[Sly Fox]

The shot to the head was perhaps one of the lamer calls you could possbly ever see. They showed the replay several times and there was practically no contact at all and it didn't appear to malicious in intent.

The ball throwing was a freshman mistake. Period.

I don't know anything about the band deal. But I'm guessing that had something to do with playing in an unfamiliar stadium and not knowing the routine.

[SuperJon]

I didn't have a problem with any of the stuff that happened. Personally, I could care less if someone ran through our band and stuff like that. I didn't see the shot to the head but we had more than one unneccessary roughness penalties.

I still go back to the fact we were dancing and celebrating after a tackle for a 4 yard gain while down by 20. I don't like that at all. There's a way to play and a time to celebrate and that's not it.

[Sly Fox]

No argument from this old hag who is unquestionably old school.

That said, Manny had a fantastic game today. He was all over the field. Hopefully some NFL teams get tape of this one because he showed a ton today.

[SuperJon]

The Wake guys were even talking about how good Manny played today.

I don't know if you guys could hear it, but Wake's announcer was rolling the R in Rojas. It was entertaining.

[Sly Fox]

I couldn't hear that ... excellente!

[SuperJon]

I hope our new PA system is like Wake's. We don't need it as big but there's only had speakers in one endzone like us. If we can use one that is smaller but that quality we'd be in good shape.

[Sly Fox]

An photpgrapher down in North Carolina posting some nice pics from today's game:

ACC Football Pictures by Gene Galin

Here are a couple of the better thumbnails from our perspective:

[Sly Fox]

Here are some of Chris' notes:

Liberty-Wake Forest player of the game and more

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 1, 2006

Player of the game:

Nate Morton, Wake Forest

The Deacon's 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior receiver gave the Flames fits all day and finished with six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown.

Play of the game:

Wake Forest, first and 10 on their own 45, final play of first quarter.

The Demon Deacons open the playbook and let quarterback Riley Skinner look for the deep ball. Skinner finds a wide-open Nate Morton for a 37-yard gain. Wake's Kevin Harris capped the drive with a 7-yard TD run, putting the Deacons up 17-0.

Quotable:

'What I saw was two guys who really wanted to fight and play their best football. Stevie Ray and Manny know in their hearts that they can play at a higher level and play in this league (the ACC).'

Danny Rocco
Liberty head coach

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

[Sly Fox]

Here is Chris' wrapup from Winston-Salem:

Liberty falls, but not in disgrace

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 30, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - For Liberty, this season has to be measured in progress, not necessarily in wins and losses.

Saturday's 34-14 loss to unbeaten Wake Forest was a perfect case in point.

Last September, the Flames played at Division I-A Connecticut and lost 59-0, and that's only because UConn coach Randy Edsall is a fairly classy guy. The Huskies could have won that game 100-0 if they tried.

A year later, the Flames found themselves in the same situation, a daunting game against a pretty good I-A opponent, and on Wake's homecoming no less. Had Liberty taken another 50-plus point beating, some might have wondered if the Danny Rocco era was all bluster and no substance.

But there Liberty was, down 17-7 midway through the second quarter after Brock Smith connected with Darnell Edwards for a four-yard TD strike. Unlike last September, the game wasn't over by the end of the first quarter. Liberty didn't just roll over.

"We knew this wasn't going to be a cakewalk," Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner said.

Liberty never had a legitimate chance to win, but it was never too far out of the game either. Smith threw an interception on the Flames' first drive, leading to a 52-yard field goal. A breakdown in punt coverage gave Wake the ball at the Liberty 31 on its next drive, and Kevin Harris scored two plays later on a 27-yard run. Skinner stretched the field on the next drive with a 37-yard pass to Nate Morton, setting up a seven-yard Harris TD run.

Wake led 17-0 with 13:08 left in the second quarter, and the outcome was pretty much decided.

"I expected our team to play better," Rocco said. "We put ourselves in a hole early in the game. On offense, we did not execute and deliver."

That's the competitor in Rocco speaking, the one who expects to win every game no matter the odds. The realist in him came out later, as he credited his team for fighting back once down, never allowing Wake to turn this thing into a laugher, and playing with the level of pride he had come to expect.

"I challenged the team in the second half, and I told them I wanted to see who was here to fight, who was here to win and compete and who was here to finish," Rocco said.

To wit, the Flames played the Deacons (5-0) to a second-half stalemate, allowing only one score to a Wake team that kept its starters in the game into the fourth quarter. Liberty (3-2) cut the margin to 34-14 in the closing minutes, as Smith found Edwards for a six-yard TD strike.

"I think we have plenty to build on," Rocco said.

Back to Connecticut. That beatdown so adversely affected the psyche of Liberty's team that the Flames lost 42-0 to Youngstown State the next week and 56-0 at William & Mary the Saturday after that.

The postgame mood at Groves Stadium was much more upbeat than it was in New England last September. Cliches like "moral victory" were left out of conversations, but Liberty's players certainly conceded the fact that Saturday's result represented significant progress in the program.

"The whole attitude has changed," said defensive end Jason Horn, who had two tackles, a sack and recovered a fumble. "We're happy. We're excited to go out and play games and practice. It's totally different than last year."

Smith, in particular, may have turned a corner. He broke the 200-yard mark for the first time this season and threw Liberty's first two TD passes of the year. He was at his best operating out of the shotgun, checking down receivers and making crisp reads. Wynton Jackson caught seven passes for 69 yards and Brandon Turner had four receptions for 84 yards.

The interception was the only real mistake Smith made.

"We didn't win the game, but we really got out of a slump passing-wise," Smith said. "We were throwing deep balls, driving down the field. It felt really good to get that (last) touchdown."

Wake Forest, which returned 10 defensive starters and was allowing an average of 76.5 yards per game on the ground, halted Liberty tailback Rashad Jennings. Coming off a 194-yard, three touchdown performance at Savannah State, Jennings found no running room against the Deacons and finished with 35 yards on 19 carries.

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

[Sly Fox]

And finally, its his random notes:

Wake smothers Flames' rushing attack

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 30, 2006

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The numbers looked similar.

Against Towson, Liberty running back Rashad Jennings struggled to an 18-carry, 27-yard performance in a 10-3 loss. Saturday at Wake Forest, Jennings carried the ball 19 times for 35 yards.

Liberty's offensive line struggled with Towson mix of eight-man fronts, stunts and blitzes. Wake Forest did some of the same things, but the Deacons' success had more to do with the caliber of athlete Wake has on its defensive line.

Jennings wasn't the first tailback to sputter against Wake - Mississippi ran for just 26 yards in a 27-3 loss to the Deacons in Oxford last Saturday, and only Connecticut has broken the 100-yard mark against Wake Forest.

"(The Towson) game, I think they had more people than we could handle and they were blitzing from all kinds of different angles," Jennings said. "But this game, that's a strong defensive line. I thought the offensive line played a lot harder in this game (than the Towson game)."

Jennings struggled with soreness in his right shoulder all week, so much so that he wore a red jersey in practice, signifying that he was off limits to tacklers.

Jennings said he took a painkilling injection in his shoulder before the game. With a week off, he hopes to be at full strength for the Oct. 14 game against William & Mary.

New weapon?

Darnell Edwards may be fourth on Liberty's receiver depth chart, but Jennings knew all about the senior's abilities.

"I mess with Darnell all the time," Jennings said. "I told him he's finally living up to his size, you know, 6-3, 215."

Edwards put that size to good use Saturday, scoring twice on a short fade route to the left side of the end zone. Both times, quarterback Brock Smith simply put the ball up in the air and let Edwards go up to get it against Wake's smaller defensive backs.

"We've practice that play a couple of times this week, just a goal-line fade," Edwards said. "I think we still have a long way to go in the passing game. We're going to be a whole lot better. We've got a good quarterback and good receivers."

Edwards missed the 2004 season after having surgery on his right foot. Last year, he was non-existant, accruing just three tackles on special teams. He didn't catch a pass all year. In 2003, Edwards caught 27 passes but didn't catch a touchdown.

Good impression

Liberty linebackers Stevie Ray Lloyd and Manny Rojas combined for 11 tackles Saturday, and Rojas forced a fumble and recorded two tackles for loss.

Wake Forest Jim Grobe was impressed with how quickly the pair flew to the ball and created unexpected havoc on the Deacons run game.

"They caught us with some blitzes with those guys and really caught us against some runs where they got us in the backfield," Grobe said. "Typically, that doesn't happen very often. When you're running linebackers through, we may not gain a lot of yards, but you're typically not getting through that front and getting into the backfield. I thought they did a really nice job. They got us out of sync several times."

Extra points

Liberty quarterback Zach Terrell played with a broken right pinky finger, which limited his ability to take snaps from under center all week in practice. He played in several series but took every snap from the shotgun Saturday and completed 2 of 4 passes for five yards. He broke the finger in practice Tuesday. ? Liberty hadn't allowed a first-half point in its first four games. Wake scored 27 before halftime. ? Liberty punter Ben Beasley had a career-best 44.7-yard average. ? Wake running back Kevin Harris scored the first two touchdowns of his career. ? Wake Forest is off to its first 5-0 start since 1987. That team lost four of its last six, finished 7-4 and didn't advance to a bowl game. The Deacons need just one more win to become bowl eligible this year.

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

[PeterParker]

Manny "Bruschi" Rojas.

Stevie Ray "The Hitman" Lloyd.

Love the fact that the defense is tenacious...nothing like a hard hit, forced turnover and poaching points on defense a la the Patriots.

[madmat]

Frustration in not being there, as I stayed with my daughter, on the high school homecoming court, and couldn't get espn360. But proud of the guys, because in talking to a particular player after the game, he relayed to me the team's disappointment in not beating this team. GREAT! That is the attitude that will project the transformation into a championship football team. Coach Rocco told them he was disappointed but not discouraged by the game. This is the right posture for future success.

On a technical note, the particular player I talked to said that the big difference in line play was that even though they got some good push vertically, the ability to rip off a block was much quicker and explosive at this level. My take is that as a group of athletes acclamates throughout the course of a game to a faster level, they will be much more prepared for the Bill and Mary's of the world. Coach Rocco's scheduling wisdom is revealing itself, I think.
He (player) also said that they would love to have a shot at Ole Miss, UConn, Duke and Syracuse. What a difference a year makes.

[texasballer41]

here's my take on the game. we have a few guys banged up right now, i know stevie ray has a hurt knee, pat dickerson was playing on a mcl sprain, ackley a separated shoulder, rashad a separated shoulder. I mean this is no excuse for losing, wake played a solid game, but think about once all our guys get healthy to play william and mary, its gonna be fun especially after this long 3 away game run. Our guys showed a lot of toughness yesterday and showed that if they would've played a little harder and mistake free they could have won that game.

[PAmedic]

somebody tell LANG to stop poaching my quotes for his little stories

I believe I made the UConn comparison 12 hrs ago

A little concerned about that shoulder of Rashad's- can he hit the holes at full steam? Separations don't just heal on their own. Well, they DO, but you know what I mean.

Thinking Zach should be fine, and again - if the we continue to see the Brock that showed up yesterday, that takes some pressure off Terrell having to perform BOTH jobs.

[auntieann]

I sure hope Manny get's some pro looks, he is sure that caliber player. He and Stevie Ray played with heart against WF

[Chris Lang]

Rashad told me the shoulder was bruised, not separated. Then again, they played mum all week on Rashad's status. I asked Danny about it Thursday and all he said was "he's fine." I asked him if it was his shoulder, and he said, "maybe."

I think the point was two-pronged:
1. They didn't want Wake to go after the shoulder
2. They didn't want to use it as an excuse of the running game struggled.

[Sly Fox]

Here are some notes and a link to Coach Rocco's postgame comments courtesy the SIDs:

Fanning The Flames: Football Notes And Listen To Danny Rocco's Post Game Press Conference

October 1, 2006
Winston-Salem, N.C.



A new feature this season on LibertyFlames.com is audio of head coach Danny Rocco’s post game press conference on its website. The day following all Flames football games coach Rocco’s comments to the media will be made available.

To listen to coach Rocco’s post game comments following the Flames 34-14 loss at Wake Forest please click here. (To download right click "save target as")

Fanning The Flames

• Saturday marked the first time this season that Liberty allowed first half points. Wake Forest scored 27 points on the Flames in the opening half who had held its opponents scoreless in the first half over the first four games of the season.

• Despite falling to Division I-A Wake Forest 34-14, this past Saturday, the Flames managed to score the most points against the Demon Deacons this season. The most points Wake had allowed was 13 vs. Duke. In addition, the Flames posted the third-most total yards this year vs. Wake (301) and passed for the second-most in game (216) against the Wake defense. The Flames’ rushing game gained a respectable 85 yards on the ground, bettering the Deacon’s season average of 76.5 entering the contest.

• Despite allowing a season-high 34 points against Wake Forest, the Flames still rank fifth in the nation in scoring defense as Liberty has allowed an average of 10.20 points per game.

• Wake Forest finished the game with three quarterback sacks, marking the most sacks that Liberty has allowed this season in a game. Over the first four games of the season, Liberty had allowed just two quarterback sacks. The Flames now rank 18th in the nation in quarterback sacks allowed per game (1.00).

• Rashad Jennings was held to his second-lowest rushing total of the year as the sophomore rushed for just 35 yards on 19 carries against Wake Forest. Despite the low figure, Jennings still ranks 15th in the nation in rushing (115.4 yards per game) and 11th in scoring (9.60 points per game).

• The Flames had their best showing in its last 11 games against I-A opponents in a 20-point loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. Liberty’s previous best in the last 11 games were a pair of 28-point losses coming at the hands of Kent State (2004) and Akron (2002). The Flames have now posted all-time 1-11 record against I-A opponents in the history of the program.

• Manny Rojas moved into a tie for fourth place on the Big South’s all-time career tackle list with six stops against Wake Forest. Rojas is now tied with Mario Williams (Gardner-Webb) at 299 career tackles. Rojas needs just 10 more tackles to become the Big South’s all-time career tackle leader as VMI’s Justin Huggard finished his career with 308 tackles.

• Darnell Edwards caught both of Liberty’s touchdown passes against Wake Forest on Saturday, marking the first and second touchdown receptions of the senior’s career.

• Brock Smith threw for a season-high 211 yards (fourth highest in his career) against Wake Forest as he completed 15-of-25 pass attempts with two touchdowns. Smith became the first quarterback to throw for a touchdown against a I-A opponent since Kyle Painter against UCF in 2002 (seven games) and his 211 yards marked the most passing yards by a quarterback against a I-A opponent since Biff Parson threw for 321 yards against South Florida in 2001 (eight games).

• Ben Beasley finished the Wake Forest game with a career high in punt and kickoff yard averages as the senior averaged 44.7 yards on seven punts (313) and 64.0 yards on three kickoffs (192). The 313 punt yards marked the second highest of his career, including a career-best 58-yard punt in the first quarter.

• Jason Horn finished with the Flames’ lone sack of the game against Wake Forest, giving him a conference-best 5.0 sacks on the year (for 40 yards). Horn ranks tied for seventh in the nation in sacks per game and ninth in the country in tackles for a loss in a game (1.80).

• The Flames take next weekend off before hosting William & Mary at Williams Stadium on October 14 in their annual Homecoming game. The Flames have posted a 22-11 record in the history of the program in Homecoming contests.

http://libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID= ... 10&TeamID=

[HarrisburgFlame]

I didn't see the game but I think we are all in agreement that this team has made significant strides in 2006. These guys really compete. I was at the Towson game and was very impressed with the grit they showed. Let's not be too hard on Rashad in terms of his "big game struggles". In the Towson game their front was slanting and they were bringing the run blitz from all over. Our OL struggled a bit getting any push or even creating a seam for Rashad to hit against Towson. My sense is wake is pretty good upfront and the same situation applied against Wake.

I think we have moved toward settling on a QB and that guy is Brock. I like having Zach take a few snaps at cretain times during the game. if nothing else, he does ad an extra dimension and the threat of him lining up at QB requires opponents to prepare for that. I'm not a fan of rotating QBs but mixing Zach in for a series or two is perfectly OK in my book.

Defensively, we are light years better than 05. I am really excited about the W&M game in two weeks. Last year I looked at YSU and W&M as games where I hoped none of our guys got killed and we could get to the BSC part of the schedule half way healthy. This year I really feel we have a chance to beat W&M. The key is to compete on every snap, continue to make improvements by selling out at practice, and hopefully play our best football through October and into November. I do think we are well coached - no doubt - and the attitude is one of winners. I really think the W&M game could be the key to propelling us to a big year. We beat those guys and we might not lose again in 06.

At the end of the day, looking back to 2005, no one can argue at this point that we aren't a better program at this point in time. Hats of to Coach Rocco, his staff and most of all these kids.

[PAmedic]

We beat those guys and we might not lose again in 06.

and when that happens, look for Flames Club memberships to skyrocket, with a carryover to MBB and all other sports.

GO FLAMES!

[LU'sbestmanager]

We beat those guys and we might not lose again in 06.

with a carryover to MBB
GO FLAMES!

that sounds good. lol

[FlamingYalieWahoo]

I'm changing to actually make it a question: Do you think the Wake game will be a recruiting boost? Its one thing to play good, hard fought games against I-AA opponents but to turn out a respectable performance against an opponent from a major I-A conference (remember those scores get more attention-getting spots whereever you read your sports) that should be a good drawing card for some and a tipping point for good recruits who are on the fence or might not have given LU a look to begin with.