Balanced offense leads Liberty past Middle Tennessee 42-13

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Malik Willis threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, Joshua Mack rushed for 91 yards and Liberty defeated Middle Tennessee 42-13 on Saturday.

The Flames (5-1), an FCS independent, featured a balanced offense, running for 227 yards to go with Willis' passing numbers. They outgained their Conference USA opponent 449-265.

Willis' touchdowns both came in the first quarter — 35 yards to Demario Douglas and five yards to Jerome Jackson. T.J. Green added a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter and the Flames led 21-0.

Chase Cunningham then threw a short touchdown pass to get the Blue Raiders (2-4) on the board. His second TD, midway through the third kept Middle Tennessee close, but briefly, as Liberty pulled away with short TD runs by Mack and Willis.

Cunningham threw for 230 yards but the Blue Raiders had only 35 yards on the ground.

—-

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.

Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25