[thepostman]

i'm not going to give game by game...but i think at best we'll be 10-2....we are good...just not 12-0 good...sorry BJ

[JK37]

My pick: 11-1. Loss at Youngstown. Much closer at Western than some think. I went back and forth over Elon, bu at home and for the playoffs, I went with my heart...

[SuperJon]

Thanks for that JDUB and Mr Lang. Id hate to be the one solely deemed responsible should that not happen.

I do think that there are a couple of swing games this year: @YSU, @CCU (only becuase we have never won there), vs. SB , vs. Lafayette and vs Elon to close out the year. I think that we win those games we could be looking at a very special season.

How can half of the Division I games be swing games? You basically just said, "You know, if we win our first eight games, we've got a great shot at winning our ninth."

[JK37]

Thanks for that JDUB and Mr Lang. Id hate to be the one solely deemed responsible should that not happen.

I do think that there are a couple of swing games this year: @YSU, @CCU (only becuase we have never won there), vs. SB , vs. Lafayette and vs Elon to close out the year. I think that we win those games we could be looking at a very special season.

How can half of the Division I games be swing games? You basically just said, "You know, if we win our first eight games, we've got a great shot at winning our ninth."

He's got a serious point there, BJ. There's an unwritten rule that there can only be one or two games touted as "swing" games on a schedule. Why not just say, "If we win all of our games, it will be a special season."??? DUH!

[BJWilliams]

Ahh...I guess I wasnt aware of that unwritten rule. Mea culpa for sure.

Edit: Post fixed. I do agree that the WCU game is going to be a close one though

[Sly Fox]

And I now get where you guys were going with the reverse of the curse. Us Old Hags move a little slower sometimes.

[Chris Lang]

I don't think you all are giving Stony Brook and Lafayette much credit. Both are capable of coming to Lynchburg and winning. The games at YSU, WCU and CCU are all very difficult.

Don't care what WCU was. They will be improved.

I'm aware of the home streak, but LU hasn't beaten anyone of note during the streak, save for a fluke of a 9-2 CSU team and a below .500 Coastal team.

[Cider Jim]

Sounds like Mr. Lang thinks we'll be lucky to finish above .500 next year. And he's a professional.

[SuperJon]

Sounds like Mr. Lang thinks we'll be lucky to finish above .500 next year. And he's a professional.

I don't think he said anything near that. It's just not going to be easy. We're playing better teams this year. When you look at it, it breaks down like this:

Tusculum - North Greenville - NGU is better
Shippensburg - Glenville St - doesn't matter
W&M - WCU - Western with a new coach could be better, they're just playing Florida St the week before us
Toledo - Youngstown St - hate to say it, but that could be just as tough of a game.
St. Francis - Lafayette - Lafayette is head and shoulders better than St. Francis. This game is much tougher than last year.
Elon - will be much improved even from what they were last year.
Coastal - will be on their home field with a QB that has at least an ounce of athleticism. Will be harder.

Take all of that and add in Stony Brook and it shows that this year isn't going to be nearly as easy as people think. Yes, we should have a very good team. Yes, we are poised to be very good. However, we haven't won anything yet. Until we do, we can't go around saying things are sure-wins and predict massive blowouts to SoCon and Patriot League schools.

[Chris Lang]

Cider, that's not what I'm saying at all. Who of note has Liberty beaten on the road during Rocco's tenure? The two road wins last year were against Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb, both of whom finished below .500.

In 2006, the only road win was at Savannah State, which really has no business even being Division I.

So what makes me think that LU, which is replacing nearly the entire linebacking corps, can just waltz into Coastal, Youngstown State or even Western Carolina and win easily? Not saying it can't be done, but to blindly pick a win there is a tough sell for me.

LU should be the favorite in all seven home games, but Lafayette , Elon and Stony Brook are much tougher opponents than the teams that have traveled to Williams the last two seasons.

8-4 or 9-3 is a very realistic projection.

[madmat]

I agree with Chris, we definitely will not finish 12-0.

[Mixitup]

There is absolutely zero chance that Liberty goes 12-0 this year. None. Zilch. Nada.

I sure hope the guys playing the games don't have this attitude. They go on that field to win every game. I think there chances of a special season are legit. These guys have learned to become winners. I'm sure the seniors would love to go out on a high note. Remember there freshman year? (1-10) This is the third year under Rocco's system. They lost 5 games the first year and three the second. I say one loss at the most.

[SuperJon]

There is absolutely zero chance that Liberty goes 12-0 this year. None. Zilch. Nada.

I sure hope the guys playing the games don't have this attitude.

Players always have a different mentality than a journalist.

[Sly Fox]

Journalists make a living off of our cynicism. We alumni live off of our overly optimistic expectations.

For me, I find my heart & head in a constant struggle.

[madmat]

If we win 12, we will play another game, and perhaps another...so we can't finish 12-0

[madmat]

What do both coaches and dad's live off of? Expect to win every game!

[BJWilliams]

I redid both my posts in this discussion because I do think that this will be a tough year but there is definitely the parts there to do big things. I really think that beating YSU would go a long way toward this being a very special season. Stony Brook and Lafayette are new looks and I definitely think both these games are gonna be good. The fact that they will be at home definitely works in our favor. If we can win both of those games this team is going to be so high with confidence going into that last portion of the schedule that itl'l be like trying to stop an 18 wheeler going downhill I think.

[thepostman]

come on BJ...stick to your guns...simply because everybody thinks your crazy doesn't mean you have to change your posts...that's just silly....

[jcmanson]

Take all of that and add in Stony Brook and it shows that this year isn't going to be nearly as easy as people think. we can't go around saying things are sure-wins and predict massive blowouts to SoCon and Patriot League schools.

Come on. Only one person that I know of has said anything like that, let's not make it out like it's a bunch of us.

[BJWilliams]

That is true...I just decided to take a page from one of the guides I usually read and turned a couple of those games to swing games. I really do think that this has the makings for a season that could really surprise some people (and even meet some pretty lofty expectations). Beating YSU on the road (even if they are down next year) will do nothing but help our chances. I seriously think that if we're undefeated going into Stony Brook and Lafayette at home, we could be looking at two HUGE games attendance-wise and as I said before, we win both those games and this team's confidence will be so high that 4 of the last 5 (Elon isnt gonna roll over for us by NO means) we could end up winning those games in the same dominating fashion we did at the end of last season.

[Chris Lang]

Absolutely players have different opinions than objective observers. And they should go into every game believing they are going to win. What's the use in playing if you don't?

I really like how this schedule is set up: playing Western Carolina on the road, then getting a bye week, then getting the huge test at YSU. Not sure I would have liked it the other way around. Danny has scheduled smart in his three years here, never scheduling above his team's head like Karcher did in his last couple of years. I think the team will be ready for the challenge, but those three games (WCU, YSU, CCU) are total swing games in my mind. I can easily see them going either way.

[SuperJon]

Chris, how do you think WCU playing Florida St the week before us changes things?

[jcmanson]

those three games (WCU, YSU, CCU) are total swing games in my mind. I can easily see them going either way.

I agree. If we go 2-1 in those 3 this could set up to be a very special season. However I wouldn't be surprised if we were 1-2.

[Chris Lang]

Depends on how beat up they get. Florida State isn't the Florida State of old in terms of sheer size and athleticism, and FSU has a tendency to play down to its competition at home (see Troy 2006, El Cid in 2005, at least for a half).

Then again, Liberty went up and got worked by Connecticut in a game they had no business playing and then got humiliated by YSU the next week in 2005, so that sort of scenario could be in play.

WCU does have a recent history of matching up with the big boys, playing against Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Cincinnati in the last three years, so the players are used to seeing that sort of competition. But there's a new coaching staff, so who knows?

If they get worked something like 62-0, they'll probably be a little emotionally devastated. Say they lose 34-14 like LU did to Wake two years ago, and I would think they'd actually be a bit uplifted by that sort of result.

[JK37]

Depends on how beat up they get. Florida State isn't the Florida State of old in terms of sheer size and athleticism, and FSU has a tendency to play down to its competition at home (see Troy 2006, El Cid in 2005, at least for a half).

Then again, Liberty went up and got worked by Connecticut in a game they had no business playing and then got humiliated by YSU the next week in 2005, so that sort of scenario could be in play.

WCU does have a recent history of matching up with the big boys, playing against Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Cincinnati in the last three years, so the players are used to seeing that sort of competition. But there's a new coaching staff, so who knows?

If they get worked something like 62-0, they'll probably be a little emotionally devastated. Say they lose 34-14 like LU did to Wake two years ago, and I would think they'd actually be a bit uplifted by that sort of result.

FSU certainly is not the team of old, but the real punishent will be on the lines. If WCU can make it out alive on its OL and DL, I'll be surprised.