Liberty loses leading rusher to knee injury

[PAllen]

http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/news.aspx?id=4690418

"Lynchburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Liberty University's top rusher Desmond Rice will miss the 2014 season after suffering a knee injury recently and undergoing surgery on Tuesday."

Quite a blow to the flames.

[knucklehead]

Des is a beast, a great kid with a huge heart, and a motor that never quits. Will be tough to replace this year no doubt. The starter now looks to be Junior #2 D.J. Abnar. Extremely fast kid out of Florida with quick / shifty feet. After that is a lot of young talent that we will have to wait and see how it develops. Former UVA Transfer RB Clifton Richardson is apparently no longer on the roster either.

[superman7515]

Tough blow for Liberty. How big of an impact does it make on the potential Big South standings? Are we talking dropping Liberty from #1 to #3 or not that big of a deal to the team overall?

[knucklehead]

It just depends on how well DJ can run between the tackles and/or how the other 3 below him step up. I think DJ can pull it off, he's really improved a ton and is tough catching the ball outside. The talent is there for sure. I think LU is still in the hunt at the top of the conference.

[Sly Fox]

This is becoming our regular experience each offseason. I almost can't remember the last time we returned a leading rusher. It would have to have been back in the Rashad Jennings days. I fully expect to respond well like we have in recent years.