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No. 16 Liberty kept its unbeaten Big South streak alive thanks to a strong second-half effort against Gardner-Webb on Saturday, which led to Liberty leaving Boiling Springs, N.C., with a 51-28 victory over the Bulldogs.

With the victory, along with Stony Brook’s loss to Charleston Southern, Liberty has already claimed a share of the 2009 Big South Conference football title. The Flames will have the opportunity to claim outright their third-straight title next weekend, when Liberty takes on Stony Brook in both squad’s regular season finales in Stony Brook, N.Y.

News and Notes:
• The victory over Gardner-Webb extended Liberty’s Big South winning streak to 16-straight games.
• Liberty’s current 16-game Big South winning streak is the longest conference winning streak in Big South history, doubling the previous streak of eight-straight league wins by Coastal Carolina.
• With 16-straight Big South victories, Liberty’s conference winning streak is still the third longest active conference winning streak among FCS programs (ranking behind Appalachian State – 19 games/Southern and South Carolina State – 18 games/MEAC).
• Liberty has now won six-straight games, which is tied for the fifth-longest FCS winning streak in the country.
• Liberty has now won six-straight games, which is the second longest winning streak by the Flames under head coach Danny Rocco.
• Liberty has now reached the eight-win total for the year and is one of 21 FCS programs in the nation with eight or more victories.
• For the third season in a row, the Flames have reached the eight-win mark, marking the first time in program history Liberty has won eight games three years in a row in program history.
• Liberty is now the second program in Big South history to win eight or more games three years in a row (Coastal Carolina also accomplished the feat spanning the 2004-06 seasons).
• For the third-straight game and fourth time this season, the Flames scored 50 or more points in a game and now rank No. 4 nationally in scoring offense (36.70 points per game).
• Liberty scored 24-unanswered second half points against Gardner-Webb, while keeping the Bulldogs scoreless during the second half to secure the victory.
• On the season, the Flames have outscored their opponents 191 to 75 in the second half of the game (19.1 average points scored in the second half to 7.5 average points allowed in the second half).
• Liberty finished the game with 27 first downs, its second highest first down total of the season.
• Liberty was awarded five of its 27 first downs by penalty, marking the most first downs by penalties gained by the Flames since picking up six first downs by penalty against No. 17 Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 2, 2002.
• For the third time this year, Liberty finished a game with 10 or more first downs by rushing (10) and passing (12) plays.
• Liberty finished the game with a season-high 337 passing yards, which marked the second most single-game passing yards by the Flames under head coach Danny Rocco (ranks behind 344 passing yards against Lafayette last year).
• Liberty’s quarterbacks finished the game without throwing an interception, which marks the fifth-straight game Liberty has completed a contest without an interception.
• The five-straight games without an interception is a new school record and has Liberty ranked No. 2 nationally for fewest total interceptions in 2009 (4).
• For the third time this year and the seventh time under head coach Danny Rocco, the Flames finished a game with 500 or more total offensive yards (510).
• For the second-straight game and the seventh time this year Liberty finished a game without committing a fumble.
• Liberty currently ranks No. 2 nationally with just three fumbles lost in 2009.
• Liberty forced Gardner-Webb to turn the ball over two times on Saturday (both on fumbles) and currently leads the nation in turnover margin (2.20 … Southern ranks No. 2 at 1.89).
• Liberty recovered two fumbles against Gardner-Webb and currently ranks No. 14 nationally with 12 fumble recoveries on the year.
• Liberty failed to intercept a pass on Saturday against Gardner-Webb, marking the first time in nine games the Flames have not intercepted at least one pass in a game.
• Liberty currently ranks No. 7 in total interceptions in 2009 (17).
• Liberty finished the Gardner-Webb game with an 8:46 time of possession advantage, which is the team’s second highest TOP edge this season.
• The Flames finished the day against Gardner-Webb with seven third-down conversions, which was the team’s third-most, third-down conversions of the season.
• Liberty converted on its lone fourth-down play of the day, as Mike Brown scored from one-yard out to give Liberty a first quarter lead.
• The Flames have now converted on 6-of-8 fourth down plays in 2009 and currently rank No. 3 nationally in fourth-down efficiency.
• Liberty scored on all five of its trips inside the red zone, running the Flames streak to 36-straight scoring drives when entering the opponent’s 20-yard line.
• Following the Gardner-Webb game, Liberty now ranks No. 3 nationally in red zone offensive efficiency (93.4 percent/43 scoring drives on 46 trips inside the red zone).
• Liberty only allowed Gardner-Webb to score on its lone trip inside the red zone on Saturday and now ranks No. 7 nationally in red zone defensive efficiency (63.6s percent/21 scoring drives on 33 trips inside the red zone).
• Liberty finished the game with three sacks for a loss of 16 yards, which marked the second most sacks by the Flames in a game this season.
• Seven different players finished the game with a pass breakup, giving Liberty a new team high for pass breakups in a game this season.
• The seven pass breakups by the Flames tied a team high for Liberty under head coach Danny Rocco, as the Flames also finished with seven pass breakups against Glenville State (2006), Presbyterian (2007), Stony Brook (2008) and Elon (2008).
• For the second-straight week, the Flames returned a fumble for a touchdown, as KaJuan Lee forced a fumble, which was picked up and returned 18 yards by Demetrius Ward for a score in the fourth quarter.
• Mike Brown scored two rushing touchdowns, giving him eight rushing touchdowns on the season.
• Liberty has now rushed for 29 touchdowns in 2009 and ranks No. 3 in total rushing touchdowns among all FCS programs in the country.
• Tommy Beecher had a career day, passing for 337 yards and three touchdowns, marking collegiate career highest in both categories for the senior.
• With the 337 passing yards, Tommy Beecher became the ninth quarterback in program history to record a 300-yard passing game.
• Mike Brown set a new program record with 198 receiving yards, bettering Courtney Freeman’s 186 receiving yards against Western Kentucky on Oct. 19, 1996.
• Mike Brown’s 198 receiving yards is the fourth-highest, single-game receiving total in Big South Conference history.
• Mike Brown caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Beecher, which is the seventh-longest scoring reception in Big South Conference history.
• For the second time this year, Mike Brown finished a game with 10 or more receptions as he hit the mark on the nose against Gardner-Webb.
• Following his performance against Gardner-Webb, Mike Brown now has the top two single-game receiving totals in the Big South this year (also caught 11 passes for 157 yards against West Virginia).
• Mike Brown finished the day with three touchdowns, marking a new career high for scoring by the sophomore (18 points).
• Matt Bevins finished the Gardner-Webb game with 15 points scored, which is his second-highest single-game point total of his career.
• Matt Bevins has now reached double-digit scoring in three-straight games and four times total this year.
• Matt Bevins has scored 98 points this year, which is the most points scored by a sophomore in program history.
• Matt Bevins currently ranks No. 5 nationally in scoring and leads the nation in average points scored by a kicker (9.80 per game).
• Matt Bevins knocked down three of his four field goal attempts, giving him 20 field goals on the season, which is a new program and Big South record for field goals in a year.
• Matt Bevins is currently tied for the national lead by averaging 2.00 field goals per game and he leads the nation with 20 total field goals.
• Matt Bevins enters the final regular season game of the year needing just nine more points to tie Noah Greenbaum 2007 program and Big South record for points scored by a kicker in a season (107).
• Matt Bevins missed a 49-yard field goal attempt early in the third quarter, snapping his second streak of eight-straight field goals this season.
• Mike Brown finished the game with 265 total all-purpose yards, his second highest all-purpose yard total of the season and the ninth highest single-game total in Big South history.
• For the second-straight game, Aaron Hewlett finished a contest with 100 or more total kickoff return yards, as the senior returned four kickoffs for 114 yards.
• Aaron Hewlett’s kickoff return total helped the Flames move up to No. 10 nationally in kickoff return average (23.97 yards per return).
• Wes Cheek led the Flames with 13 stops, tying a career high (also had 13 stops against VMI last season).
• Wes Cheek finished the game with 10 solo tackles, marking the most solo tackles by a Flames defender under head coach Danny Rocco.
• The last time a Flames defender to finish a game with more solo tackles than Wes Cheek was Kenneth Kemp, who finished with 12 solo stops against Akron on Oct. 12, 2002.
• KaJuan Lee finished the game with seven tackles, which ranked second on the team and was a new career high for the defensive back (previous career high was six earlier this year against West Virginia).
• Brent Vinson was tied for third on the team with six stops, which is the freshman’s second highest single-game tackle total of the season.
• Kyle O’Donnell set a new single-game career standard for himself against Gardner-Webb, finishing the day tied with Brent Vinson with six stops (bettered his five tackles against Charleston Southern earlier this year).
• Patrick Bannon got his first start of the season on the defensive line and finished the game with a season-best five tackles, to go along with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.