- October 11th, 2006, 8:40 am
#34078
LU Notebook: Defensive coordinator coached at William & Mary
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 11, 2006
William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock isn't surprised at the success Liberty's defense has had this season.
The Flames enter Saturday's game against the Tribe ranked No. 3 in the country in scoring defense, having allowed 10.2 points per game. Only San Diego (9.6) and Cal Poly (9.7) have been better.
Current Liberty coordinator Tom Clark held the same job at William & Mary between 2001 and 2003. In 2001, the Tribe won a share of the Atlantic 10 championship, had one shutout and held six of 12 opponents to 20 points or fewer.
Laycock complimented Clark's preparedness and expects nothing less from his former colleague Saturday at Williams Stadium.
"They're very sound on defense and they're very well coached," Laycock said. "He's just a very solid, thorough football coach who looks at every little thing. He's going to be completely prepared."
Where's Luck?
After partially tearing the ACL in his left knee in the season finale at Norfolk State last November, Liberty tight end Chris Luck has slowly worked himself back to 100 percent.
The Liberty High grad caught 24 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown last season, but he hasn't been as successful in 2006. Luck has just two catches for 25 yards in LU's first five games. He's also dropped a couple of passes.
"I know I can play better," Luck said. "I need to do that now."
Luck had similar numbers in the first five games last season, when he caught four passes for 24 yards.
He broke out against Gardner-Webb in week nine, grabbing eight passes for 66 yards. The next week against Charleston Southern, he caught five passes for 71 yards and a TD.
"I have higher expectations for Chris than the way he's performed," LU coach Danny Rocco said. "He certainly is a talented player who could become a very valuable weapon in this offense."
Role reversal
Last season, Liberty limped into Williamsburg at 1-2 after losing 59-0 at Connecticut and 42-0 at home to Youngstown State.
So the Flames were ripe for the 56-0 beatdown William & Mary administered at Zable Stadium.
This season, it's Liberty who is playing well and William & Mary who is struggling. The schedules have something to do with that. Liberty's wins have come against two DII teams (Saint Paul's, Glenville State) and one awful I-AA school (Savannah State).
The Tribe got its one win against woeful VMI and lost games to Division I-A Maryland and A-10 rivals Hofstra, Maine and Massachusetts.
Any thought that Saturday's game at LU will provide the Tribe with a breather hasn't crossed Laycock's mind.
"I think our guys are intelligent enough that when they see a good team on film, they know it," Laycock said. "I think they'll look at this film and see that Liberty's a good team. There's no question about that.
"Also, when they look at the film, they'll see some of the mistakes that we've made and the things we haven't done. We've got to get better. That's the bottom line. We've got to improve as a football team."
Extra points
Liberty officials are anticipating a record-breaking crowd Saturday at Williams Stadium. The current attendance mark is 12,750, set in 1989 when LU hosted Towson. Close to 15,000 are expected for the William & Mary game, and the athletics department is looking into getting portable bleachers to accommodate the extra fans. ? Rocco said guard Britt Stone (knee), who missed the Wake Forest game, is healthy and should be able to play Saturday. Linebacker Nick Hursky (appendix removal) is questionable. Everyone else is healthy.
- By Humble_Opinion