Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. Your comments on games, recruiting and the direction of the program as we move into new era.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke, Class of 20Something

By ballcoach15
Registration Days Posts
#585972
ODU's only athletic accomplishment worth noting is I believe they won NCAA women's basketball title 40 or 50 years ago, when very few schools had any emphasis on wbb.
To me, ODU is like Longwood and Radford. Know more as a girl's school.

Marshall is a well established football program, within driving distance of Lynchburg.

I'm sorry, but I can't get excited about ODU football
By ATrain
Registration Days Posts
#585973
ballcoach15 wrote: October 11th, 2019, 2:42 pm ODU's only athletic accomplishment worth noting is I believe they won NCAA women's basketball title 40 or 50 years ago, when very few schools had any emphasis on wbb.
To me, ODU is like Longwood and Radford. Know more as a girl's school.

Marshall is a well established football program, within driving distance of Lynchburg.

I'm sorry, but I can't get excited about ODU football
So you're still stuck in Gretna in 1955 - got it.
By ATrain
Registration Days Posts
#585974
FLAMEfromBAMA wrote: October 11th, 2019, 11:14 am Absolutely nothing about Marshall is compelling to me. My list of rival candidates in no particular order are as follows: ODU, VT, UVA, ND, and BYU. Of course that's just my personal list for us as an independent. My dream is for all the conferences to go through a major restructuring where there are only three power conferences and we end up in a division with UVA, VT, NC, Duke, Louisville, and Kentucky with consistent matchups vs ND and BYU as well. Then rivalries develop naturally as results on the field flesh out regularly. I'll sit back and keep dreaming...
Marshall is compelling to me because they're an established FBS program with a name that most people in the region recognize. It takes about the same amount of time to drive from Lynchburg to either ODU or Marshall. Quite honestly, I'd love to have both Marshall and ODU on our schedule regularly.

PS - I love your dream, and I am right there with you wishing it would happen.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#585978
ballcoach15 wrote: October 11th, 2019, 2:42 pm ODU's only athletic accomplishment worth noting is I believe they won NCAA women's basketball title 40 or 50 years ago, when very few schools had any emphasis on wbb.
To me, ODU is like Longwood and Radford. Know more as a girl's school.

Marshall is a well established football program, within driving distance of Lynchburg.

I'm sorry, but I can't get excited about ODU football
As a longtime resident and follower of ODU, there are quite a few 757 residents who would beg to differ but like ATrain said, I guess you're just stuck in 1955
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By Purple Haize
Registration Days Posts
#585987
ballcoach15 wrote: October 11th, 2019, 11:31 pm Sounds as if ODU is what's called a commuter school.
They have dorms. Besides, what’s wrong with that?
By ATrain
Registration Days Posts
#586185
ballcoach15 wrote: October 11th, 2019, 11:31 pm Sounds as if ODU is what's called a commuter school.
So are George Mason and VCU - yet their athletic programs have enjoyed significantly more success than ours, especially VCU.
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By FLAMEfromBAMA
Registration Days Posts
#586190
They've made the NCAA tournament 17 times, advanced to second round more than half of those times, have made it to the Final Four, and were ranked the second most valuable men's basketball team in Virginia by the WSJ at a valuation of $56.9 million. Additionally, since 2009 they have beaten ten Top 25 teams including Kansas, UVA, and Oklahoma. They also were a #2 seed in one Tournament in the 1980s. In regards to tennis they have reached the NCAA Tournament in 18 of the last 19 years, finishing among the Top 25 twelve times and being the runner-up once. Other teams have been so so, but I believe ATrain's point still stands.
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By jinxy
Registration Days Posts
#586192
In basketball yes. Vcu basketball is on the map nationally now as a top 5 mid major. Odu, nobody outside va knows them. You guys are arguing apples and oranges but have fun.

I wouldnt trade the tracjectory of those 2 schools best sports combined for ours.
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By BlueBlood
Posts
#586286
I find myself watching more SunBelt / C-USA games this year. Mountain West / AAC used to be my cut-off. I think knowing that LU is trying to fight its way up through the FBS ranks has created some curiosity for me regarding the other lower-level FBS teams.

Troy had an announced crowd of 23K last night. I highly doubt that many were actually there. ESPN's crowd shots generally only showed small sections of the crowd in close ups and did not pan back to show the stadium. That's usually a sign that the stadium was not close to full (stadium size is 30K).

I will say that I think a bigger issue (more so than attendance) for LU may be the lack of TV exposure. The SunBelt package with ESPN does clearly give those schools exposure which we do not get. I'm in no way advocating SB or C-USA membership, just acknowledging their TV exposure advantage.

Quality wise, the LFSN/ESPN+ broadcasts have been fine. Once its up and running on my TV, there is nothing embarrassing about the product at all. The NMSU FloSports game was another story. I had a friend at my house that day and nothing screamed "irrelevant football" more than that broadcast. My friend had heard my stories of LU hosting Syracuse and the nice Buffalo game (his daughter went to Temple, who lost to Buffalo), and I think that he was buying into the fact that Liberty might be on its way toward at least semi-relevancy. That broadcast killed any positive vibe he had and is now his mental picture of LU football.

The problem with even high-quality broadcast streaming is that while you and I will stream it, you won't find it on at a sports bar and your friends aren't giving it a casual/curious look. No one sees a little bit of it while scanning stations and has a chance to be intrigued. We are literally the only ones even giving it a glimpse.

The back-end of the season should be better TV wise. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the Rutgers game on BTN and then the BYU and UVa games will hopefully escape streaming. BYU says it will be an ABC/ESPN product - I just don't know if that includes a possibility of it being on EXPN3/+.
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By sstaedtler
Posts
#586308
I think lack of TV exposure is a big problem. I just started getting into Liberty football and am from PA. I watch on my computer on ESPN Plus and FLOFOOTBALL but it is difficult. The Rutgers games is the first one on TV but is on a non HD TV channel that many people wouldn't even go to, not the main Big 10 Network. These games against New Mexico and New Mexico State are killers...schools out west that aren't big draws.

What's better though, joining some lower conference where you won't be on TV anyway, or playing some ACC or SEC teams every year, games that are far more likely to be covered? For instance, I think next year having an opener at VA. Tech, I could see a network wanting to cover that.

Making a bowl game is big this year just for the fact that the team would play on national television and get exposure.
Last edited by sstaedtler on October 17th, 2019, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By BlueBlood
Posts
#586310
sstaedtler wrote: October 17th, 2019, 3:15 pm The Rutgers games is the first one on TV but is on a non HD TV channel that many people wouldn't even go to, not the main Big 10 Network.
Oh geez, I did not realize that. I may end up streaming this game too (will see which quality is better - overflow channel or streaming from BTN app)
By tyndal23
Posts
#586319
sstaedtler wrote: October 17th, 2019, 3:15 pm I think lack of TV exposure is a big problem. I just started getting into Liberty football and am from PA. I watch on my computer on ESPN Plus and FLOFOOTBALL but it is difficult. The Rutgers games is the first one on TV but is on a non HD TV channel that many people wouldn't even go to, not the main Big 10 Network. These games against New Mexico and New Mexico State are killers...schools out west that aren't big draws.

What's better though, joining some lower conference where you won't be on TV anyway, or playing some ACC or SEC teams every year, games that are far more likely to be covered? For instance, I think next year having an opener at VA. Tech, I could see a network wanting to cover that.

Making a bowl game is big this year just for the fact that the team would play on national television and get exposure.
If you have an old tv that doesn’t load espn + - Walmart has Roku tv’s for next to nothing - I don’t even have cable in bedroom and stream everything on it Netflix amazon Hulu - etc. I often put it next to cable tv if there is another game going I want to see and have iPad streaming a 3rd game. I would love to see how many eyeballs LU gets - I guess it’s top secret data...
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By BlueBlood
Posts
#586325
Agree that streaming is easy and LFSN does a quality broadcast. if I have it up and running before you you walk in the room, you probably wouldn’t even know that it’s not an ESPN cable broadcast.

My issue is exposure. Broadcast/cable TV brings more exposure. People who stream usually know exactly what they want to watch and make an effort to watch it. You aren’t getting any casual/new/accidental observers. You aren’t getting the sports fan that switches back and forth between games. Sports bars aren’t streaming games. Diehard LU fans (and opponents) are the only ones watching.
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By BlueBlood
Posts
#586327
My current evening is actually a good example. I’m mostly watching Chiefs/Broncos, but I’m also watching a little bit of Louisiana/Ark St. I would not be doing that if the game was on + or FloSports.
By tyndal23
Posts
#586329
Speaking of ARk St vs Louisiana -LU giving up just over 200 rushing yards to Louisiana not looking so bad, Bayless just padded his lead on AGG another 150 yards tonight
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By LUOrange
Posts
#586331
The LFSN Crew is outstanding. Having watched many other games on other networks and schools, I'd say our quality is vastly superior. Heck, our crew is as good and many times better than many of ESPN's crews. And the fella that does the post-game radio show on the Journey sounds like he's straight from Sportscenter.
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By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#586502
I have updated the attendance post. A bit disappointing for homecoming, imo. It turns out that this was our #3 highest attendance, behind Syracuse and FCS Hampton. Did Hampton fans (in-state) put that game over the top?
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By alabama24
Registration Days Posts
#589424
alabama24 wrote: September 26th, 2019, 10:18 pm I asked about attendance in another thread and thought I would create a new thread with each game in one place. I tried to format this but the forums don't allow for it!

2019

08/31/19 21,671 Notes: Home opener against Syracuse (ranked in top 25 at time). Single game tickets $45.
09/14/19 14,584 Notes: Game against Buffalo after an 0-2 start & getting blown out in both games.
09/21/19 18,944 Notes: Parent's Weekend against an in-state FCS team (Hampton). Followed a big win against Buffalo.
09/28/19 17,101 Notes: CFAW, very hot at game time!
10/19/19 18,657 Notes: Homecoming. A bit disappointing!
11/30/19 18,674. Notes: Game held over Thanksgiving break.

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