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Flames Enjoy Successful Friday Practice to Open Spring Season
The Flames work on the punting game during Friday afternoon's opening practice of the spring season at Williams Stadium.
March 23, 2007
Lynchburg, Va.
The Liberty Flames football program opened up its annual spring practice session, Friday afternoon, at Williams Stadium with its first of 15 scheduled practices during the season.
“I think today’s practice went very well,” remarked head coach Danny Rocco. “We had a very good first day. Just like I thought coming in, we are so far ahead of where we were at this point a year ago.”
On a warm, sunny day in Lynchburg, Rocco and the rest of Liberty’s coaching staff spent much of Friday’s two-hour session working with several specific points of emphasis on offense, defense and special teams.
The quarterbacks focused on throwing the ball downfield more often, and the offense also worked on the two-back running game for situations when Zach Terrell and Rashad Jennings are on the field together.
Defensively, the Flames took a lot of reps in their base 3-4 set and the Cover 2 pass coverage. The punting game was the special teams emphasis of the day, including both punt protection and punt blocking.
The coaching staff was pleased with the way quarterbacks Brock Smith, Spencer Landis and Stephen Oehlschlaeger were throwing the long ball on the opening day of practice. Rocco was also excited about the physical shape his players are in after winter conditioning.
“Our kids are in good shape and kept a good tempo throughout practice,” explained Rocco. “Our redshirt freshmen showed up well, and I expect to see a lot of competition this spring.”
The Flames return to the FieldTurf at Williams Stadium tomorrow morning for their first of four Saturday morning workout sessions during the spring. The spring season’s second practice is scheduled to begin at 10:50 a.m. and should conclude around 1 p.m.
Pinigis helps his new/old teammate
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
March 24, 2007
Eddie Pinigis has a keen appreciation for what Marshal Ausberry is going through.
Last August, Pinigis was the Virginia transfer trying to feel his away around in his first couple of weeks on Liberty's offensive line.
Ausberry has had a little more lead time than Pinigis heading into his first practice as a Flame. The senior transferred to LU in January after graduating from UVa. Pinigis transferred midway through Liberty and Virginia's fall camps.
Still, Ausberry reasons, it doesn't hurt to have an old friend around to make the transition smoother.
"Just understanding what he's going to do and what I'm going to do, it helps a lot," Ausberry said Friday after Liberty completed its first spring practice at Williams Stadium. "Him being here a season before I got here, he's been able to explain some things and translate it from my UVa. mindset to my Liberty mindset, and how we execute the plays here."
Ausberry, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound guard, and Pinigis, a 6-8, 295-pound tackle, will likely start together on the right side of Liberty's offensive line, just as they did for a short period of time in Charlottesville.
"He's a tough player," Pinigis said. "I remember when I was up there, he was hurt the whole season (2005), but he just toughed it out. He's also a very smart player, too."
Ausberry is excited to have another opportunity to play alongside his former Cavalier teammate.
"He's honestly one of the toughest people I've been around in my life," Ausberry said. "When the heat of summer comes and the rigors of camp hit, he puts his best foot forward and works as hard as he possibly can."
Zach, take two
When former William Campbell quarterback Danny Broggin started fall camp last year, he knew he wasn't ready for the rigors of Division I football.
"I came in last year and I told them my body wasn't ready," Broggin said. "But (the coaches) told me I had no excuse this year, to be ready to play."
Since then, Broggin put on 15 pounds of muscle and studied LU's playbook inside and out.
He'll back up Zach Terrell at the "A-back" position, a hybrid running back/wide receiver spot.
The position suits Broggin well. As a quarterback, he helped William Campbell win the Group A, Division 1 championship in 2005. He also was an excellent scrambler with speed in the open field and sometimes lined up as a slot receiver.
"I feel like I can run pretty good routes, but I'm not as tall as a regular receiver," said the 6-foot, 205-pound Broggin. "I feel like I can run the football, but at the same time I'm not as big as a normal running back.
"They swap me in, and I just go out and do the best I can."
Extra points
The most amusing moment of the first day of practice came when Virginia Tech transfer Kent Hicks intercepted a pass along the sideline and chucked the ball into the stands to some unsuspecting fans. ? Liberty hits the field again this morning for a 10:50 practice. The Flames will practice three times next week: Wednesday and Friday at 4:15 p.m. and Saturday at 10:50 a.m. All practices are at Williams Stadium and are open to the public.
madmat wrote: He'll back up Zach Terrell at the "A-back" position, a hybrid running back/wide receiver spot.Williams is strictly a running back.