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LU Notebook: Bad reads bottle up ground game

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 19, 2006

Plenty of factors prevented Liberty's running game from getting on track in last Saturday's 10-3 loss at Towson.
The Tigers' eight-in-the-box defensive philosophy wasn't the biggest of those factors.

After watching film of the game, LU coach Danny Rocco noticed two problems.

The offensive line didn't make the correct reads at the line of scrimmage and failed to pick up on when Towson's defense front stunted and blitzed.

That led to the Tigers getting superior penetration and stopping Flames running back Rashad Jennings, who was held to 27 yards on 18 carries, before he could get past the initial point of contact.

"If you can get to the eighth man, you're still going to get three, four or five yards," Rocco said. "The most disappointing thing was that we never got through the line of scrimmage. We never handled the movement of the down guys.

"You've got to play better with your eyes. We had a number of tips to alert us when they were going to slant and blitz, and we didn't show the awareness we needed to."

Rocco also pointed to a lack of burst from Jennings early in plays.

"I didn't think Rashad ran particularly hard in the beginning," Rocco said. "He got better in the second half."

Rocco doesn't expect that to be a recurring problem.

"(Monday night) at practice, he ran as hard as I've ever seen him run," he said.

QBs note

Quarterback Brock Smith missed several easy throws early in the loss to Towson, making Rocco hesitant to move away from the run game when Jennings was struggling.

Both Rocco and Smith pointed to a lack of focus. Smith said he might have been too hyped up before the game, accounting for his happy feet in the pocket and the overthrows.

"The first half, I wasn't poised in the pocket," Smith said.

Rocco said Smith remains the unquestioned starter for Saturday's game at Savannah State. Backup Zach Terrell, who played one series and completed 4 of 5 passes at Towson, will again see action on a couple of series.

Dickerson out

Starting safety Pat Dickerson walked around Liberty's football operations center Tuesday with a brace on his right knee and he has been ruled out of Saturday's game due to a MCL strain.

Dickerson's status for the Sept. 30 game at Wake Forest is uncertain.

Chris Rocco (LCA) and Pierre Penn (Heritage) will battle for the starting safety spot opposite Ryan Greiser and Danny Rocco will decide who will get the nod later this week.

Extra points

Liberty, which has allowed 17 points in three games, is ranked No. 17 in Division I-AA in total defense and fifth in run defense. Defensive end Jason Horn is tied for third in tackles for loss (2.5 per game) and tied for ninth in sacks (1.3 per game). ? Liberty's hockey team, which moved to ACHA Division I this season after competing for the national championship in ACHA DII last year, opens its season Friday night at 7:30 against Md.-Baltimore County at LaHaye Ice Center. The Flames and Retrievers will also play Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

[LU'sbestmanager]

Dickerson's out? uh oh

[Stevev]

Injuries were bound to happen at sometimes. As a team we have been extremely lucky so far as to no serious injuries. Dickerson is probably out for 1-3 weeks but hopefully not a serious season-ending injury.

[PAmedic]

and I don't think there is a HUGE drop off in overall talent when you consider how deep we are on D.

[Chris Lang]

Dickerson was running at practice today, wearing a sleeve on his right knee and using resistance bands. I don't think he'll be out all that long. He looked pretty good.

[texasballer41]

dickerson adds a lot of attitude to this defense. i hope whoever fills in for him is ready to hit because he has come up with a few big hits in the last few games that got the team goin. hopefully not out too long

[Chris Lang]

I'll have an answer after practice today as to who will start in Pat's place. I suspect that Rocco and Penn will probably split the time pretty evenly, no matter who is first on the depth chart.

[BJWilliams]

GMTM could verify this for me but I know Chris Rocco has been known to lay some pretty vicious hits even from the safety position.

[TIMSCAR20]

Chris Rocco is a smart player and is gonna be a great safety IMO but I don't see him hitting folks at this level like he did at LCA. At least not right now. Everyone is so much bigger and stronger when you make that step to the next level of play.

[Chris Lang]

Not to mention the teams LCA plays, for the most part, would struggle to win one or two games in the Dogwood District. The level of competition is awful.

[Chris Lang]

Penn will start; Rocco will be the No. 1 in the nickel package. They'll both see a lot of playing time.