CHARLESTON, SC - Liberty's Dre Barnes rushed for 153 yards and the Flames' defense recorded seven sacks and limited Charleston Southern to only 199 total yards in defeating the Buccaneers, 17-6, before a homecoming crowd at Buccaneer Field.

Liberty improved to 2-1 in the Big South Conference and 3-6 overall while Charleston Southern falls to 0-2 in the league, 1-8 overall.

Barnes' four-yard run with 2:38 remaining in the game put Liberty comfortably ahead at 17-0 and secured the victory. Charleston Southern scored their lone touchdown with 1:34 remaining and made things interesting by recovering an onside kick but failed to score in the final minute.

"Certainly we're disappointed that we lost the game but I saw a different football team out there today," said CSU head coach Jay Mills. "More so than in any other game this season, I thought we played as a team. It was our most complete team effort of the season. We just came up a little short. We moved the ball some on offense but could never break the big play until the end."

Liberty managed only 245 total yards against CSU's defense but made the most of every yard. The Flames took a 7-0 halftime lead on J.R. Barley's 34-yard pass to Sam Gado with 11:46 remaining in the second quarter. The game went scoreless until the fourth quarter when Liberty went up 10-0 on Scott Kiovsky's 42-yard field goal with 9:11 to play.

After Barnes' touchdown, CSU's Kijana Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards to the Liberty 11. On the second play from scrimmage, CSU freshman quarterback Collin Drafts hit Thomas on a 12-yard scoring pass with 1:34 left in the game. After recovering the onside kick, CSU advanced as far as the Liberty 17, but Liberty responded with two sacks of Drafts to close out the contest.

Drafts completed 24-of-36 passes for 200 yards, despite being under heavy pressure throughout the second half. Senior receiver Aaron Dunklin caught seven passes for 67 yards, moving to within five receptions of CSU's single season and career reception record. Charleston Southern continued to struggle on the ground, finishing with minus one yards rushing in the game.

Leading Liberty's defensive attack was linebacker Aaron DeBerry who had six tackles, including five tackles for loss. CSU senior safety Tim Smith had a career-high 12 tackles for the Buccaneers.

CSU returns to action next Saturday, traveling to Gardner-Webb for a bout with the defending Big South Conference champions. Kickoff will be at 1:30 p.m.