By Zachary McMahon-
The Liberty Flames football team hosted the Florida International Panthers on Tuesday night in a CUSA Conference matchup. Liberty entered the matchup 4-0 and with a regular season winning streak of 16 games. Meanwhile, the FIU Panthers entered into the match 2-3, after a victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday Sept. 28. Liberty was playing for the first time since Sept. 21 against Eastern Carolina as their last game was canceled against Appalachian State due to Hurricane Helene.
Liberty led 17-10 at halftime after touchdown runs by Quinton Cooley and QB Kaidon Salter. Cooley added another touchdown which extended the lead 24-10 in the fourth quarter.
Kejon Owens and QB Keyone Jenkins tied the game up at 24 in the fourth quarter with rushing touchdowns of their own for FIU.
The game went into overtime as Cooley had three runs to start the period which totalled 16 yards, and then Salter finished off with his second rushing touchdown for the Flames.
When the Panthers took the ball during OT, Jenkins was strip sacked and was recovered by senior linebacker Jerome Jolly Jr. recovered to seal the victory for Liberty and help them stay undefeated with the score of 31-24.
Salter threw for 9-for-16 with 125 passing yards and 60 rushing yards with two rushing touchdowns, it is the first game he’s had multiple rushing touchdowns this season, as he had four such games last season.
Cooley led with a season-high 174 rushing yards for Liberty with two rushing touchdowns and a fumble lost, as he had his second multi-rushing touchdown as he also did that against New Mexico State on Sept. 7.
Jenkins went 19/29 with 245 passing yards, two rushing touchdowns, an interception, and a fumble lost in overtime, this is his fourth straight game that he has thrown for 200+ yards, which is the longest streak of his career.
Receivers Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson led the Panthers in receiving with 95 and 90 yards respectively, while Reese Smith led Liberty with 68 receiving yards.
Liberty extended their regular season winning streak to 17 games as it is the longest in FBS Football, while FIU went down to 2-4.
Two weeks from today, Liberty will be at Kennesaw State at 7 pm on Oct. 23, while FIU will travel to Texas to face UTEP next Wednesday at 9 pm eastern. Both games will be live on CBS Sports Network.
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