[jcmanson]

What's everyone's predictions on this season?

Tusculum W
Shippensburg W
W&M W
Elon L
St. Francis W
Toledo L
Charleston Southern W
Presby W
Coastal W
VMI W
GW W

That's 9-2 (4-0 Big South) Conference Champs
We just miss out on playoffs

[FlamingChick]

What's everyone's predictions on this season?

Tusculum W
Shippensburg W
W&M W
Elon L
St. Francis W
Toledo L
Charleston Southern W
Presby W
Coastal W
VMI W
GW W

That's 9-2 (4-0 Big South) Conference Champs
We just miss out on playoffs

I'm not very familiar with Toledo, but I'm not sure I agree with you on Elon. I saw them play last year against Wofford and I was not impressed at all. The QB struggled A LOT during that game, but he's moved on now and there's a Redshirt Freshman coming in with a pretty impressive record from his prep years, so we'll see what he brings to the table. They are similar to LU in the fact that they have a pretty young coaching staff, so it should be interesting game.

[SuperJon]

Jon, Elon has 36 rookies this year. They have a 6:1 rookie:senior ratio. Just pointing that out.

[thepostman]

Tusculum W
Shippensburg W
W&M L
Elon W
St. Francis W
Toledo L
Charleston Southern W
Presby W
Coastal W
VMI W
GW W

9-2

I have them losing to William and Mary because they seem to have our number...I hope I am wrong...I really do....plus I don't want to be to optimistic and have them winning 10 games....the thing is I believe every game on the schedule is winnable...including Toledo...but this is what I'm going with

[Stevev]

I am going with 10-1 to be on the optimistic side of things. We should loose to Toledo but could very well give them a struggle. I am a little worried about Elon and William and Mary. W & M is not predicted to do that well in the A10 but are very well coached so don't expect them to just lay down and are capable of upsetting anyone on any given day. According to earlier posts it looks like Elon is young and lost their QB so that should favor LU with our experience level. I think that we will beat Coastal and G/W but could be close games. God forbid we loose to any one else on our schedule.

[SuperJon]

W&M was 3-8 last year, and shouldn't be any better this year.


W&M and Elon aren't good automatically because of their conference.

[Chris Lang]

I'll say this now. The fans should be tremendously disappointed if this team isn't at least 4-1 heading into Toledo.

William & Mary has a lot of question marks -- QB, RB, DL, DBs. The Tribe is experienced and strong on the OL and at LB and has a great receiver in Joe Nicholas. That game will tell a lot about the progress LU has made. Hofstra (2-9) last year, Villanova and Maine all went into Zable and won.

Elon is young. And this is a team that lost 44-7 to El Cid at home to end last season.

Both games are very, very winnable. And if Liberty wants to sniff the playoffs, it probably has to win both.

[thepostman]

W&M was 3-8 last year, and shouldn't be any better this year.


W&M and Elon aren't good automatically because of their conference.

really?? thanks for pointing that out..

SJ....sometime you need to realize you don't know it all...a team can have another's number...we were better then them last year and still lost....I am not saying we are going to lose that game for sure, but I was looking for at least one more loss because i thought one loss would be way too optimistic...its our first road game and so I thought why not that game....

but thanks for pointing out that they aren't good because of their conference....its furthered this discussion.....

I think we will be 9-2...I really have no clue where that second lost will come from..but maybe you could enlighten us

[SuperJon]

Tusculum - They run a 3-3-5. We should be able to run on them like crazy. It should be over by halftime.

Shippensburg - They're even worse.

W&M - They were 3-8 last year and should be just as bad last year. We lost to them during our horrible slump last year and still shouldn't have lost.

Elon - They have a crap load of rookies. They play South Florida and WV Weslyan before they play us so we really won't know what they have before the game. They have two rookies battling for the QB spot and lost their best defensive player.

St. Francis - Don't know much about em except they're not that good.

Toledo - They're an FBS school. Depending on how we play leading up that game, I seriously think we can compete with them. We have 3 OL and an RB who have actually gotten playing time on a higher level than Toledo. We have the potential to pull an upset that game, but I'm not saying we will.

Chuck South - They lost their leading passer and leading receiver. They released a depth chart, and on the receivers it was 3-wide, 2-deep. Of those six players, they caught a total of 32 passes last year. One of those players caught 31 of those 32 passes. They claim they have 10 players returning on defense, but their coach said a few days ago that some of those guys are in serious jeopardy right now.

Presby - They have 8 road games. By that time in the season, it's likely they'll be completely beaten up. They'll be able to compete, but we should win.

Coastal - Our hardest game outside of Toledo. They have a lot of unknowns, but unlike a lot of people on this board, I think they'll be a very good team this year, especially by November when we play them. Jamie Childers will likely be their QB, if not him then Ren McKinnon. Either way, it'll be a mobile QB. Luckily, we've got Vince Redd who is the fastest and biggest linebacker in the league. A few other things going for us: They are 2-4 in big road games over the past two years. They also have a very bad record on artificial turf. The past two years have been decided by a total of 8 points. This game should be close, should be very fun to watch, but I think we'll come out on top. For our Coastal lurkers, that's not a knock on Coastal, it's just I think we have a better team this year. Coastal has a pretty easy schedule leading up to our game (3 home games vs Chowan, Presby, and VMI) so they'll likely be putting in some stuff for us during those three weeks and should be completely ready for us. With that being said, I still think we pull it out in a very good game. The winner of this game wins the conference.

VMI - It's a home game and senior day. Jim Reid is doing a good job at VMI, he just doesn't have the bodies right now. Hopefully he'll turn that team around in the coming years, but I don't think they have the bodies to match with us this year.

Gardner-Webb - G-W has a good team. No one will deny that. They have some good players on defense and have a potent offense (when they don't throw a bunch of INTs). The knock against G-W is their schedule. In their first six games, they have to go to Ohio (FBS), Mississippi St (SEC), Appalachian St (FCS two-time champs), and Wofford (top 5 FCS). Add to that the fact that they have to go to Coastal the week before us, and I don't think they'll have much left. They'll likely be 5-5 (2-1 conference) coming into the game, so they'd want to play spoiler and grab a share of the conference championship, but I don't think they'll have the bodies left to play that spoiler.


I think we win a definite nine games. I think we have a great potential to win ten games, but we'll have to play good, mistake free football to do that. We are the most hated team in conference, and everyone guns for us every week.

If we win nine games, we don't go to the playoffs. Hands down, enough said. There's no chance.

If we win ten games, there's a chance for the playoffs. It's not guaranteed. It will all depend on how soundly we won our games, and how the teams on our schedule do this year. If we beat G-W and they pull an upset over Wofford, that will be a much better win than if they don't. If Coastal can pull upsets over Furman, GSU, and/or JMU, and we beat Coastal, then that will look GREAT for us. If they don't beat any of those, the win won't be as impressive. It is very possible that we win ten games and don't make the playoffs. We will have a great case, but without the auto-bid, and without a great schedule, it's hard to say it's a guarantee.


With all of that being said, I plan on being at all eleven, and hopefully all 12, 13, 14, or 15 games. It should be a fun ride, and it all starts in a little over three weeks.

[SuperJon]

really?? thanks for pointing that out..

SJ....sometime you need to realize you don't know it all...a team can have another's number...we were better then them last year and still lost....I am not saying we are going to lose that game for sure, but I was looking for at least one more loss because i thought one loss would be way too optimistic...its our first road game and so I thought why not that game....

but thanks for pointing out that they aren't good because of their conference....its furthered this discussion.....

I think we will be 9-2...I really have no clue where that second lost will come from..but maybe you could enlighten us

I wasn't saying just you. A lot of people on here think SoCon or CAA when they think Elon and W&M. They don't realize that the Big South Conference is as good as the teams in the middle of those conferences, and is better than the bottom of those conferences. W&M was picked last in their division, and Elon was picked 6th in their conference (out of 8 teams). I hate making excuses, but the biggest reason we lost to W&M last year, even bigger than the kicking situation, was Rashad Jennings getting hurt in the 3rd quarter. He had 186 yards through the first 5 minutes of the third quarter and was averaging over 8 yards a carry. Zach and Terron did great filling in the rest of the game, but Rashad was running all over them. We would've scored AT LEAST another touchdown had he not gotten horse collared and won the game. We blame the kickers, but that tackle on the sideline was what ruined that game for us.

[jcmanson]

I realize we SHOULD win against Elon and probably should win all of our games except for Toledo. I just am hoping we get to 10-1 and believe we can, but I have to think that there is a chance that we will lose a game outside of Toledo. I hope not, but there is a chance. I don't know what game it will be but as I was looking at the schedule the only one I could justify was Elon. W&M is about the same as Elon in terms of how good of a chance we have to win, but I think we will be really pumped up for that game after last year and put on a good showing. May be alittle bit of a letdown for the next week which is Elon. Also, I think for both Coastal and GW we will be ready to play, and won't let them play spoiler on our run to the conference championship.

I'm hoping for 10-1, and I think we have a great shot in getting there. I just want to kind of stay level headed before we get into the season. I don't want to have 10-1 as a benchmark for what we should do in order for me to be satisfied with the season because that is no room for error.

I'm just so ready for the season to start, I can't wait. I know I will make it to all 6 home games, I'm going to W&M, probably Elon, and maybe GW. Not going to make it to Toledo or Charleston, so that's 8 maybe 9 games I will make it to. If we make the playoffs, well we will worry about that then .

[BJWilliams]

Here is how I see it:

Tusculum- W (should win this one by at LEAST 3 TDs...I don't see any records being set that night though on the points side) 1-0

Shippensburg- See above 2-0

William and Mary- We really showed we can hang with them last year and I think we will get over the top this year 3-0

Elon- We haven't played them since 2004, and as SJ so astutely noted, they lost some pretty big stuff since then. I think we nail them hard 4-0

St Francis (PA)- They were not very good last year and something tells me they could be a step above the first two, but not much else even though they are a I-AA/FCS squad 5-0

Toledo- Alright boys, this is one of the defining games of the year for us. Toledo is a I-A/FBS team so the common idea is that they should just win this one in a walkover. Thing is that this is not the same team that lost to Toledo 49-3 4 years ago. I think there is the possibility for an upset here (maybe some time on College Football Live). Im not saying we will win this one but I would not be disappointed. 5-1

Charleston Southern- I am aware that we have one or two Buc supporters lurking in our ranks but these guys lost two of their biggest offensive threats, and the vaunted defense got lit up for 34 points by us last season. Im calling this one a win. 6-1

Presbyterian- The Blue Hose have shown well in DII and have had success against Big South teams but I-AA/FCS is a definite step up and I think this will be a learning year for the conference's third SC team. 7-1

Coastal Carolina- Another defining game for the Flames. the last time CCU came to Lynchburg, the game went almost 3 and a half hours, and triple overtime with the Chants coming out on top. considering the fact that the last 2 meetings have been decided by a total of a touchdown and a 2 point conversion, and the fact that Coastal has some seriously new pieces that they are working in, I think the Flames finally come out on top this time. 8-1

VMI- VMI won the last time they came to Williams Stadium, but ONLY because we missed TWO late field goals...that ain;t happenin this time. Not to mention, its Senior Day. 9-1

Gardner-Webb- This game will probably be for the Big South Conference title. LU has only beaten Gardner Webb once since the conference was established. This year it becomes two and LU clinches its first ever Big South football title although itll be a tough one since its in Boiling Springs. 10-1

[Fumblerooskies]

10-1
Playoffs
Win first round for 11-1
Finish 11-2.

Take it to the bank.

[wwhs65]

SuperJon, what are you smoking? Do you gamble as bad as you predict? I want some of that action on you running all over

Tusculum. My prediction is that you won't have 50 yards rushing at half time. I'll be easy to find at the game so let's get

together and I'll let you pay for my trip!! How does ( 0 - 1 ) sound?

[Fumblerooskies]

wwhs65?

WonderWhatHe'sSmoking? It will be a thrashing and a long trip back to the hills of TN.

[Cider Jim]

Agreed, Fumble. We'll have 50 yards rushing before wwhs65 finishes his first hot dog.

[wwhs65]

Fumble, good name. I don't live in TN. and that bank your talking about went bankrupt today and closed!!

[SuperJon]

This guy's too dumb to reason with.


Oh yea, and as for my bad predictions, I predicted our final record last year exactly.

[wwhs65]

SJ, Have an MBA , majored in business and minored in common sense. Also played at a true D I school, Go " Noles ". See you Sept. 1. Bring a towell!!

[jcmanson]

SJ, Have an MBA , majored in business and minored in common sense. Also played at a true D I school, Go " Noles ". See you Sept. 1. Bring a towell!!

You a funny guy! I do plan on bringing a towel because it should be pretty hot out there. Once I'm done wiping the sweat off my face you can borrow it!

If you played at FSU, why you on here talking smack to Liberty?

[SuperJon]

Carson Newman averaged 193 yards rushing on the year, and ran for 225 in the final game of the season against you.

You let an NAIA team within 7 points of you.

St. Paul's threw for 243 yards on you. They had less than 60 yards total offense against us.

Wingate threw for 274.

L-R, Presby, and Cat U averaged 120 yards on the ground, and I'm pretty sure none of them had a running back who put up over 600 yards in the Big East as a true freshman, or a running back who put up 240 yards in his first game as a freshman against ETSU.

You're picked 5th in your conference.

Just to remind you at what I told you earlier when you said our OL should be worried:

Hmm, our O-line. Yea, let's see. The four guys that I know for sure are starters:

6'2 285
6'6 310
6'8 295
6'6 320
6'2 275


Incoming freshmen with a great chance to have significant roles:

6'6 300
6'8 290


Did I mention that three of those starters are I-A transfers, two from ACC schools and one from an SEC school?

Tusculum might be good, and I give them credit. But saying our O-line should be worried is laughable.

Just comparing:

Tusculum DL - average height: 6'2 average weight: 276
Liberty OL - average height: 6'6 average weight 296

I think we'll hold our own.

Also, to add to that, the smallest guy on our line also just set a school record for bench press at 525. Our RB also put up 395 and ran a 4.5. No big deal or anything.

We also have an NFL strength coach along with a weight room that makes anything Tusculum has look like a high school. We'll be better conditioned and much stronger than Tusculum. Our WR, TE, QB, OL, FB, and RB all set position records on different lifts this summer.

We haven't even gotten into the fact that your quarterback couldn't even practice during spring ball because he was involved in a stolen credit card controversy, or the fact that we have a linebacker who is 6'6 with DB speed that played in the ACC.

Are there games I'm worried about? Definitely. Is Tusculum one of them? Not at all.



Oh yea, anyone else find it funny that a DII supporter is talking crap about another school being Division I?

[wwhs65]

I'm just a DAD not a coach. You will find out soon enough. You failed to mention the teams held to MINUS rushing or to

under 100 yards. You don't want to get into a stat. race with your record. D II is a lot better than most people realize. I'm

not talking crap as you say, I'm just responding to rthe CRAP that you guys are talking!

[SuperJon]

There was no one you held to minus rushing. You held 5 or 6 teams to under 100 yards, but gave up 125+ passing yards to 3 of them.

The teams we played last year (aside from SPC, GSC, and SSU) were so much better than the teams you mentioned it's not even funny.

We ran for 84 yards on the ACC Champs, I think we can run on you guys, not to mention we threw for another 216 on em. If we can rack up 300 yards of offense on them, there's just a small chance we can move the ball against a team that was 5-5 vs Division II competition. And really, let's be serious here, only one of your losses was even halfway close (27-23 to Newberry). The other four were by an average of more than 14 points.

[El Scorcho]

Liberty is a lot better than most people realize.

Fixed that for ya.

[Fumblerooskies]

Sweet...a DAD. I like that. You have permission to SMACK to your heart's content. We have a local kid going to Tusculum to play baseball next year....and you're right...D-II can hang...for a while. But we are practically IA- instead of IAA with our stud transfers.