Introducing a new weekly feature, News & Notes Around FlamesNation, where we will bring you all of the week’s happenings in Liberty Flames Athletics.
Flames fall to Kent State, 17-10
Obviously the biggest story this week is Liberty football’s opener against Kent State where the Flames fell 17-10. We won’t spend too much time on that here, as we will fully cover the game in other articles including this morning’s recap. Most weeks during football season, we will use this to give you all the news & notes from practice heading into Saturday’s game.
2014 Football Schedule
Chris Lang, Liberty’s beat writer, has done a good job piecing together Liberty’s 2014 football schedule. Here is what we know so far: Home – Richmond, Monmouth, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb; Away – North Carolina, James Madison, Norfolk State, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian. That’s 9 of 11 games already scheduled, and not a bad looking slate either with a regional FBS (UNC) and 3 in-state FCS rivals (Norfolk St., JMU & UR). Surely, the last 2 games will be home dates to get Liberty to 6 home games; hopefully the Flames can find 2 FCS opponents rather than having to grab a D2.
Basketball commits
Stavian Allen
Coach Layer and the men’s basketball team picked up two verbal commitments this week in Stavian Allen and Ezra Talbert. Allen and Talbert join Evan Maxwell in the Class of 2014. We’ve already discussed how important this class is, and Layer and company are off to a quick start.
The Flames have at least 6 open scholarships to offer in this class, which means there are at least 3 spots still open. Allen, Talbert, and Maxwell all stand at 6’8″ or taller, and will give the Flames versatility and length across the front line. It’s also interesting to note that Layer is focusing on high school seniors for this class as opposed to recent classes where he was heavily invested in JUCO players. It’s pretty clear to see that after the 2013 Big South Championship run and NCAA Tournament appearance, Layer doesn’t feel nearly as much pressure on his job as he did prior. The 2014-15 season will be a rebuilding one, so why not go ahead and build around freshman.
Look for the final 3 scholarships to go primarily to guards, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see 1 or 2 JUCO players mixed in to help alleviate the cluster of 6 scholarships tied up in one class.
Flames in preseason NFL
Rashad Jennings, Mike Brown, and Chris Summers are all on NFL rosters this preseason.
Rashad Jennings
Jennings leads the Oakland Raiders in rushing during the preseason with 31 carries for 137 yards. He also leads all running backs in yards per carry, and has caught 5 passes for 19 yards. Barring any surprises, Rashad should make the final 53 man roster, and will likely be Darren McFadden’s top backup.
Mike Brown has been a good story for the Jacksonville Jaguars as he has turned heads during training camp and the preseason. He has 9 catches for 84 yards in the preseason including an impressive 4 grabs for 44 yards Thursday night against the Falcons. His 9 receptions lead the team. Prior to camp, Brown would have been considered a long shot to make the Jaguars’ 53 man roster, but BigCatCountry predicts Brown to make the cut.
Summers has spent camp and the preseason with the Minnesota Vikings where he has caught 2 passes for 23 yards in preseason action. Summers was cut earlier this week, but could end up on Minnesota’s practice squad this season.
Other sports getting started
The other Fall sports teams at Liberty get in the swing of things this week with many in action on Friday including Field Hockey, Men’s & Women’s Soccer, Cross Country, and Volleyball.
Curry a Warrior
Former Liberty guard Seth Curry signed with the Golden State Warriors as an undrafted free agent. Seth will join his brother Stephen in Golden State. Seth played with the Flames during his freshman season before transferring to Duke.
