Final – Liberty 48, Presbyterian 14

– Chris Lang

This is the Flames team I expected to see coming out of camp. Explosive on offense, opportunistic and dominant on defense. Liberty easily handled a Presbyterian team that had some quality wins under its belt — at VMI and Coastal Carolina.

Look in tomorrow’s News & Advance for reaction from the game, plus notes on Brock Smith, Dominic Bolden, Brandon Turner and Kent Hicks.

Also, I should note that Liberty’s volleyball team just notched its 10th straight sweep … quite impressive considering the 10th sweep came against Winthrop, which entered the match on a 63-match Big South Conference winning streak. LU played in front of the biggest crowd in Big South Conference history, as more than 1,500 fans packed the Vines Center. It should also be noted that the Big South tournament will be played at Liberty next month. I’m sure LU and Winthrop will hook up once more with a berth to the NCAA tournament on the line.

Halftime: N.C. State 20, Virginia 17

– So much for my prediction.These teams almost outscored what I thought would happen in the first half. Neither team is playing good pass defense. Though the quarterbacks aren’t nearly of the same quality, it resembles the 51-37 game in 2003, when Philip Rivers out-dueled Matt Schaub.

– Jameel Sewell is keeping both teams in the game. He has two crucial interceptions but has thrown for 217 yards and two touchdowns. His career high is 234, set in the Maryland game this year and last year.

– UVa’s wideouts exist! Maurice Covington has three catches for 45 yards. Cary Koch made a heck of a grab on a touchdown. And even Chris Gorham got in on the action.

– The shovel pass is the best play in Virginia’s arsenal. Mikell Simpson goes for 12 yards every time the Cavaliers run it. He scored a touchdown on the play today.

– Chris Cook is in uniform but not playing. Virginia sure could use him. Other than a few good plays by Ras-I Dowling, UVa’s secondary is getting torched. N.C. State QB Daniel Evans has 195 passing yards and two touchdowns. On the second one, Vic Hall and Jamaal Jackson had a mix-up, leaving the Wolfpack receiver wide open for the score.

– Total number of chicken wings consumed: 10. I would have had more, but I had to blog.

Virginia-N.C. State pre-game

– Andy Bitter

It’s a perfect day for football here in Raleigh. I have covered dozens of basketball games at the nearby RBC Center but never a football game at the adjacent Carter-Finley Stadium and I must say I’m quite impressed. The press box amenities are as nice as I’ve seen, the food was great (note to SIDs: you can’t go wrong with chicken wings) and the stadium seems like it’s just the right size for a good college football crowd.The only gripe might be that the press box is a bit high up. It seems like we’re hovering over the field. That’s why they invented binoculars, though.

On to the game:

– I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: The Cavaliers could win all of their remaining games and it would not surprise me. And they could lose all of their remaining games and it would not surprise me. It’s impressive how they’ve been able to pull out all of these close wins, but sooner or later it seems like it’s going to catch up with them. Then again, sometime teams like this just get on a roll. Look at Wake Forest last year.

– Cornerback Chris Cook (Heritage) is in uniform for the first time in three weeks. He sprained his left knee against Middle Tennessee. Though UVa’s secondary did pretty well in his absence, his return gives them a pretty good boost.

– Tight end Tom Santi (ankle) supposedly made the trip, but he’s not on the field with the other tight ends in pre-game warm-ups. (Edit: He is now on the field. Must have been putting some last-second tape on his ankle).

– I wonder what Tom O’Brien thinks about leaving Boston College now? It obviously was a move up in salary and to a region that prizes college football more (does anyone in Boston even know there is an undefeated college football team in town?). But he was in Chestnut Hill for 10 years and finally got it to the point where it was going to be on the national stage, and then he leaves. That’s got to hurt to see those BCS rankings every week.

– Prediction: I’ll go with the Cavaliers in a close one (do they know any other way?) 23-19.

Halftime – Liberty 20, Presbyterian 0

– Chris Lang

Couple of quick notes:

I’m sure Liberty coach Danny Rocco will be reminding his team of a couple of facts at halftime. Last year, the Flames led Gardner-Webb 17-0 at halftime here and fell apart in the second half, losing 27-24. Last week, Presbyterian trailed Coastal Carolina 24-0 just before halftime, but rallied to win 41-34 in overtime. This game is far from over.

The Flames held Presbyterian to 86 yards of offense in the first half, the first time all year the Blue Hose have been held under 100 yards in a half. Presbyterian lost quarterback Tim Webb to what appears to be a serious injury. I’m fairly certain I saw him being loaded into a stretcher and taken off in an ambulance just before halftime.  Grayson Mullins replaced him.

Also, my Kentucky-Miss State prediction isn’t looking very good right now. Never take advice from me if you’re trying to bet a parlay in Vegas.

Liberty-Presbyterian pregame

– Chris Lang

The rain that has drenched the Lynchburg area for the past few days certainly left Liberty’s athletics personnel a bit nervous. The school expects a record crowd for today’s homecoming game against Presbyterian, but wet weather certainly would have put a damper on that crowd projection. But it’s 67 degrees and sunny at Williams Stadium, and folks are lined up along University Drive watching the parade, so it seems like the game should go off without a hitch.

On to the game itself. This is LU’s first chance to get a look at Presbyterian, which is transitioning from Division II to Division I and won’t fully be eligible to compete for a Big South Conference title until 2011. That hasn’t stopped the conference from mercilessly promoting the Blue Hose. PC coach Bobby Bentley is included on the league’s conference call every Tuesday, and PC’s basketball coaches were included at media day earlier this month. (Not shockingly, I don’t think a soul talked to them.)

Everyone I talk to says PC will be a fantastic addition to the conference. It’s a small school located in Clinton, S.C., but that doesn’ t mean it has no chance of being successful in FCS football. Just look at Wofford, a 1,200 student school up the road in Spartansburg that regularly is in the mix for the Southern Conference championship. PC puts money into its football program and wants to be a good Division I program. It already has nicer facilities than long-time league member Charleston Southern. But as was noted last week, so do many high schools in the Southeast.

Matchup to watch today: Presbyterian quarterback Tim Webb vs. Liberty’s ball-hawking secondary. The Flames do give up a ton of yards. But they also produce takeaways, and the five interceptions last week against Charleston Southern’s quarterbacks were the difference in a 50-10 blowout. Liberty will need to disguise its coverages and to confuse Webb, much like the Flames did last week to Eli Byrd. There were times that Byrd thought he knew what kind of coverage he was throwing into, but the Flames added a wrinkle or two to throw him off, and it worked.

Prediction time: I forgot to post my pick last Saturday before the game. I must have been distracted by the ‘nana pudding. I was going to pick something like LU 34, CSU 20, so I would have been way off anyway.

Today’s pick: Liberty 45, Presbyterian 34. Liberty has been dominant lately on offense, and I just don’t see any way a smallish Blue Hose team can slow the Flames down. If Presby is going to win, it’s going to have to score at least 50 points.

Other Big South picks:

GARDNER-WEBB 37, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 14. Byrd makes too many poor decisions, and CSU’s small offensive line won’t be able to the slow the pressure of GWU’s active defensive ends and linebackers.

VMI 31, COASTAL CAROLINA 27. Tough times in Conway. You just don’t bounce back from blowing a 24-0 lead at home like the Chants did last week. VMI is hungry and dogged and won’t go away, and Coastal gives up a ton of yards on the ground. The Keydets’ option should thrive.

And Top 25 picks, just for fun:

#1 Ohio State 24, #25 Penn State 16. Buckeye defense comes through.

#4 Arizona State 29, #21 California 20. Sparky keeps the Bears tumbling.

#12 USC 37, #5 Oregon 20. Don’t trust the Ducks. And Pete Carroll loves being an underdog.

Rutgers 31, #7 West Virginia 30. Judge Ito kicks the game-winning field goal.

#9 Kansas 30, Texas A&M 20. Mark Mangino celebrates with a cheesburger.

#10 South Florida 41, #23 Connecticut 20. Karma UConn. Karma. Cheaters never win.

#11 Florida 16, #18 Georgia 14. Gators win at the cocktail party.

#13 Missouri 61, Iowa State 7. ISU spent after playing Oklahoma tough.

#14 Kentucky 45, Mississippi State 16. Andy Bitter really wants Andre Woodson to quarterback the Minnesota Vikings next year.

North Carolina State 24, #15 Virginia 20. The Cavs’ string of luck has to run out at some point.

Tennessee 30, #16 South Carolina 14. A precipitous fall for the Gamecocks.

#19 Texas 54, Nebraska 10. The Bill Callahan farewell tour continues.

#20 Michigan 27, Minnesota 21. Gophers tend to play Wolverines tough for some reason. Neither team could beat the FCS school on its schedule, with Michigan losing to App State and Minnesota falling to North Dakota State

#22 Auburn 30, Ole Miss 17. Auburn should have beaten LSU last week.

Liberty-Presbyterian pregame

– Chris Lang

The rain that has drenched the Lynchburg area for the past few days certainly left Liberty’s athletics personnel a bit nervous. The school expects a record crowd for today’s homecoming game against Presbyterian, but wet weather certainly would have put a damper on that crowd projection. But it’s 67 degrees and sunny at Williams Stadium, and folks are lined up along University Drive watching the parade, so it seems like the game should go off without a hitch.

On to the game itself. This is LU’s first chance to get a look at Presbyterian, which is transitioning from Division II to Division I and won’t fully be eligible to compete for a Big South Conference title until 2011. That hasn’t stopped the conference from mercilessly promoting the Blue Hose. PC coach Bobby Bentley is included on the league’s conference call every Tuesday, and PC’s basketball coaches were included at media day earlier this month. (Not shockingly, I don’t think a soul talked to them.)

Everyone I talk to says PC will be a fantastic addition to the conference. It’s a small school located in Clinton, S.C., but that doesn’ t mean it has no chance of being successful in FCS football. Just look at Wofford, a 1,200 student school up the road in Spartansburg that regularly is in the mix for the Southern Conference championship. PC puts money into its football program and wants to be a good Division I program. It already has nicer facilities than long-time league member Charleston Southern. But as was noted last week, so do many high schools in the Southeast.

Matchup to watch today: Presbyterian quarterback Tim Webb vs. Liberty’s ball-hawking secondary. The Flames do give up a ton of yards. But they also produce takeaways, and the five interceptions last week against Charleston Southern’s quarterbacks were the difference in a 50-10 blowout. Liberty will need to disguise its coverages and to confuse Webb, much like the Flames did last week to Eli Byrd. There were times that Byrd thought he knew what kind of coverage he was throwing into, but the Flames added a wrinkle or two to throw him off, and it worked.

Prediction time: I forgot to post my pick last Saturday before the game. I must have been distracted by the ‘nana pudding. I was going to pick something like LU 34, CSU 20, so I would have been way off anyway.

Today’s pick: Liberty 45, Presbyterian 34. Liberty has been dominant lately on offense, and I just don’t see any way a smallish Blue Hose team can slow the Flames down. If Presby is going to win, it’s going to have to score at least 50 points.

Other Big South picks:

GARDNER-WEBB 37, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 14. Byrd makes too many poor decisions, and CSU’s small offensive line won’t be able to the slow the pressure of GWU’s active defensive ends and linebackers.

VMI 31, COASTAL CAROLINA 27. Tough times in Conway. You just don’t bounce back from blowing a 24-0 lead at home like the Chants did last week. VMI is hungry and dogged and won’t go away, and Coastal gives up a ton of yards on the ground. The Keydets’ option should thrive.

And Top 25 picks, just for fun:

#1 Ohio State 24, #25 Penn State 16. Buckeye defense comes through.

#4 Arizona State 29, #21 California 20. Sparky keeps the Bears tumbling.

#12 USC 37, #5 Oregon 20. Don’t trust the Ducks. And Pete Carroll loves being an underdog.

Rutgers 31, #7 West Virginia 30. Judge Ito kicks the game-winning field goal.

#9 Kansas 30, Texas A&M 20. Mark Mangino celebrates with a cheesburger.

#10 South Florida 41, #23 Connecticut 20. Karma UConn. Karma. Cheaters never win.

#11 Florida 16, #18 Georgia 14. Gators win at the cocktail party.

#13 Missouri 61, Iowa State 7. ISU spent after playing Oklahoma tough.

#14 Kentucky 45, Mississippi State 16. Andy Bitter really wants Andre Woodson to quarterback the Minnesota Vikings next year.

North Carolina State 24, #15 Virginia 20. The Cavs’ string of luck has to run out at some point.

Tennessee 30, #16 South Carolina 14. A precipitous fall for the Gamecocks.

#19 Texas 54, Nebraska 10. The Bill Callahan farewell tour continues.

#20 Michigan 27, Minnesota 21. Gophers tend to play Wolverines tough for some reason. Neither team could beat the FCS school on its schedule, with Michigan losing to App State and Minnesota falling to North Dakota State

#22 Auburn 30, Ole Miss 17. Auburn should have beaten LSU last week.

Do over

-Nathan Warters 

My deepest sympathies go out to Virginia Tech football fans who had to suffer through that debacle Thursday night. How in the world a team could be so dominant on defense and just let it all go to waste in the last two minutes and change is beyond me. Maybe the defense got tired. The Hokies stopped blitzing BC quarterback Matt Ryan during the final two drives, and he used all that extra time in the pocket to show why he’s still a Heisman Trophy candidate.

I apologize for the lack of insight in our paper from Tech coach Frank Beamer and Hokies players on the shocking loss. Truth is, I didn’t talk to anybody after the game. I was too busy re-writing the game story I had ready to file when Ryan decided to change the entire complexion of the game. Somebody went down and got me a couple of quotes from Ryan, Sean Glennon and Beamer, but that was about all I could get.

Some people don’t realize the perils of being a sportswriter. They think all we do is sit in a press box and get fat off of free food, and while the pregame buffet is one of the perks, it’s anything but a cushy job. Last night was the perfect example of that. When Ryan connected with Andre Callender for the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left, the string of expletives that came out of the mouths of the reporters sitting in the press box could have made George Carlin blush. Me, I had a pretty simple game story ready to file and then I put my head in my hands and pondered the unenviable task ahead of me. I had to re-write the entire thing and make deadline in 20 minutes.

It was very reminiscent of last season’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. It was a late game, an 8 p.m. kickoff I believe, and the Hokies’ 21-3 halftime lead was a reporter’s dream. We all had our game stories written with time to spare in the third quarter when Georgia picked away at Tech’s lead. When the Bulldogs tied the game 21-21 in the fourth quarter, panic set in. That’s when the real work began.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It’s a great job. It’s a fun job. But sometimes it can be very difficult, especially when a ton of people are depending on you to give them the insight on why things happened the way they did.

Just for fun, I thought I would post the game story that never got published. I left the x’s in there. I sat and watched the game in the fourth quarter thinking all I had to do was plug the final stats in place of the x’s, but unfortunately it wasn’t that easy. Enjoy.

******************************************************************************* 

By Nathan Warters

twarters@newsadvance.com

(434) 385-5540

BLACKSBURG – Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan was a Heisman Trophy favorite. Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon was an injury fill-in.

 

But Thursday night at Lane Stadium, Glennon out-played Ryan and led the eighth-ranked Hokies to a 10-0 win over the second-ranked Eagles in front of a packed crowd of 66,233 and a national television audience.

 

Glennon, who lost his starting job to freshman Tyrod Taylor after Tech’s miserable showing at No. 2 LSU on Sept. 8, exorcized the demons from that forgettable performance with a xx for xx, xxx-yard, no interception performance in rain-soaked conditions.

 

Ryan wasn’t so efficient. He renounced his Heisman candidacy with an unimpressive stat line (xxx yards, two interceptions) against the best defense Boston College has faced all season.

 

Glennon, a junior, started for the first time since that 48-7 loss in Baton Rouge. He filled in for Taylor, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Tech’s game against Duke Oct. 13.

 

Taylor was cleared to play, but he wasn’t needed.

 

Glennon, who started 15 straight games before losing the job to Taylor, showed some nifty moves on the run, rushing for 23 yards on 14 carries (he was sacked three times), and other than a few overthrown balls, he didn’t make any mistakes in the passing game.

 

It was sweet redemption for Glennon, who threw two interceptions and was sacked five times last year 22-3 loss to BC in Chestnut Hill.

 

This time he helped knock off the No. 2 team in the Associated Press poll for the fourth straight week. Then-second-ranked South Florida fell to Rutgers last Thursday, and Cal and Southern Cal fell in back-to-back weeks before that.

 

Glennon had some help from his teammates, especially running back Branden Ore, who rushed for a season-high 97 yards on 20 carries.

 

The Hokies knew how to stop the surging Eagles, who hadn’t lost since Nov. 23 last season. They had to pressure Ryan, who was considered a top five Heisman Trophy candidate coming into the game.

 

Tech’s defense didn’t give Ryan much time to make plays. He was harassed almost every down, and predictably, had his worst outing of the season.

 

The key to Ryan’s success this season has been his protection up front, but BC’s offensive line had trouble blocking Tech’s pass rush all night.

 

The Eagles (7-1, 3-1 ACC) yielded six sacks in their first seven games. They allowed three sacks and seven hurries to the Hokies (7-1, 4-0) Thursday night.

 

Amherst County High School graduate Barry Booker had two hurries and half a sack.

 

Boston College was held scoreless for the first time since Oct. 8, 1998. The opponent in that 17-0 loss was Virginia Tech, and a reserve quarterback started for the Hokies that game (third-stringer Nick Sorensen).

 

Glennon, 12-4 as a starter, led the Hokies on a 16-play, 91-yard drive in the second quarter and capped it with an eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Royal with 7:13 left.

 

Royal caught the out pass right inside the right sideline and dragged his left foot before falling out of bounds. Royal appeared to bobble the pass before going out of bounds, and BC challenged the play, but officials upheld the call.

 

The Hokies took a 10-0 lead with 5:43 left in the third quarter on Jud Dunlevy’s 45-yard field goal.

 

That was more than enough for Tech’s stingy defense, which allowed xxx total yards.

Final – Liberty 50, Charleston Southern 10

– Chris Lang

Definitely the most complete effort I’ve seen out of a Flames team against a full-scholarship Division I team during my two-plus years on the beat. The second half showing was impressive, with LU outscoring the Bucs 30-0 after the break.

Look for the full breakdown in tomorrow’s News & Advance, plus notes on Chuck Duffey’s breakout game, the emergence of tight end Chris Luck and kicker Noah Greenbaum’s trouble with the tricky sandy field at CSU.

Halftime: Liberty 20, Charleston Southern 10

– Chris Lang

Interesting first half. CSU scored a touchdown on a 62-yard pass from Eli Byrd to Dee Brown on its second play of the game, but Liberty’s defense has contained the Bucs since then. I use the word contain for a reason. The Bucs have moved the ball at will with the quick passing game, mixing screens and slants for rhythm passes and big gains. Liberty has taken advantage of Byrd’s hideous decision making. He’s thrown two interceptions, and both of them were horrible decisions with no one in a blue uniform near the ball. Liberty scored a touchdown after the first INT and had a field goal blocked after the second.

Noah Greenbaum was way low with the kick that was blocked. He barely cleared the offensive line with the kick and CSU’s Stonewall Randolph got a paw on it and sent it wide and short. The second field goal, a 33-yarder Greenbaum made, was deflected at the line, but it had enough oomph to just hit the crossbar and go through.

The Flames are running at will, and they’d have a much larger lead if they could get away from nagging holding penalties. Rashad Jennings has 79 yards on 12 carries and has two receptions for 80 yards. Zach Terrell extended his touchdown streak to 12 games with a first-quarter score.

If Liberty can shore up its defense in the second half and force a couple of three and outs, the Flames should win. They can’t let CSU get back into a rhythm with the short passing game.

Liberty-Charleston Southern pregame

– Chris Lang

This is my second trip to CSU’s football stadium. And I’ll say this. It compares admirably with Amherst High School’s stadium. This is not a dig at Amherst, which has a very nice high school stadium. It’s a dig at Charleston Southern, a Division I university that has a very nice high school stadium. The place maybe seats 3,500 people, with the same sort of bleachers on both sides of the field you’d see at most high school stadiums in the Lynchburg area. A menacing road environment, this is not. They have piped in about an hour’s worth of nightclub techno into the stadium though. Where’s my Hennessy?

Not to say CSU is a bad host, though. But as the rest of the conference schools have expanded their facilities (Liberty, VMI, Coastal Carolina and Gardner-Webb have all added to their stadiums/facilities in the last few years), Charleston Southern hasn’t. Perhaps that’s why CSU is lining up to play as many money games as possible in the next few seasons. They need to raise some scratch and spruce this place up a little.
The Bucs have won 12 straight home games, but here’s a closer look at those 12:

2007

Savannah State — 28-0 (the worst scholarship football program in America)

Johnson C. Smith — 44-20 (Division II)

2006

Gardner-Webb — 28-14 (solid win over a good Big South program)

Georgetown — 24-10 (perennially the worst team in the Patriot League)

VMI — 27-22 (Keydets finished 1-10)

Edward Waters — 47-0 (Really, Edward Waters?)

North Greenville — 20-10 (Division II)

Wingate — 20-17 (Division II)

2005

Coastal Carolina — 34-27 (won share of the Big South title with this one, the best win during the streak)

Liberty — 31-30 (rallied from 12 down in the fourth to beat a 1-10 team)

Savannah State — 48-28 (again, bad team)

West Virginia Wesleyan — 63-42 (Division II)

I count one impressive victory and one decent victory among the 12 games. This is not an untouchable streak by any means.

The Flames enter today’s game relatively healthy. Tailback Zach Terrell will play with his broken right wrist in a splint, but watching him at practice this week, I don’t think ball security will be a major issue. Also, the Kent Hicks suspension basically was announced at the beginning of the week, so Chuck Duffey has been working with the 1s at corner all week. He should be well versed in the defense. Will update at halftime.

PS — Barbecue, mac & cheese, sweet tea and ‘nana pudding pre-game. Now that’s a real Southern meal …