Injury report
Todd Macon and Jimmy O’Grady continue to be out. D.J. Abnar is listed as questionable while offensive lineman Tanner Hartman is probable. All signs point to Abnar giving it a go against Presby on Saturday.

abnar

Abnar leads the Flames with 759 rushing yards and 9 TDs

LU RB depth chart
Back in the Spring, Liberty’s running back depth chart looked something like this:

1 – Des Rice
2 – D.J. Abnar
3 – Todd Macon
4 – Josh Smith
5 – Austin Kaigler
6 – Carrington Mosely

3 of the top 4 running backs have missed significant time, if not out for the season, in Rice, Macon, and Smith. With Abnar on the injury report this week, the Flames’ top 4 running backs from the Spring are all injured. Maybe next year’s conundrum of having Rice, Abnar, and Kevin Grooms doesn’t look as concerning.

Gill 7-0 in November
Head Coach Turner Gill is 7-0 in the month of November during his 2 seasons at Liberty. If he improves that mark to 11-0, the Flames will advance to the FCS playoffs for the first time in school history. Here’s a look at those 7 wins:

11/3/12: Liberty 26, Charleston Southern 12
11/10/12: Liberty 28, #6 Stony Brook 14
11/17/12: Liberty 33, VMI 14
11/2/13: Liberty 17, VMI 7
11/9/13: Liberty 35, Presbyterian 14
11/16/13: Liberty 59, Brevard 21
11/23/13: Liberty 56, #16 Charleston Southern 14

Uniform combo
This week the Flames will wear red helmets, white jerseys, and white pants against PC.

GPI Update
In what looks like it may remain, the Big South is still rated as the 2nd best conference in the country according to GPI. The Flames continue their ascent up the rankings, moving up to #23 this week. Liberty was #37 when the GPI was first released this season prior to the Appalachian State game. The higher LU finishes, the better their argument for inclusion in the playoffs should they not win the Big South auto-bid. Other opponents’ rankings:

  • #5 Coastal Carolina
  • #8 Indiana State
  • #13 Richmond
  • #32 Bryant
  • #46 Presbyterian
  • #53 Charleston Southern
  • #55 Monmouth
  • #86 Gardner-Webb
  • #95 Norfolk State

Gill picks up commitment #2
Just prior to the game last Saturday against Gardner-Webb, Zac Foutz committed to the Flames. Foutz joins Cameron Jones as the 2nd verbal pledge for the Class of 2015.

Big South Basketball Media Day
The Big South held their annual media day this past Monday. The Flames were picked to finish 9th (ahead of Presbyterian and Longwood) in the 11 team Big South. Coastal was picked to repeat as conference champions. Liberty did not place anyone on the first or second preseason all-conference teams. We are in the midst of 2014-15 MBB preview, be sure to check out our guard and forward preview.

Blue/White Scrimmage
The men’s team also held their annual blue/white scrimmage on Monday. The Blue team won the game, 75-72. Tomasz Gielo led the blue with 27 points. Drew Smith and Peter Moller each added 15 points while James Johnson scored 11 to pace the winning team. Joe Retic and Theo Johnson each scored 19 points to lead the white squad. Be sure to read our rapid reactions to the scrimmage for our biggest takeaways.

The Flames will play the first of 2 secret scrimmages this Saturday at VMI.

KenPom rankings
KenPom has updated their 2015 rankings and team predictions. Liberty is ranked 283 of 351 teams and projected to finish 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the Big South. Here’s how the Big South and Liberty’s nonconference opponents are ranked:

John Brown was chosen as the Big South’s preseason player of the year

Big South:

  • #175 Coastal Carolina
  • #181 Radford
  • #187 High Point
  • #193 Charleston Southern
  • #215 Winthrop
  • #241 Gardner-Webb
  • #243 UNC-Asheville
  • #283 Liberty
  • #298 Campbell
  • #321 Presbyterian
  • #344 Longwood

Nonconference opponents:

  • #123 Princeton
  • #168 Virginia Tech
  • #190 St Francis (NY)
  • #191 Delaware
  • #225 Miami (OH)
  • #247 North Florida
  • #265 UNC-Wilmington
  • #291 Furman

Other sports update
Your weekly non-football Fall sports update:

  • The men’s soccer team beat UNC-Asheville before falling to NC State earlier this week. The Flames are 3-3 in conference and 8-5-1 overall.
  • The women’s soccer team had their 10-match unbeaten streak come to an end when they fell to Coastal Carolina 1-0, but the Lady Flames rebounded with a 1-0 win over Longwood on Tuesday. With the win, Liberty clinched the regular season championship and will be the #1 seed in the Big South Tournament when it gets underway this week. LU hosts #8 Radford on Sunday.
  • The women’s volleyball team continued their hot play with 3-0 sweeps over Presbyterian and Winthrop. The Lady Flames have won 13 consecutive matches, and are 9-0 in conference play and 22-5 overall.
  • The women’s field hockey team
  • The swimming & diving team blanked Georgetown 7-0 to finish their regular season with marks of 4-0 in NorPac Conference play and 11-7 overall. The NorPac Tournament gets started November 6th in Stockton, California.

FlameFans thread of the week
Bring your discussion on all the rumors and happenings on the college football coaching carousel in the NCAAF Coaching Carousel (2014 Edition) thread which is this week’s FlameFans Forums thread of the week!