Liberty 55, Buffalo 27
Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Kaidon Salter threw for 344 yards and five touchdowns, and he ran for another score to help Liberty beat Buffalo 55-27.
Salter had touchdown throws of 56, 42, 33, 75 and 3 yards.
Liberty is 3-0 for the third time in the past four seasons. The Flames also won their first road game of the season for the fourth year in a row.
Treon Sibley, CJ Daniels and Elijah Smoot each had 99-plus yards receiving and at least one touchdown for Liberty, which won its second game against a Mid-American Conference squad this season. Sibley and Daniels each had 106 yards and Smoot grabbed two TDs.
Liberty scored 24 straight points to begin the game and led 24-14 at the break. Salter was 11 of 19 for 207 yards and two touchdowns at halftime, and he also had seven carries for 57 yards and a score.
The Liberty defense increased its nation-leading interception total to nine - with two picks from Tyren Dupree. Buffalo entered without an interception this season.
Cole Snyder threw for four touchdowns, but he was also intercepted twice for Buffalo (0-3). Nik McMillan, Darrell Harding Jr., Ron Cook Jr. and Marlyn Johnson each had a receiving touchdown.
September 16, 2023
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Lib | Buff |
| Lib |
FG |
11:18 |
Nick Brown 39 yd FG |
3 |
0 |
| Lib |
TD |
5:43 |
Treon Sibley 56 yd pass from Kaidon Salter (Nick Brown kick) |
10 |
0 |
| Second Quarter |
Lib | Buff |
| Lib |
TD |
11:03 |
Elijah Smoot 42 yd pass from Kaidon Salter (Nick Brown kick) |
17 |
0 |
| Lib |
TD |
8:33 |
Kaidon Salter 1 yd run (Nick Brown kick) |
24 |
0 |
| Buff |
TD |
5:38 |
Darrell Harding Jr. 7 yd pass from Cole Snyder (Alex McNulty kick) |
24 |
7 |
| Buff |
TD |
0:28 |
Nik McMillan 33 yd pass from Cole Snyder (Alex McNulty kick) |
24 |
14 |
| Third Quarter |
Lib | Buff |
| Lib |
FG |
12:13 |
Nick Brown 35 yd FG |
27 |
14 |
| Lib |
TD |
8:40 |
Elijah Smoot 33 yd pass from Kaidon Salter (Nick Brown kick) |
34 |
14 |
| Buff |
TD |
4:20 |
Ron Cook Jr. 2 yd pass from Cole Snyder (Alex McNulty kick) |
34 |
21 |
| Lib |
TD |
3:25 |
CJ Daniels 75 yd pass from Kaidon Salter (Nick Brown kick) |
41 |
21 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Lib | Buff |
| Lib |
TD |
14:57 |
Austin Henderson 3 yd pass from Kaidon Salter (Nick Brown kick) |
48 |
21 |
| Buff |
TD |
10:14 |
Marlyn Johnson 3 yd pass from Cole Snyder (failed 2pt pass) |
48 |
27 |
| Lib |
TD |
6:24 |
Aaron Bedgood 49 yd run (Nick Brown kick) |
55 |
27 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Liberty |
Buffalo |
| First downs |
20 |
22 |
| Rushing |
9 |
5 |
| Passing |
9 |
12 |
| Penalty |
2 |
5 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
3-11, 27% |
5-18, 28% |
| 4th down efficiency |
0-2, 0% |
1-4, 25% |
| Rushes-Yards |
36-225 |
30-87 |
| Passing Yards |
344 |
276 |
| Return Yards |
52 |
44 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
16-29-0 |
29-51-2 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
1--3 |
1--7 |
| Punts |
4 |
6 |
| Punts-Average |
44.3 |
42.8 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-0 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
10-90 |
6-75 |
| Time of Possession |
28:35 |
31:25 |
| Liberty Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| K. Salter |
16 |
26 |
344 |
5 |
0 |
| J. Bennett |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Buffalo Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Snyder |
29 |
51 |
276 |
4 |
2 |
| Liberty Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Salter |
10 |
66 |
6.6 |
1 |
| A. Bedgood |
1 |
49 |
49.0 |
1 |
| J. Jointer Jr. |
7 |
48 |
6.9 |
0 |
| Q. Cooley |
5 |
37 |
7.4 |
0 |
| B. Lucas |
5 |
14 |
2.8 |
0 |
| V. Blue |
3 |
12 |
4.0 |
0 |
| K. Austin |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| V. Venn |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
| Buffalo Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| M. Washington Jr. |
11 |
37 |
3.4 |
0 |
| C. Snyder |
9 |
20 |
2.2 |
0 |
| R. Cook Jr. |
7 |
17 |
2.4 |
0 |
| L. Sperling |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| C. Harrity |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| C. Ogbonna |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Liberty Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Daniels |
4 |
106 |
26.5 |
1 |
| T. Sibley |
3 |
106 |
35.3 |
1 |
| E. Smoot |
4 |
99 |
24.8 |
2 |
| N. Frith |
3 |
26 |
8.7 |
0 |
| Q. Cooley |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| A. Henderson |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
1 |
| Buffalo Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| N. McMillan |
4 |
72 |
18.0 |
1 |
| D. Harding Jr. |
4 |
59 |
14.8 |
1 |
| R. Cook Jr. |
4 |
56 |
14.0 |
1 |
| B. Curry |
3 |
30 |
10.0 |
0 |
| Z. Carter |
2 |
23 |
11.5 |
0 |
| J. Orlando |
2 |
10 |
5.0 |
0 |
| M. Johnson |
2 |
10 |
5.0 |
1 |
| C. Ball |
2 |
9 |
4.5 |
0 |
| C. Harrity |
2 |
7 |
3.5 |
0 |
| M. Washington Jr. |
4 |
0 |
0.0
|
0 |
| Liberty Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| T. Dupree |
2 |
6 |
| Buffalo Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Liberty Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. Morgan |
4 |
177 |
44.3 |
| Buffalo Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| A. Venneri |
6 |
257 |
42.8 |
| Liberty Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| B. Green |
1 |
11 |
11.0 |
| M. Fortenberry |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
| Buffalo Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. Cook Jr. |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
| N. McMillan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Liberty Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| A. Bedgood |
2 |
33 |
16.5 |
| Buffalo Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. Cook Jr. |
2 |
31 |
15.5 |
| C. Harrity |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
| J. Orlando |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
| Liberty Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Buffalo Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| A. McNulty |
40 |
