Big South

[nlwwln]

Does anyone have any information on the upcoming season in the big south, imparticularly gardner webb, any photo links to the teams would be great to

[GSUAlumniEagle]

I know this is kinda off topic, but he mentioned GW and it got my mind going.

My cousin recently signed to play baseball with GW, and my uncle said that they're renovating the football stadium to where it would hold 22k or so. Any GW fans out there got some more info?

And no offense, but what do you guys plan to do with all those empty seats? :p

[rokamortis]

I know GWU just went through a major renovation to upgrade their stadium - but the seating is around 7-8 K. I doubt they would have a real need for 22,000 fans for a while - unless they need the extra seats to host special events.

Back to the topic - the Big South just launched their new website www.bigsouthsports.com which doesn't have a lot of information yet but it does look promising. The BSC media day isn't until the 28-29 of this month I believe so it will probably be rather quiet until then.

[Thumper250]

The football stadium seats around 9K now and I know they had over 8K for WCU and 7K or so for Furman. It's a very, very nice place overall. In terms of locker room, weight room (5,600 square feet I'm told) and offices, etc., it's a true overall facility of I-AA quality.

I have heard the baseball stadium is going to be renovated as well, which will be nice. I haven't been up for a baseball game in years, but they do pretty well in that sport.

[nlwwln]

I actually got a chance to visit the new facility and i have to say it is quite impressive. It really shows how serious they are about their football program and how bad they want to win. im pretty sure seating is for around 9k. I think this proves that there are big things to come at gardner webb. I know they had a pretty good recruiting class and have a few d1 transfers on the roster. the new facility will only help bring in better recruits, i would also like to see them start scheduling alot more competitve out of conference games and get rid of those naia schools. cant wait to see a big south team in the playoffs.

[rokamortis]

Are you sure about those numbers? Not trying to start anything but they seem rather high.

The NCAA has capacity at 7,200. I understand that there are hills and such, but normally they don't count for total capacity.

These are the attendance numbers from the box scores of all of the schools you hosted last year.

VMI: 3,629
SeLA: 3,841
FU: 6,009
WCU: 6,311
CCU: 6,486 (homecoming)

You do have a nice facilty - reminds me a lot of ours. You have a track, but that isn't a big deal - doesn't detract from the stadium. My biggest compalint was the soundsystem - very difficult to hear anything out of it. But you guys can do replays on your scoreboard - something they have yet to implement at CCU.

[nlwwln]

do you guys plan on increasing seating anytime soon, sounds like bennet has that team going in the right direction. what do you expect of them in the years to come, i hope they will stay in the big south and perhaps the big south would add a few more members otherwise i would expect they will join the southern conference

[rokamortis]

There are plans to expand - but nothing concrete. Hopefully we'll know something more definite after this season. We certainly could use more seats. I had heard that the administration was exploring the option of adding some temp seating for this season, but I haven't heard any follow-up on that so I have no idea if we'll get it or not.

The Big South needs to find at least 1 more team if not 2 or 3 - preferably good ones - if we hope to improve. There is a rumor that some of the MEAC schools may leave if they can't participate in the I-AA playoffs due to a SWAC/MEAC championship game, but i doubt it happens. Also, Presbyterian College has been rumored about going I-AA in the near future.

The word is that the SoCon schools are split on wanting CCU - so I don't think we'll get an invite anytime soon. If history is any indication - PC has a better chance than we do.

[SoCon48]

:confused: 6,311>8K???? :confused:

[Thumper250]

I was estimating gents. Throw in the banks/hills and I'd say easily 7,500 to 8K for the Western game. I did read somewhere they sold out of general admission tickets for the first time since the NAIA national championship game in 1992 that night.

[The Gadfly]

Do you think your G-Dubb dawgs have enough transfers to take down the Thundering Beach Chickens this year? We do return almost everyone from last year's squad...good luck :cool: !

[nlwwln]

i definatly think it will be a competitive game we are going to have a great passing game and 1a transfer kelvin german from mtsu will be an immediate impact, so the skill positions are going to be stacked but on the interior that could be our question mark, the defense looks solid as well although we did loose alot especially at lb and db. harold wells will also be a big loose. I think the game will be very close but i imagine you guys will pull away towards the end, you cant argue with how good a year you guys had you must be doing something right im excited to see just how good they actually are though. good luck

[rokamortis]

Agreed nlwwln - I think it could go eitehr way right now.

This year will certainly be a test - hopefully we succeed!

[Sly Fox]

It should be a nice battle for 2nd place. :D

[WCU LawCat]

I was at the game vs GW and it did appear there were more than 6300 at the game. If I had to guess that night I would have said 8 or 9K. The sad part was that we walked away dissapointed after an overtime upset. VERY dissapointed.

[SoCon48]

Hell, there's not even 7,000 people who have even heard of Boiling Springs.
If they had 8,000, they sure would have announced it as such.

[Thumper250]

The GW-WCU game was a big crowd. Let's move on.

As for G-W, the offense should be as good or better than they've ever had. They finally got healthy for the last game in '04, and blistered a freaking huge Southeastern LA team (Mumme's team). Those defensive linemen were as big as I've seen in years. Receivers and running backs out the wazoo.

As for the defense, I have no idea. I see that Shwietzer is a preseason A-A guy on the line, but they were broken legged all last season with injuries too, so I'm sure plenty of yunguns got to play. I know they signed a couple of very good linebackers to help and the new coordinator is a vet.

It'll be an interesting year, but at least they'll be fun to watch with that offense.

Coastal has all of its horses back. The downside of that early schedule at Appy and with JMU, SCState and even Del State and Elon is that they might be pretty banged up by Big South time. I know the Tennessee Tech/WCU/Furman start for G-W last year saw most of their team limping by the Liberty game. I did hear from a relative down in Conway that Coastal Carolina got a DB transfer recently from East Carolina. That should help.

Liberty, from what I can tell, should be better. Should be. I've never been overly impressed the two times I've seen them (2001 and 2003) by the offense. The lost something like 20 seniors if their website is correct.

VMI will be better. Have to be.

I haven't seen Drafts play since they came to Boiling Springs in 2003 for Charleston Southern, but he has tools I guess. You'd think the Bucs could find enough receivers and skill guys to put points up with the offensive style. We'll see.

This might be the tightest race since the league started if all teams can stay healthy. I'd be a little worried about injuries in Conway with the schedule though. G-W may have an edge based on playing three games that amount to preseason contests before Furman and Hampton. Should save the legs. Liberty is tough at home on that turf, as are all teams that play on the old carpet. They usually struggle on grass though. They've looked slow both times I've seen them play in Boiling Springs in the thicket (01 and 03). Who does LU host this year in the league? Should be CCU and VMI. Do the Thundering Beach Chickens (that's a funny nickname, by the way) play well on turf?

Lots of questions. I guess the answers start in October.

[rokamortis]

Can you find out the name of the guy from ECU? I have heard that we may get a couple transfers to add to our backfield - but I ahve no details.

I always felt or defensive backfield was the wekest link and it is a little foggy on who is actually returning - but we know for certain that Williamson is gone. We had one of the best pass efficiency defenses in I-AA, but I think that may have been more attributed to who we played. There were many times that we were saved by the reciever dropping a pass.

You are right in that we need to stay healthy. They have done a great job in giving a lot of different guys playing time - so i think we'll be ok with a handful of injuries, anything more than that then we will be in trouble. We do have depth on the O-line, D-line, LB, and RB. Recievers and DBs are my main concern.


I think Coastal has only played 2 times on artificial turf. A loss in the first season at Liberty. Then the second season we won @ Morehead.

[GaSouthern]

I doubt they would have a real need for 22,000 fans for a while - unless they need the extra seats to host special events.

Like GSU coming to town :D

[SoCon48]

...big crowd..move on.
I agree. In Boiling Springs, 12 people in the Hardees parking lot is a big crowd.
6,311 is a HUUUGE crowd.

[nlwwln]

it sounds like charleston southern may also have a pretty decent team as well, the got a RB transfer from south florida who is expected to contribute imediatly, any time you get a player of that caliber it really boast your teams attitude. good QB and WR core i heard depth on the oline is suspect but do have 2 returners in that position and also on the defense i know they have alot of good talented LBs so i really dont think they are a team that should be overlooked, still not a conference contender but i wouldnt be surprised if they shocked a few teams

[nlwwln]

this guys a beats brandon sweitzer a honorable mention all america transfer from south carolina where he was listed as starting FB, a great athlete should be the heart of the defense. Also returning on the defense is keppy baucom ILB brian johnston DE renst sherill CB. these should be the key players

[Sly Fox]

That unimpressive offense handled G-W this past season. Yeah, Liberty lost a ton of players off last year's squad. Most of whom were injured the vast majority of the season. We have huge holes to fill at RB & OL. And considering the fact that we operate a run-oriented offense, those are crucial. But we should be right in the thick of things.

Our conference home games are against VMI & early before heading on the road to G-W and Chuck South.

We'll probably take some serious lumps early on facing U-Conn, Youngstown State and William & Mary back-to-back-to-back. But by the time BSC rolls around, we'll certainly be in the mix.

[nlwwln]

it should be an interesting year in the big south, liberty has a nice rb recruit coming in right? But honestly i really think that coastal is going to be the team to beat, i think if they stay healthy there only two loses will come to jmu and app state although they could give them an upset, i really think coastal is at that level, i would love to see them represent the big south in the playoffs. Hopefully the big south will bring in some decent new teams such as hampton or one of those meac schools, i dont think theres any reason why the big south cant be one of the better conferences in 1aa.

[Thumper250]

C'man now sly fox. Your flames scored a whopping 17 points against one of the most exploitable run defenses in the country. It's hardly a cutting edge philosophy, but the running game does work when everyone is healthy.

You have to admit the offense is fairly boring. That was my point.

And on grass, the Flames struggle mightily most every year under KK for some reason. That doesn't make sense to me. Is the media guide online? I'd like to check that out.

[Sly Fox]

Just stirring the pot a little, guys. There's no question Coastal is our preseason favorite. But I don't see much of difference between the top-3 overall. Coastal caught every break outside of that newberry game last fall. If injuries and bad breaks don't interfere, they should win the conference outright. But this is football we are talking about. I'm anxious to see how we all do this fall.

[ccujacket]

I'm not sure losing your starting quarterback and your top D-Lineman is quite getting all the breaks.

[Thumper250]

Losing your quarterback may have been a blessing, IMO. Young Wally R will be under center before season's end.

[rokamortis]

His name is Will.

No doubt he is the better passer and has more of the stereotypical QB build, but Thigpen has the experience and is more mobile. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. They will both get time, but I don't know if Will can step up to be better than Thig this year. But the coaches have always said that they will let the best person for the job play.

I think Ren did a great job when he was in, but I think that we would have been a better team overall if Thig hadn't gotten hurt. Thig really stepped up his game this year and if he continues to improve then Will may be in a reserve role for the next year or two. But all of this is speculation - only time will tell.

[gdubbuu]

Little off topic, but I have a helmet project site for GW and the Big South. I am always looking for old photos and such. Especially Liberty and VMI.

http://www.adrianb.us/helmets/index.htm