Brown's 4 TDs help Charleston Southern top Liberty 31-24

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) Austin Brown passed for 301 yards and four touchdowns, and Charleston Southern clinched the Big South championship outright with a 31-24 win over Liberty on Saturday.

Charleston Southern dominated the game on the stat sheet, overwhelming the Flames in first downs (29-14), total yards (460-274) and time of possession (38:07-21:53). But the Buccaneers didn't take the lead for good until Brown hit a wide-open Nathan Perera for a 9-yard score with 5:16 left.

Needing a TD to even the score, Liberty faced fourth-and-8 at Charleston Southern's 41. The Bucs brought pressure, and Darrin Peterson didn't get his head around in time to haul in Josh Woodrum's attempt.

Brown ran for 3 yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the clock running and ice the game for Charleston Southern (9-1, 6-0).

Woodrum was 20 of 34 for 177 yards and scored on a 13-yard run to give Liberty (5-4, 2-2) a 14-10 halftime lead.