LYNCHBURG, Va. – Charleston Southern rolled up 576 yards of offense - a CSU record in Big South play – en route to a 38-36 win over Liberty on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium.

The win moves the Buccaneers to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in Big South play. It also propels the Buccaneers into contention for an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, finishing conference play with three-straight wins. Liberty falls to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

With the win, the Bucs end an eight-game losing streak against the Flames.

CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell, who has now beaten every team in the Big South in his first two seasons, was ecstatic with his team's performance and road win. He also didn't overlook the contribution the win makes to a monumental 24 hours for CSU athletics. 

"The focus coming up here wasn't about ending the streak," Chadwell said. "It was more about coming up and playing our best to see if it was good enough. I thought our team was resilient and we overcame turnovers. It was a good back-and-forth game and I thought you saw the character of our team. We've been talking about finishing and to finish the way we did was big."

"It's big for our senior class and some of the other guys that have been here and never beaten Liberty before. To come up here at their place and the play the way we played with was on the line for them, just a special day. Last night, watching the basketball team beat Ole Miss I think it gave us that extra jolt of 'hey, we want to feel that euphoria.' We wanted to feel what they were feeling and that locker room afterward was pretty special."

One of the ways CSU finished was by riding its workhorse, who turned in one of the best performances in CSU football history.

Running back Christian Reyes had a career-high 188 yards rushing and two touchdowns to carry the Bucs to over 37 minutes in time of possession. Reyes, CSU's all-time leading rusher, went over the 2,000-yard mark for his career early in the win.

"He was huge," Chadwell said of Reyes. "I thought where he made a huge impact was the passing game. He made a big fourth down catch, a big third down catch. All around, he was phenomenal. When we get him going, we can take some chances down the field and I think you saw that. We were able to get some big plays and then that opened him up even more because they were respecting our passing game downfield. He is finishing his career here in amazing fashion. He had close to 200 yards and it was well-deserved."

"Our guys are more comfortable and we've figured out who we are," Chadwell added. "We're more comfortable in who we are and what we want to do and guys believe in it. Our guys believe that it's going to work. It might not, it might not but then we hit a big play. I think you saw that tonight. We were able to find a way to get some plays made and when good things are going, you get everyone involved and everyone feels good."

Liberty played without quarterback Josh Woodrum, who was hurt earlier in the week in practice.

CSU intercepted backup Stephon Masha three times and outgained the Flames by 200 yards (576-376).

CSU ran 31 more plays than Liberty with 88 offensive snaps. The Bucs answered the Flames score-for-score from the opening kickoff, eventually seizing control with big second and third quarters.
Liberty drove down the field on the opening drive as Stephon Masha scrambled for 35 yards to set up a 51-yard John Lunsford field goal to make it 3-0 at the 11:34 mark of the opening quarter.

The Bucs tried to answer, moving inside the Liberty red zone, but Brown was intercepted at the Liberty 4-yard line by Jacob Hagen to end the threat.

CSU would get the ball back plays later as Liberty committed its first turnover. Tight end Kendall Couamin had a would-be first down slip through his fingers and safety Demaris Freeman picked the ball out of midair to set up the Bucs at midfield.

The Bucs would convert a pair of third downs and a 4th-and-6 on a 9-yard completion from Brown to running back Mike Holloway to again move into the red zone, but David Kennedy's 33-yard field goal drifted wide right to preserve the early 3-0 Flames' lead.

The Buccaneers would force another turnover moments later, but this time, would capitalize. Freshman Davion Anderson picked off Masha for the second time in the opening half to give the Bucs a short field at the LU 38.

Seven plays and 38 yards later, running back Christian Reyes plunged in from three yards out to give CSU its first score and the lead, 7-3.

Liberty answered right back as Masha continued to make plays with his legs. A 36-yard scramble set up the Flames inside the CSU red zone. Masha found Darrin Peterson for 6 yards on a fade route in the corner of the end zone to give LU a 10-7 lead with just under 10 minutes to play until half.

The Bucs offense and defense fed off each other on the next two possessions. CSU forced a three-and-out to set the offense up at its own 48. Reyes ripped off a 52-yard touchdown run on the first play of the possession to give CSU the lead back at 14-10. Reyes was all but untouched until crossing the goal line to put CSU back on top.

Liberty would use the same recipe to reclaim the lead. Masha raced 36 yards to move the ball into CSU territory and would cap the drive with another touchdown pass to Peterson – again on the fade – to give the Flames a 16-14 lead.

Kick returner Darius Hammond set up CSU's next score as the Bucs took the lead into the half. Hammond's 30-yard kickoff return set up the Bucs at midfield. Brown found Reyes for 29 yards, but the Bucs couldn't punch it in after 1st-and-goal at the Liberty 10. Kennedy would connect on a field goal, this time from 27 yards as CSU took a 17-16 lead at the half.

CSU put up 244 yards of total offense in the opening half to hold the lead at the break.

The Buccaneers added to their lead with a quick turnover and touchdown pass in the third. Cornerback Malcolm Jackson intercepted a high throw from Masha to give the Bucs a short field inside the LU 25-yard line.

Brown found Colton Korn for 10 yards on third down to keep the drive alive and followed with an 11-yard touchdown strike to Nathan Prater to give the Bucs a 24-16 lead early in the third quarter.
Liberty responded again, going to the same well. Peterson hauled in his third touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to cap the Flames, 6-play, 67-yard scoring drive as Liberty cut the lead to 24-23.

CSU came right back as Brown found Nathan Perera for 40 yard down the middle of the field. Runs of 25 yards and two yards from Ben Robinson gave the Bucs a 31-23 as the sophomore scored from two yards out.

After the Bucs defense forced a three-and-out, CSU responded with its best drive of the game. An 8-play, 71-yard drive took over four minutes off the clock as the Bucs crossed midfield. Brown found Holloway out of the backfield and the sophomore weaved his way 40 yards for the touchdown to push the lead to 38-23.

Liberty scored twice late to cut the lead to 38-36, but CSU held the ball for the final 5:19 to run out he clock and secure the win.

Reyes' 188 yards were the fourth-most in CSU history and the most by a Buccaneer in a Big South game.

Brown finished 18-of-37 with a touchdown and four interceptions. Perera and Korn both had four receptions in the win.

Holloway added nine carries for 91 yards and 40-yard touchdown reception.

Masha was 21-for-32 for 238 yards and four touchdowns for Liberty, but was intercepted three times. He also rushed for 99 yards on 10 carries, but Liberty's running backs combined for only 39 yards rushing.

Jackson led the Bucs with eight tackles, while linebacker Aaron Brown added six.

Charleston Southern wraps up its regular season next Saturday at Georgia. Kickoff is at noon. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

-CSU-