Matthews finished with 151 yards and four rushing touchdowns on 14 carries. Hickson ran 17 times for 100 yards and a score.
The Spartans lose just seven seniors from this year's team: James Byers, Aaron Chandler, Quintreil Chung, Wes Jones, Michael Kwegyir-Attah, Deshaywn Middleton, and Marcus Taylor. Taylor leaves NSU No. 2 in school history in receptions (169) and No. 5 in receiving yards (1,883).