Liberty would like to reverse an early season trend

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: August 29, 2008

Start fast.
That’s the message Danny Rocco has preached to his team all week. He said the words during Tuesday’s weekly press conference, and he ended Thursday’s Liberty practice with another not-so-subtle reminder to his team to get out of the blocks quickly.
In Rocco’s first two seasons as head coach, the Flames haven’t exactly played at an optimum level in the season’s first few weeks. Sure, LU began both seasons 2-0, but that was to be expected, considering it played two Division II teams to start each year.
But by the time the Flames hit important early non-conference games at Towson in 2006 and at William & Mary in 2007, Liberty was still working out the kinks. LU lost both games.
If the Flames want to make a serious playoff push in 2008, they know they can’t afford to lay eggs in key early road games at Western Carolina (Sept. 13) and Youngstown State (Sept. 27).
That’s why finding a midseason form in the first two games, again against Division II opponents, is so important.
Liberty expects a sellout crowd for tonight’s opener against North Greenville, and Rocco wants his team to hit its stride much earlier than it did in his first two seasons.
“This team has played very well here in the past couple of years in the second half of the season,” Rocco said. “I want to be able to continue to do that. But we have not performed as well as we would have liked to early in the year, and we think this is a critical start for us, to get the train moving in the right direction, at the right speed.”
Mind you, the Flames haven’t had any trouble in dispatching their season-opening opponents under Rocco. They shut out St. Paul’s 27-0 in 2006 and beat Tusculum 38-14 in 2007. But LU was underwhelming offensively in each game.
Liberty didn’t reach its midseason form last year until, well, midseason. After an embarrassing loss at Elon in Week 4, the Flames won six of seven to end the year and nearly beat FBS foe Toledo.
But in the backs of their minds, the Flames know if they had played as well in September as they had in November, they probably would have advanced to the postseason.
“It is absolutely something that we’ve focused on and that we’re striving towards,” Liberty center Mike Godsil said. “We’ve gone into most of our early games in the past with a limited game plan.
“But this year, we’re going to throw the book at them. We’ve had so much time to prepare, and we feel that we’re so prepared. This is the furthest along that we’ve been at this point in my career here.”
Nine of Liberty’s 11 offensive starters are seniors, including quarterback Brock Smith and tailbacks Rashad Jennings and Zach Terrell.
“We’re treating every game like it’s our last,” said Jennings. “This is a heavy senior class with a lot of leadership, and we all want to go out on top.”
Liberty’s defense, which is replacing three of four starting linebackers from last year, will get a stiff test from North Greenville, which amassed more than 5,000 yards and scored 442 points in 2007.
Tailback Rashad Cummings is an NFL prospect, and 6-foot-6 receiver Brandon Dobbins will challenge the Flames’ secondary.
Liberty hasn’t lost to a Division II team at home since 1993, when Indiana (Pa.) beat the Flames 23-7. North Greenville has won just three games in 16 tries against FCS schools, and only one against a team that offered scholarships (Charleston Southern in 2003).
“Our guys are excited about playing somebody, and I think they’re looking forward to matching up and seeing if they can compete against those guys,” NGU coach Mike Taylor said. “We’re happy to be coming up there.”