Southern Miss
1-4 , 1-1
Liberty
6-0
Golden Eagles Fall at Liberty Saturday
10/24/2020 5:20:00 PM | Football
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) -- Malik Willis threw for 345 yards and six touchdowns — five in the first half — and Liberty remained unbeaten after dominating Southern Miss 56-35 Saturday.
The Flames (6-0) piled up 537 yards of offense, racing to a 35-7 halftime lead as Willis found five different receivers with scoring strikes. Willis also ran for a 38-yard score, taking part in a school-record seven touchdowns.
Willis completed 24 of 31 passes without an interception and rushed for 97 yards on 12 attempts.
Southern Miss (1-4) rallied with a 21-point third quarter on three rushing touchdowns by Tate Whatley and came as close as 35-28. Whatley rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another, picking up 52 yards on the ground and 188 in the air. Whatley was the first Golden Eagle to rush for four touchdowns since Jalen Richard did it against Old Dominion on Nov. 21, 2015.
Whatley, who played in place of normal starter Jack Abraham, threw for 188 yards and rushed for 52 more.
With interim coach Scotty Walden unable to travel with the team after testing positive for COVID-19, the Golden Eagles were led by interim interim coach Tim Billings, who had last coached in 2005 at Southeast Missouri State.
Team Stats
USM 7, LIBERTY 0
USM - WHATLEY, Tate 10 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:00
USM 7, LIBERTY 7
LIBERTY - SHAA, K. 39 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 0:42
USM 7, LIBERTY 14
LIBERTY - DOUGLAS, D. 12 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 12 plays, 88 yards, TOP 6:15
USM 7, LIBERTY 21
LIBERTY - SHAA, K. 11 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 13 plays, 83 yards, TOP 6:08
USM 7, LIBERTY 28
LIBERTY - BARRETT, C. 18 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 4 plays, 35 yards, TOP 1:24
USM 7, LIBERTY 35
LIBERTY - HUNTLEY, J. 10 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP 3:51
USM 14, LIBERTY 35
USM - WHATLEY, Tate 16 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 1 plays, 16 yards, TOP 0:07
USM 21, LIBERTY 35
USM - WHATLEY, Tate 1 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 8 plays, 35 yards, TOP 3:11
USM 28, LIBERTY 35
USM - WHATLEY, Tate 4 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 13 plays, 94 yards, TOP 4:34
USM 28, LIBERTY 42
LIBERTY - DANIELS, CJ 42 yd pass from WILLIS, M. (BARBIR, A. kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:55
USM 28, LIBERTY 49
LIBERTY - WILLIS, M. 38 yd run (BARBIR, A. kick), 1 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:10
USM 28, LIBERTY 56
LIBERTY - MACK, J. 1 yd run (BARBIR, A. kick), 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:07
USM 35, LIBERTY 56
USM - BROWNLEE, Jason 17 yd pass from WHATLEY, Tate (BOURGEOIS, B. kick) 5 plays, 0 yards, TOP 1:02
