The Flames won’t start conference play until October 25th, but it’s never too early to start looking forward to the ever-important Big South matchups as Liberty hopes to finally capture that automatic playoff berth.
We’ll be starting at the bottom of our preseason power rankings and working our way up team by team over the next couple of weeks to try and create a clear picture of what Liberty will be up against in the Big South this year. Starting with Presbyterian:
Last Year
Presbyterian had a rough 2013 campaign, going 3-8 with their only conference win being against, since departed, VMI. Though a 3-8 season was nothing for Blue Hose fans to get excited about, it really wasn’t out of the norm for Presbyterian who has gone 9-44 in five years under head coach, Harold Nichols.
Last year teams ran all over the Presbyterian defense who gave up an average of 226.8 yards on the ground per game.
Liberty was able to post 231 yards rushing against the Blue Hose in a comfortable 35-14 win, though Presbyterian did hang around for much of the contest.
Offense
Presbyterian can find reason to be optimistic in the experience level of this year’s offense, especially at the skill positions. After rushing for 147.8 yards per game last year, the Blue Hose will return its top three rushers, Demarcus Rouse, Blake Roberts, and Laqua Mayes, with Rouse (514 yards in 2013) as the featured back.
Heys McMath will be the quarterback after throwing for 1142 yards, 5 interceptions, and 10 TDs in 2013, and he will have two key weapons to throw to in Toby Antigha (746 yards in 2013) and Jeremiah Mckie (487 yards in 2013). Both Antigha and Mckie were preseason all-conference selections. If McMath can step up in his second year of significant time at QB, he has the tools around himto run a solid offense.
Defense
Presbyterian’s Breyon Williams is dragged into the end zone by DJ Abnar.
Though the Presbyterian defense struggled for most of the 2013 campaign, there are a couple reasons to have optimism in 2014. One reason is sophomore linebacker, Ugonna Akoh. The young Akoh will be relied on to be a playmaker this year after his impressive freshman campaign. Akoh wreaked havoc, tallying 14 tackles for loss as a freshman.
The defense will also be returning some experience. Breyon Williams will make his presence felt at linebacker after leading the team in total tackles last year. Also, Ed Britt and Cory White should cover a lot of ground in the defensive backfield after leading the team in solo tackles last year.
At the end of the day though, this is still a defense that allowed over 425 yards per game last year.
Special Teams
Presbyterian had an awful time with field goals last year, they only attempted five and only made one field goal all season.
It is worth noting that two of Presbyterian’s three all conference selections were on special teams. Jeremiah Mckie received honors as a punt returner, and Cannon Jordan as a long snapper.
2014 Outlook
The Blue Hose won’t be a real contender this year, but they should have a decent squad overall. They lost none of their key pieces from last year and could present a problem for some teams if a couple more players step up. A lot will depend on how McMath responds to being “the guy” at quarterback this season.
This is a team that was competitive with both Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern last year. Will the Blue Hose finally take the next step in 2014 and become a middle of the pack Big South team? Probably not, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
