[SuperJon]

Frankly I am a little surprised we weren't better prepared for what VMI ran against us. Our offensive coordinator ran the same schemes at Rice before coming to campus. I'm sure the scout team was well informed. But as long as we pick up the victory (on the road no less) I'll gladly take it.

We were right there, ready to make the tackle and they made one move to get past the first guy. It's not that our guys weren't prepared for it, they just ran it very well. The option is so hard to defend.

[bigsmooth]

a good win by the flames, but i did not like the way we finished from all the accounts. steve, get over the fact that vmi is not talented. they pushed evry big south opponent to the brink, and that opinion is tough to defend. overall a great yer, and it could have been better...im so looking forward to next year. coach rocco and the boys deserve tons of credit, and thanks to the seniors for what they have done for liberty football.

[PAmedic]

may I just point out that Greiser is a STUD. (And I mean that in the most hetero of ways.)

12 tackles, 9 solo? are you kidding me? WOW, this kid is gonna have quite a career.

Apart from that 2-3 game skid, mid season- this defense has really grown up this year. They may be one of the hardest-hitting teams I have seen, period- certainly of any at Liberty.

VMI was as good as I feared- kinda like last year- losing all those in-conf games by such a small margin; I know its funny to admit this- but the BSOUTH is full of parity- and we can play OOC as well. I know CCU likes to take all the credit for winning OOC but we did fairly well this year too- Towson and W/M could've easily gone the other way and WILL in the future, and the Wake game was respectable. W. Carolina- don't even need to discuss that one

The only REAL downer is that debacle agains G-W. shoulda woulda coulda, but can you imagine us talking 7-4 and a convincing 2nd place finish?

in short- the Rocco era was pretty much all we hoped for- man, I'm stoked for 2007!

[fsn32]

a good win by the flames, but i di not like the way we finished from all the accounts. steve, get over the fact that vmi is not talented. they pushed evry big south opponent to the brink, and that oprion is tough to defend. overall a great yer, and it could have been better...im so lookign forward to next year. coah rocco and the boys deserve tons of credit, and thanks to the seniors for what they have done for liberty football.

Did GMTM log in under Smoothie's account?

[Sly Fox]

Its funny, I was thinking the same thing. That was very un-smoothie as far as spelling goes.

[PAmedic]

a good win by the flames, but i di not like the way we finished from all the accounts. steve, get over the fact that vmi is not talented. they pushed evry big south opponent to the brink, and that oprion is tough to defend. overall a great yer, and it could have been better...im so lookign forward to next year. coah rocco and the boys deserve tons of credit, and thanks to the seniors for what they have done for liberty football.

Did GMTM log in under Smoothie's account?

Its funny, I was thinking the same thing. That was very un-smoothie as far as spelling goes.

yes- nicely done.

hmm, wonder what beverages were on hand at the UVa game

[jcmanson]

Great season by the Flames! I listened to this game on the radio. A year of experience and adding muscle to these guys, and we will be the favorites in the Big South next year. Yeah, CCU are the champs until we beat them, but they are coming to our house. We will win that game.

[HarrisburgFlame]

First and most important my son and I had a wonderful day in Lexington. Toured the campus, Lee Chapel and ate in the mess hall with the cadets. All in all the VMI folks we met before the game were fantastic. He got a chacne to meet a bunch of the players after the game. They all made a point to come over and say hi. Major props to Pat Dickerson - my son's favorite player - for coming over and talking to Ben for a while. Ben has been a Pat fan since the hit against WCU.

Second, we sat on the VMI side so we could be up high and see things better. A little note for future travels to Lexington - the fans around us were complete thin-skined, frustrated, angry, confrontational, I can't say the rest here. I will admit I get a bit vocal but it is all pro-LU, nothing negative or vicious toward the other team. They couldn't take that.

Third, I was glad when the scoreboard read 0:00. VMI is tough to defend. The option, misdirection, etc. - gimmick offenses are tough in that you don't see them week in and week out and they require a great deal of preparation in a very limited period before the game. hats off to VMI for not tanking it when they got down early in the first half.

Fourth, great win for LU on the road. 6-5 is what I said before the year started. Hats off to Coach Rocco for changing the attitude of this team. Next year the expectations will rise and hopefully we can deliver once again.

Fifth. what a great year for FlameFans and our tailgates. I throughly enjoyed those get togethers.

Sixth, where was the band for VMI?

Seventh, now let's get focused on the hardwood.

[SuperJon]

They traveled to Wake and Coastal instead of coming to the closest game of the season because it was the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

I thought you said you were going to sit over there. I didn't feel like walking over there wearing red and searching for you.

[BJWilliams]

Yeah, because of the time frame of the game Dr Kerr didn't want to bring the band along. We stuck around the extra day for the Hofstra game 3 years ago and needless to say THAT was interesting...expecially with all the folks and their different travel plans and what not. Now looking at our preliminary schedule for next year Im seeing maybe one good travel date with the other being a non-game trip. last year we went to Allentown PA for a Marching Band festival but I think Dr Kerr wants to go bigger than that next year (like he wanted to do this year)

[Libertine]

First, I want to say that I'm going to have to reverse some of my opinions on VMI. What I saw on Saturday was an extremely disciplined team on the field and the effect seemed to carry over into the stands. This year's VMI squad was not as athletic as some of the teams they've fielded in the last few years but this group was SO much better. They were disciplined, they acted as a cohesive unit, and they absolutely refused to quit even when facing a 3-TD deficit. They're also tougher. Mizzer was knocked out of the game with a concussion and came back in for their last drive.
They switched back and forth from the triple-option to the wishbone offenses nearly prefectly. That's tough to do b/c you're changing your assignments and alignments almost entirely.
In the stands, the Corps was very involved in the action on the field, extremely supportive and exhibited none of the bored behavior I had learned to associate w/ the Keydets.

I think all of that is a testament to what Jim Reid is doing up there. They may have lost 10 straight but they are a much better group than they were under McCombs and, if not for what Rocco has done here, Reid would still be my vote for Big South Coach of the Year. VMI has gotten a very good coach for themselves and, if the Keydet Club has about three years of patience in them, they're going to be pretty good. The struggle for VMI, I think, will be next season when they will still be very young but will also have lost Mizzer, Wilson and 3/4 of the D-line to graduation.

[PAmedic]

I won't be too sorry if they don't play us as tough next year!

did NOT like the way they came back on us in the 3rd quarter. But gotta admit, they REALLY are improved.

I'll say it again, the BSOUTH has done a nice turnaround this season- not there yet, but certainly a big improvement.

[Libertine]

One more thing: as someone who watches a LOT of I-AA football...excuse me, Championship Subdivision football, I am willing to say that, right now, the across-the-board talent level in the Big South is on par with the talent level in the Southern Conference. Obviously, App and Furman still out-class us as they do the most of the rest of the country but, top to bottom, if we were to pit any random Big South team against any random SoCon team, I would expect that game to be competitive. That's not something anyone in this conference could have said with a straight face even two years ago.

[PAmedic]

good point LIB.

still want a navy blue hat like yours

[Sly Fox]

With CSU now close to fully-funded and VMI showing improvement under Reid (he's more than lived up the billing coming over from Richmond) this league won't be a laughingstock much longer. It'll be interesting to see how PC does next fall. I think CCU & CSU will be down a little next year, but not significantly. I agree on the SoCon comparisons.

[PAmedic]

Its gonna be a bit of a rough adjustment for PC, I'm afraid. I hope they don't get too discouraged, too quickly.

And I mean no disrespect with that comment- but ask St Pauls and Glenville how tough it is to play up a division.

[bigsmooth]

WOW.....Indeed un-smoothie like with my spelling. i will take my 40 lashes for being like GMTM