[adrianb]

Garner "freakin" Webb huh, The amount of time you saved by leaving out the D in GarDner was totally lost by replacing the hyphen with "Freakin." Don't get me wrong, Garner "freakin" Webb is catchy but being a fan of brevity I believe I will stick with Gardner-Webb or even a well placed G-W. See even when I am too lazy to only type the initials I am still committed to the hyphen. Gf'nW has possibilities though, but I would want to make sure that f represented freakin and not the other f word that describes carnal knowledge. Not appropriate for a North Carolina Baptist affiliated college.

Oohh, I almost forgot I updated LU's helmet

[LU'sbestmanager]

VIRGINIA

[SuperJon]

What are you talking about?

[adrianb]

VIRGINIA

No pretty sure Gardner-Webb is in North Carolina.

[LU'sbestmanager]

sorry, i thought u were talking about us. i didnt know that you GW was a Baptist affiliated college

[jmdickens]

it is....I remember when they played Tennessee Temple University

[TDDance234]

If I remember correctly, GWU is just south of Kings Mountain, NC.

[SuperJon]

That always have been. My grandpa graduated from there in 2002 at the ripe age of 60. He's working on his master's through there right now. The campus is awesome.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for dropping by, Adrian B. Now give us the lowdown on your squad.

[adrianb]

As you have probably read by now, the team is really young, so I never really know what to expect from them from week to week.

G-W is 4 deep at running back, and you will probably see all of them Saturday. Someone from the core needs to step up take the "go to guy," role. Bubba Wallace is a big back that has gotten tough yards this year. He had some really good moments against Appalachian, but he has been inconsistant. This weeks depth chart has Peoples at number one which kind of surprises me, but he does have talent. The running game has to get more consistant in the second half of the year, Devin Campbell does not need to be in the postion where he has to win the game with his arm alone.

You probably already know about the receiving core, with Alston and Flagler getting the most attention, but Austin Gaines is probably the most dependable when it comes to keeping a drive alive. He pretty much saved the game against Tenn Tech.

The D plays a pretty aggressive 3-4, and has shown a lot of improvement from last year. G-W is looking for turnovers, which also means that they can be vulnerable to big plays. G-W also gives up alot a yardage between the 20's but seem to get tougher in the "red zone" Tenn Martin was the only game that I thought the D was abbsolutely dominated especially by the running game. Yet as it goes, having Mario E. Brown covers a multitude of sins.

Special teams, We have a great punter I believe he is averaging around 49 per, but our coverage has been spotty.

It will be interesting to see how the team responds on the road after a close game with a D2. Perhaps Coach Patton should get advice from Chuck South and see how they handle it.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the update, adrian. It will be interesting to see if our run defense rebounds this week after a down week against W&M. Without Jason Horn we aren't quite as strong. Prior to this past week, no one had really run on us all year. But we obviously have given up big plays in the passing game.

Having Rashad in the lineup in evan a limited capacity should help open some things up for us. But he has been the one constant all season. It will be interesting to see if Lawrence can repeat his success from a week ago with more opportunities.

I dont even have to bring up our kicking woes. Its too early in the morning to be turning my stomach.

[bigsmooth]

i think Lawrence could handle a bigger load, and Zach has proved what hw can do in the backfield. it should be an interesting game!

[Sly Fox]

Here is the gameday story from Chris in the fishwrap:

Flames secondary can expect a lot of action

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 21, 2006

Liberty senior cornerback E.L. Estes won one battle and lost another last week against William & Mary.

He intercepted a third-down Tribe pass in the end zone, but he got beat by R.J. Archer on a 46-yard pass play, the longest Tribe completion of the day.

Other than that, the Flames' defensive backfield didn't get much work last week. Instead, William & Mary elected to try to run at the heart of Liberty's defense with tailback Elijah Brooks.

Expect that to change during today's game against Gardner-Webb at Williams Stadium.

Gardner-Webb has one of the Big South's top receiver tandems in Duvaughn Flagler and Kory Alston, and Austin Gaines provides GWU quarterback Devin Campbell with another trusty option.

Estes is aware of the strength of GWU's receiving corps. Today's game begins a crucial stretch for LU's secondary. Next week, the Flames will face Coastal Carolina and receiver Jerome Simpson, who ranks 19th in Division I-AA in receiving yards per game.

On Nov. 11, Liberty meets Charleston Southern and receiver Maurice Price, who has more catches per game than anyone in I-AA and ranks 13th in yards per game.

"They have a lot of speed at the receiver position," Estes said of Gardner-Webb's trio, which has combined for 69 catches, 890 yards and seven touchdowns. "And they've got a lot of experience. That gives them a lot of upside."

Gardner-Webb (4-2) has struggled to run the football. No Bulldog runs for more than 35 yards per game, and the team averages 129.5 yards per game, just a tick more than Liberty's Rashad Jennings (127.2 ypg) averages by himself.

So when the Bulldogs move the ball, it's usually through the air. And it often comes in chunks. Four receivers have receptions of 32 yards or longer.

"They've got the ability to make a big play, to create a quick score," Liberty coach Danny Rocco said. "Our philosophy is to prevent the quick score, and that's one of the reasons why we're playing well defensively."

Jennings, who didn't participated in team drills in the first three days of practice this week, was on the field in a red jersey (signifying no contact) for Thursday's practice.

Jennings said his right ankle, which was injured against W&M, wasn't bothering him. Earlier in the week, he said, the ankle hurt in "five different spots. Now it's down to one."

Rocco expects Jennings to play, but how much and how early will depend on game situations and how Jennings feels.

"It's getting better each day," Jennings said. "I'm going to be able to play through it, I think."

Though the Flames were thoroughly disconsolate after the William & Mary loss, Rocco made it clear early last week that the W&M game didn't fall into the "must-win" category. The reasoning: It wasn't a conference game.

Today's game, of course, is a Big South game, the league opener for both teams.

With only four league games on the slate, each one takes on an added importance.

With the next two league games coming against the defending conference co-champs (Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern), a loss today would put a serious crimp in Liberty's league championship aspirations.

"Our goal all along was to go out and compete for this conference championship," Rocco said. "I think everyone in this league is waiting to see how this football team stacks up against Gardner-Webb.

"Gardner-Webb has been a very formidable, very respected team in this league. They're always kind of in the hunt."

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

[Sly Fox]

Here are some previews from the Shelpby, NC fishwrap:

GWU gearing up for first Big South contest

Alan Ford - Oct. 18, 2006
alanford@shelbystar.com

All the prelims are over. Now it’s serious business.

The Gardner-Webb University Bulldogs got through the first half of their schedule with a 4-2 mark but now face Big South Conference competition for four consecutive weeks. The Bulldogs are aware getting off to a good start on the road this Saturday at Liberty University is essential to challenging for the league crown.

“Two years ago we went up there and lost after we’d been conference champs two years in a row,” GWU head coach Steve Patton said at his weekly press luncheon. “The bottom line is we have to be keyed up, it’s our first conference game. If we lose the first one, then you don’t control your destiny the rest of the way.”

Liberty has a whole new look this year. The Flames are 3-3 under new head coach Danny Rocco. Last week they lost a tough 14-13 game to a strong William & Mary squad.

“They want to line up and pound you,” Patton said of Liberty’s offensive scheme, “then hold you to three and out and go right back out there without your defense getting a rest. There offensive line is physical and their running game is where they’ve been better than they were (in the past).

“They also have the best running back (University of Pittsburgh transfer Rashad Jennings, No. 11 in NCAA 1-AA with 186 yards/game) we’ve seen so far.”

Jennings injured an ankle last week and if he’s unable to go, the Flames still have Zach Terrill. All he did was rush for 128 yards against the Bulldogs in last year’s matchup.

An area where GWU may have an edge is in special teams. The Bulldogs’ Michael Hanna has been one of the top punters in the nation this season and placekicker Hunter Smith has been dependable as well. Liberty missed three fields and an extra point in their one-point loss last week.

Patton feels GWU has to continue to improve on both sides of the ball to deal with the adjustments that opponents are making against the Bulldogs.

“Our offensive production is not where it should be,” he said. “Teams are adjusting to what we’re doing. They’re trying to take our receivers away. Now that they’ve seen us more on film, the more they can adjust to what we do.”

“They (Liberty) are 10th in the country in scoring defense. They don’t want to give up the big play. They’re playing more zone trying to contain you. They’ll mix up what they do up front. We’ve just got to get first downs and keep the ball.”

http://www.shelbystar.com/story.php?ID=17447

GWU opens Big South play at Liberty
Alan Ford - Oct. 21, 2006

When, Where: Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Va., 1 p.m.

Records: GWU Bulldogs (4-2), Liberty Flames (3-3)

Conference: Big South — this is the first league game for both

The series: GWU leads 3-1

Last year: GWU won 21-16 last year in Boiling Springs

Last week: The Bulldogs defeated Glenville State, 31-23. Liberty fell to William & Mary, 14-13

The coaches: GWU’s Steve Patton is in his 10th year; Liberty’s Danny Rocco is in his first year directing the Flames

About the ’Dogs: GWU has won two straight … Bulldogs are 2-2 in Big South Conference opener; GWU has scored in 35 straight games, tied for the longest such string in Big South history … GWU linebacker Mario E. Brown tops the Big South with 10.8 tackles per game … Receivers Austin Gaines (97) and DuVaughn Flagler (94) are approaching 100 catches in their careers … Defensive end Brian Johnston has recorded 18 QB hurries this season

About the Flames: Liberty is 2-3 all-time against the Bulldogs in Lynchburg … The Flames are first in the league in scoring defense and fourth in the nation (10.83 per game)

On the radio: WGWG-FM 88.3

http://www.shelbystar.com/story.php?ID=17502

[El Scorcho]

Here are some previews from the Shelby, NC fishwrap:

The series: GWU leads 3-1

About the Flames: Liberty is 2-3 all-time against the Bulldogs in Lynchburg …

Wait. So which is it?

[Sly Fox]

Small town writers get paid in fishheads so you can't count on much. As a result I'll cut him some slack.

[jmdickens]

It is funny since all they could do was throw the ball.....I didn't see a 4-deep set of running backs