Score: Liberty 45, Kennesaw State 35
Records: Kennesaw State (5-2, 1-1), Liberty (4-4, 1-2) 
Key Players: Trey White (29 rushes, 94 yards, 3 TDs; 1 TD pass); Jake McKenzie (1 TD reception, 1 TD pass); Trey Chivers (14 carries, 97 yards); Dante Blackmon (9 tackles)
Key Plays: (4 TD passes by Liberty's Josh Woodrum)
Key Stat: Kennesaw State (11 penalties, 105 yards)

Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (XML) | Photo Gallery (Kyle Hess)

LYNCHBURG, Va.  – Two-time All-Big South Conference quarterback Josh Woodrum threw four touchdown passes to lead defending conference champion Liberty to a 45-35 victory over Kennesaw State before 20,393 fans at Williams Stadium Saturday in Lynchburg, Va.
 
Woodrum, the Big South Conference's second-leading all-time passer threw touchdown passes of 33, 39, 80 and 9 yards to lead the Flames (4-4, 1-2) to their first conference win.
 
Kennesaw State quarterback Trey White rushed for three scores and threw for a touchdown as the Owls (5-2, 1-1) suffered their first league loss.   
 
Kennesaw State struck first after forcing Liberty to punt on the game's opening possession as the Owls went 76 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a 1-yard run by White with 6:07 remaining in the first quarter.
 
However, the prolific passing combination of Woodrum and wide receiver Darrin Peterson hooked up for scoring plays of 33, 39 and 80 yards to jump out to a 21-7 lead with 5:37 remaining in the first half.
 
Flames placekicker John Lunsford connected on a 57-yard field goal with 1:08 remaining in the second quarter to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.
 
Kennesaw State, which entered the night allowing the fifth-fewest passing yards per game at 134.7 yards a contest, surrendered 195 yards in the first half and Liberty finished the game with 231 yards through the air.
 
The Owls added touchdowns on a 12-yard scoring play from White to Jake McKenzie and a 6-yard touchdown pass from McKenzie to Xavier Harper.   

Quoting Head Coach Brian Bohannon
"I'm proud about the way our guys fought tonight. I mean you're talking about a team coming in with maybe half the amount of scholarships and our guys went toe-to-toe and fought pretty hard tonight. There is no quit in our football team. We beat ourselves a lot tonight. I give Liberty a lot of credit. They're a good football team. We had 11 penalties for over 100 yards. You can't go beat the defending Big South Conference champion with 11 penalties. We've got to do a better job of that. They did a good offensively and got to a point where we couldn't stop them. If we could have got one stop, I feel like we could have got back in it in the second half, but we couldn't get a shot. I am proud of our football team. We can build on this and learn from this as we continue to grow our program, but I am proud of the way we came out and competed." 
 
Next Game: The Owls will return home to Fifth Third Bank Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 31) when they host Monmouth in the first of two straight Big South Conference games. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. and the contest has been designated as Military Appreciation Day. Kennesaw State concludes its inaugural regular-season home slate on Nov. 7 when it welcomes Charleston Southern to Kennesaw.

Notes
* The Owls wore the combination of white jerseys and white pants for the first time. It marks the fourth different color combination Kennesaw State was worn in its first seven games.
* Liberty marked the first opponent Kennesaw State has played that has been ranked nationally this season. The Flames, who entered the game unranked, were as high as No. 15 in both the STATS FCS Poll and FCS Coaches Poll.
* Center Malik Letatau, linebacker Izzy Sam and placekicker Justin Thompson served as game captains.
* Kennesaw State won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. It marked the sixth time in seven games that KSU has won the coin toss.
* Trey White's 1-yard on the Owls' first drive marked the sixth time in seven games that Kennesaw State has scored on its first possession. White's run capped a 12-play, 67-yard that took 6:37 off the clock.
* White also equaled his season-high with three 1-yard rushing TDs, becoming the first Big South Conference quarterback since VMI's Tim Maypray in 2008. White, the conference's top rushing quarterback, had three rushing TDs against Edward Waters on Sept. 12.
* Liberty's first-quarter score marked just the second touchdown allowed in the opening period by Kennesaw State. The only other touchdown allowed by the Owls in the first quarter came at Dayton on Sept. 26.
* The four touchdown passes by Liberty marked the first game that the Owls have allowed multiple TD passes in a game. In its previous six games, Kennesaw State allowed a total of three touchdowns through the air.
* The Owls trailed at halftime for only the second time this season. They were outscored 10-6 in the first 30 minutes versus Shorter on Sept. 19.   
* The 45 points by Liberty are the most allowed by Kennesaw State in a game this season. The previous high was 31 scored by Dayton Sept. 26.
* Redshirt freshman Jake McKenzie became the first Owl to catch a touchdown pass and score for a throw. He caught a 12-yard pass from Trey White in the third quarter and connected with Xavier Harper for 6-yard score in the fourth quarter.
* McKenzie and Harper became the fourth and fifth different players to catch a touchdown pass this season.
* Saturday's game against Liberty marked the first in which the Kennesaw State defense did not record a turnover.
* The Owls accumulated more than 400 yards of offense for the fourth time in seven games, totaling 420 yards.
* Kennesaw State outgained Liberty, 420-406, marking the sixth time seven games that Owls have totaled more yards than their opponent.
* Redshirt senior offensive lineman Brett Gillespie, made his first appearance of the season when he replaced Malik Letatau in the second half. Gillespie missed much of training camp and the first six games with an injury.
* Preseason All-American Darrin Peterson became the first receiver to record a 100-yard receiving game against Kennesaw State after catching four passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns.
* Quarterback Jake McKenzie replaced Trey White late in the fourth quarter and went 5-for-5 for 57 yards with a touchdown pass.
* Running back Trey Chivers rushed 14 times for career-high 97 yards, averaging 6.9 yards a carry
* Kennesaw State won the time of possession statistic, 36:42 to 23:18, marking the sixth time on seven games the Owls have held an advantage.