LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Tre Stewart rushed for 232 yards and four touchdowns, Geimere Latimer intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter and Jacksonville State beat Liberty 31-21 on Wednesday night for its fifth straight victory.
Jacksonville State (5-3, 4-0 Conference USA) ended the nation’s fifth-longest active home win streak at 12. Liberty (5-2, 3-2) has lost consecutive games — for the first time since the end of the 2022 season — following a 17-game regular-season win streak.
Stewart has rushed for 12 touchdowns in his last four games. Latimer secured Jacksonville State’s 14th takeaway in the last four contests.
Trailing 24-21, Liberty elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Jacksonville State 17-yard line, but Kaidon Salter bobbled the snap and came up short with 5:39 remaining.
Jacksonville State punted on its next possession, a 55-yarder by Samario Rudolph, and the Flames took over at their 6-yard line with 3:33 left. Three plays later, Latimer intercepted a pass to the outside and ran it back to the 1-yard line. Stewart powered it in for his fourth touchdown to seal it.
Jacksonville State tallied 363 yards rushing — its fourth straight game reaching the 300-yard mark.
Stewart, who had 190 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, rushed for the third-most yards in a game in program history, trailing Troymaine Pope with 250 and Kory Chapman with 298.
Jacksonville State quarterback Tyler Huff threw for 95 yards and rushed for 130 yards on 20 carries.
Salter was intercepted for just the third time this season for Liberty. Quinton Cooley had 133 yards rushing with a touchdown.
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