Friday, September 25, 2026
Deshawn Purdie threw two touchdowns and Kam Davis gashed for 166 yards as the Flames ran Coastal out of the building in the second half.
Liberty 34, Coastal Carolina 17. The Flames trailed at the break, then scored 24 unanswered in the second half to turn a tight Thursday night game into a blowout.
That is a program.
Deshawn Purdie threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Kam Davis ran for 166 yards and a score. Liberty's offense woke up after halftime and Coastal Carolina had no answer for it.
The twist here is the complete reversal after intermission. Coastal Carolina held a lead at the half. Then Liberty came out of the locker room and put up 24 straight points while the Chanticleers managed exactly zero. That is not a close game that got away. That is one team deciding to play football and the other team forgetting how.
You cannot script a second-half turnaround any cleaner than this. Liberty's offense found every gear it was missing in the first 30 minutes. Purdie started hitting his throws. Davis started breaking tackles. The Flames' defense clamped down and Coastal's offense went silent for the entire second half.
Purdie's 216 passing yards came with surgical efficiency in the second half. Two touchdown passes. No turnovers when it mattered. Kam Davis racked up 166 rushing yards, which means Liberty averaged over five yards per carry as a team. That is grown-ass-men football in the trenches. Davis found creases, hit them hard, and turned short gains into chunk plays.
The key sequence was Liberty's first drive out of halftime. They marched down the field, punched it in, and took the lead for good. Coastal never recovered. Once the Flames had momentum, they buried Coastal with it. Three more scoring drives. Zero answers from the Chanticleers.
Liberty outscored Coastal 24-0 in the second half.
The image of this game is Kam Davis hitting the second level on a run in the third quarter, one defender bouncing off him, another grabbing air, and Davis churning forward for another 15 yards. That is the visual summary of Liberty's second half. Physical. Relentless. Coastal couldn't stop it.
Hard hat and lunch pail for Deshawn Purdie. The quarterback managed the game in the first half, then took it over in the second. Two touchdown passes, 216 yards, and zero mistakes when Liberty needed to close. That is a winning performance from a signal-caller who understood the assignment.
Kam Davis gets the game ball. 166 rushing yards on a Thursday night against a conference opponent. Davis carried the Liberty offense on his back and wore Coastal Carolina's defense down. Every time the Flames needed four yards, Davis got five. Every time they needed to ice the clock, Davis moved the chains.
Coastal Carolina's offense goes in the loser column. They held a halftime lead, then got shut out for 30 straight minutes. Zero points in the second half is not a dry spell. That is offensive collapse. The Chanticleers couldn't run, couldn't pass, couldn't sustain a drive. Liberty's defense suffocated them and Coastal had no counter-punch.
Coastal's coaching staff has questions to answer. You do not get blanked in an entire half at home on Thursday night and walk away clean. Whatever adjustments Liberty made at halftime, Coastal had no answers for them. That is a preparation problem or a talent problem, and neither one is good.
Liberty is 7-5 and bowl-eligible with momentum heading into the postseason. This was a statement win on the road in conference play. The Flames proved they can adjust at halftime and finish games when it matters. That second-half shutout is the kind of performance that carries over into a bowl game.
For Coastal Carolina, this is a brutal way to end the regular season. They held a lead at home on national television and got run out of their own building in the second half. The Chanticleers finish 5-7 and miss a bowl. That 24-0 second-half beatdown will haunt this program all offseason.
Historically, Liberty continues to prove they belong in the conversation as a legitimate program. Thursday night road wins in conference play are program-builders. The Flames didn't just win. They dominated the second half and made Coastal look like they didn't belong on the same field.
Liberty waits for their bowl assignment. At 7-5, the Flames will likely land in a mid-tier bowl against another conference champion or a Power Four team that underperformed. This second-half performance gives them confidence heading into December. If Purdie and Davis play like they did Thursday night, Liberty can beat anyone in their bowl game.
Coastal Carolina's season is over. No bowl game. No postseason. The Chanticleers go into the offseason with the bitter taste of a second-half shutout loss at home. They need to figure out what happened in that locker room at halftime and make sure it never happens again.
Liberty's coaching staff will use this game as a blueprint. Down at the half, adjust, execute, and bury the opponent. That is how you build a winning program.
The Verdict
Liberty scored 24 straight points in the second half and Coastal Carolina never saw it coming. Deshawn Purdie managed the game. Kam Davis ran through defenders. The Flames' defense shut Coastal out for 30 minutes. That is not luck. That is a program that knows how to finish.
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