Flames visit Kennesaw State on CBSSN Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET

The Liberty Flames (5-1, 2-0 in conference) visit the Kennesaw State Owls (1-5, 0-2) on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. ET at Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. CBSSN has the broadcast.

How the Flames got here

Liberty has won all five of its games in the last-five window. The Flames beat Gardner-Webb 24-23 on Sept. 12, then Ball State 51-15 on Sept. 19. They won at Coastal Carolina 34-17 on Sept. 24 and at Delaware 30-14 on Oct. 2. Most recently, they beat Sam Houston 35-3 on Oct. 8 at home.

Four of those five wins came by 16 points or more.

Flames to watch

Deshawn Purdie leads the passing game at 70 of 114 for 1,050 yards, eight touchdowns. Kam Davis has 524 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 74 carries. Makai Jackson leads the receivers with 22 catches for 515 yards and five touchdowns.

On defense, Derrell Farrar leads the Flames with 33 tackles, and Brenton Williams has 2.5 sacks.

The Owls' season

Kennesaw State has lost five straight. The Owls fell 31-17 to Georgia State on Sept. 12 and 42-9 at Tennessee on Sept. 19. Then came three close losses: 17-14 at Arkansas State on Sept. 26, 27-26 to Jacksonville State on Oct. 7, and 24-21 at Missouri State on Oct. 14.

Those last three defeats were by a combined seven points.

Owls to watch

Quarterback Rickie Collins has thrown for 1,302 yards, completing 129 of 184 with four touchdowns and three interceptions. He also leads the Owls on the ground with 271 yards and five touchdowns on 64 carries. Javon Rogers has 18 catches for 308 yards and a score.

Tywon Christopher leads Kennesaw State with 48 tackles, and Ugonna Nwoha has three sacks.