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Liberty got on the board first on Monday in its Fiesta Bowl matchup with #8 Oregon, giving its fans a few minutes of hope and great fun.
Reality hit, as expected. The Ducks, down 6-3 after a quarter, scored 28 points in the second quarter, and coasted from there to a 45-6 win.
For Liberty, ranked 23rd coming in, it was a tough-to-swallow end to a magical season, that had seen the Flames go 12-0 in the regular season, win the Conference USA title in its first season in the league, and then earn the program’s first-ever New Year’s 6 bowl game invitation.
But this one was just big boys vs. little boys, with Oregon, which came into the game ranked second nationally in total offense, eventually gaining and asserting control, on both sides of the ball.
Liberty (13-1) had come in with impressive offensive numbers of its own, leading the nation ahead of the bowl season in rushing, averaging 302.9 yards per game, but the ground attack was held by the Ducks D to a season-low 168 yards on 28 attempts.
And still, for a fleeting few minutes, it looked like an upset might be in the making. On the opening possession of the game, a 33-yard run by Aaron Bedgood got the Flames into Oregon territory, setting up a 17-yard Kaidon Salter-to-Bentley Hanshaw TD pass that gave Liberty the early 6-0 edge.
Oregon (12-2) took its first lead of the afternoon on the fourth play of the second quarter when Bo Nix found Gary Bryant Jr. open in the back of the end for a 2-yard touchdown pass. The seven-play, 82-yard was highlighted by a 44-yard run by Bucky Irving, who avoided several defenders to get deep in Liberty territory.
The TD pass gave the Ducks a 10-6 lead at the 12:53 mark of the second quarter, and Oregon would score three more times before the end of the first half to take a 31-6 into the intermission.
Nix capped each of the three scoring drives with a touchdown pass and gained an extra possession when a Salter pass bounced out of the hands of a Liberty receiver and resulted in Salter’s sixth interception of the season.
The Ducks opened the second half with Nix matching a Fiesta Bowl record with this fifth touchdown pass of the game, completing a 24-yard pass play to Tez Johnson that capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive.
Oregon scored on its sixth straight drive to finish off the game early in the fourth quarter. The Ducks pieced together a 13-play, 82-yard drive that was finished off by a 1-yard touchdown run from Irvin with 14:13 left to play in the game and give the game its final score.
Salter, the 2023 Conference USA MVP, finished the day 15-of-24 passing for 126 yards and the TD pass.
The sophomore finished the 2023 season with program-record totals in touchdown passes (32), touchdowns responsible for (44) and total offense (3,965). He also set a program record for most rushing yards by a quarterback (1,089), also scoring 12 rushing touchdowns.
Quinton Cooley led Liberty’s rushing attack with 79 yards on eight carries. Cooley finished the season with 1,401 rushing yards, the second most rushing yards in a single season in program history. His 16 rushing touchdowns also tied for second in the program’s single-season annals.
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Chris Graham
