Big South Pre-Season Poll

[SuperJon]

4-Liberty: I put the flames here for these reasons: only 4 starters on defense and the loss of their star QB, NFL drafted RB and their top WR. This will be a rebuilding year for the Flames.

Glad you took my comments from your "Big South Conference Outlook" to heart


How can they put Liberty at the top spot when probably 80-90% of their offensive output from last year is gone? I feel the same about JMU, it's a questionable year for both teams. Will a new QB step up? Who will be the leader of the offense? A team with these questions should not be picked preseason #1.

Because it's been proven that when someone goes down, we've had someone there just as good to compete. Look at last year:

1) Starting linebacker goes down. Unheard of sophomore steps in and is one of the bests in the league.

2) Starting senior safety goes down for a game. Unheard of freshman steps up and gets an interception and punt block in the game he starts in.

3) We need wide receivers, and Mike Brown, having never played wide receiver before, steps up and starts three games, plays in all 12, and averages over 17 yards a catch.

We also have the best facilities to work out in during the offseason, the best strength coach in the league, and the most experienced and best coaching staff in the league.

[JMU DJ]

Because it's been proven that when someone goes down, we've had someone there just as good to compete.

We also have the best facilities to work out in during the offseason, the best strength coach in the league, and the most experienced and best coaching staff in the league.

This is the case for most football teams... I could cite the armada of RB's JMU went through during my time there. The thing is, when one went down, we didn't know if the next one to step in would be able to step up to the role.

I think it's cool that you possibly have two top caliber QB's, line Brown up in the wildcat or slot and let Beecher throw. Beecher though, has shown that he is not focused on football... though a good QB, he floundered at USC (which is why Brown is the obvious pick for starter). Brown is also unproven at QB. Good that Rocco has put him out there as the starter so he can lead the team, but still unproven.

So, you lost your QB from last year, your top two running backs, your best receiver, significant 12 game starters on defense.... that's a lot of players who need to step up and "prove" that Liberty deserves their preseason ranking. Teams in the Big South like Stoney Brook and Gardner Webb are returning about 20 starters each compared to Liberty's 12...

[SuperJon]

Going into last year, we had lost three starters on the offensive line, three starting linebackers, both starting wide receivers, and a starting defensive lineman. All we did was replace every single one of them and go out and beat Stony Brook and Gardner-Webb by a total of 63-10.

Last year everyone said we couldn't replace the FBS transfers at linebacker and offensive line. We replaced them with guys no one knew who ended up being all-conference.

Last year everyone said we couldn't replace the talent we had at wide receiver. We replaced them with guys that no one knew who ended up being all-conference.

Two years ago, as a true freshman, Mike Brown ran CSU, VMI, and G-W's offense better in practice than those teams did when they played us. He gave our starting defense more problems than the players from those other teams.

[JMU DJ]

Yup, that's all good... but this is a new year with new loses. Practice QB is a lot different from game QB. Like I said, Brown seems to have his head on his shoulders and is a versatile player... There are Big South teams out there with much more returning on Defense and Offense. Yup, Liberty pretty much walked all over these teams last year (except for Presbyterian), but that was with Jennings, Bolden, and Smith. Who's your up and coming RB, where's your receiving core? Brown can't throw the ball to himself (though beecher could), Crawford seems decent, Hayes didn't do anything significant the second half of the season, but you don't want your running back to be a top Wide out (or is he a wide out now?)... after that, there's nothing. Same with RB's

Sophomore B.J. Hayes, the current starter at the position (RB), is not Rashad Jennings. For one, he’s a good 45 pounds lighter and five inches shorter than Jennings. Two, he opened the summer as a wide receiver on the depth chart, not a tailback. Hayes’ strength is his outside speed, not his inside running.

Hayes and former William Campbell standout Danny Broggin will start the year as the Flames’ top two tailbacks, and a group of freshmen that includes Aldreakis Allen, Chase Barnett, SirChauncey Holloway and Kevin Fogg will all battle to be the No. 3 tailback. Broggin counters Hayes’ speed with inside running power.

http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/sports/ ... ack/18352/

Hopefully one of those unknown freshman can help you out, but sounds like Rocco won't be giving them a lot of PT. Again, maybe your recruits can step up to the plate, but IMO with all of the questions you have on offense and defense this year, a number one preseason ranking may not be deserving. That's a lot of hoping that a bunch of untested players are going to be able to do what Smith and Jennings did. But hey, most of these polls give credit to what the team did last year, so yes... the way you finished off your season last year you should be first.

[SuperJon]

Aldreakis Allen will likely be the #2 running back. If he's not, SirChauncey Holloway will be. BJ Hayes is a completely different type of back than Rashad was, but after seeing him in his second day practicing back at RB, he's going to do really well. He is fast as crap and can make people miss. He's not going to run you over, but he can run past you. Watch his end around at Coastal last year and you'll see how much faster he was than every single person on the field.

At WR, Jimmy Eden could've played last year. We just didn't need him to. There was no point in putting him as the 4th receiver when we could have him as the 1st or 2nd receiver for four years, so we redshirted him.

If Freddy Brown is as advertised, there are two guys that are ready to go now.

Chris Summers, who originally committed to Louisville, is finally starting to get it. In spring ball, he started catching the ball better than he ever had. In the first two days of practice he was making incredibly athletic catches. He's 6'5 and is athletic enough to play Division I basketball (which he did part of the year last year).

Pat Kelly is just a smart player who can catch whatever you throw at him and isn't afraid to get hit. He's not the most athletic player but he gets the job done.

Yes, we have questions on offense. However, our defense is absolutely loaded. We have nine linebackers who could play significantly at any school in the conference. We've got a guy that started a game at outside linebacker his freshman year who moved to DE and isn't even a starter there now because of the talent we have there. Our CBs are young but they're athletic (I saw one jump to his side three feet in the air on a dead sprint to break up a pass two days ago).

Add to all of that a special teams unit that was one of the best (if not the best) in the league last year with all of the specialists coming back.

Good defense and good special teams are going to keep you in the game.

Gardner-Webb has scored ten points on us in the past two years and our defense is going to be better this year than the past two years.

Stony Brook didn't score on us at all this past year in perfect weather conditions. How are they going to do with it being freezing cold and less than ideal conditions this year against a better defense?

[JMU DJ]

Thanks for the analysis dude, I was just throwing out G-W and Stony Brook as examples (as their returning starters were in the article in the first post) of teams returning more starters who are predicted to finish right behind LU. Though Stony Brook may not win, the game will be on their home turf and I'm sure they won't like being shut out at their place, they will probably be more accustomed to the cold than a bunch of Lynchburgers.

BTW - SirChauncey is probably one of the better first names I've heard in a while