2007 Liberty Flames schedule

[bjtheflamesfan]

Here is the official 2007 Liberty Flames football schedule:

Sep 1, 2007 7:00 PM Tusculum

Sep 9, 2007 TBA Shippensburg

Sep 15, 2007 TBA William & Mary

Sep 22, 2007 TBA Elon

Sep 29, 2007 TBA St. Francis (Pa.)

Oct 6, 2007 TBA Toledo

Oct 20, 2007 TBA Charleston Southern*

Oct 27, 2007 TBA Presbyterian Homecoming

Nov 3, 2007 TBA Coastal Carolina*

Nov 10, 2007 TBA VMI*
Senior Day

Nov 17, 2007 TBA Gardner-Webb*

Home games in Bold, Big South Conference games marked with an asterisk

Game times will be announced at a later date

[TexasTerror]

This the same school where the President announced intentions to bring the school up to FBS football?

Three sub-Div I teams...lame! Especially for an East Coast squad. Granted Presybeterian is a transitional and the Big South is helping them out, but that does not mean you need to schedule two more...

[Green Cookie Monster]

Here is the official 2007 Liberty Flames football schedule:

Sep 1, 2007 7:00 PM Tusculum



Tusculum? Is that anti-fungal cream?

Lame home schedule for a program with such nice facilities.

[bjtheflamesfan]

Liberty is 2 seasons removed from one of the worst seasons in school history. I have seen Rocco and Barber both say taht their priority right now is winning the Big South title. A good year next fall (8-3, 9-2 or even 10-1) and you may see them step the competition up for 2008 (heck we're playing JMU in 2008 for sure already)

[TexasTerror]

Liberty is 2 seasons removed from one of the worst seasons in school history. I have seen Rocco and Barber both say taht their priority right now is winning the Big South title. A good year next fall (8-3, 9-2 or even 10-1) and you may see them step the competition up for 2008 (heck we're playing JMU in 2008 for sure already)

Scheduling JMU is great, but if you put Galludet, the George Mason club team and Tiflin around them, it doesn't matter...

[bjtheflamesfan]

Well Im not saying that the schedule is something to write home to mom about, but you ought to consider the circumstances. Appy State wanting to play us is nice but this team has not had consecutive above .500 seasons since 88-90. I think that after a couple good seasons and Coach Rocco solidly working with players he has brought in (i.e. the guys from the end of the Karcher era graduating) we could see some better games coming back onto the schedule. Barber and Rocco both understand the need for good competition, but they also remember what this team has been through.

[SuperJon]

Barber's basically building from the ground up. He has said he doesn't want to play the App State's of the world, yet. We're working towards that.

With the Big South only have 4 (well 5 now) conference games, we have to schedule 6 non-conference games. That makes getting a good schedule top-to-bottom is harder to do.

Also, some schools were wanting too big of a payout to come to Lynchburg. People still think of us as having the old crappy AstroTurf and no visiting team facilities. The bigger schools that we would look at scheduling look at us and think of us as the 1-10 team of two years go and that playing us is no gain to them (if you win, you should've, if you lose, you lost to "little ole Liberty"). The smaller FCS school look at us and look at the transfers we have in and don't see the point in playing us when they don't think they would have a good shot at winning.

We're at a weird point where we're trying to get better and we're just not there yet. We're trying to overcome past perceptions of us and it takes time.

With that being said, in 2008, we have the five conference games, JMU, Lehigh, an FBS school, and likely Stony Brook and Albany coming in as conference games. We would need one more school to add to that and it would be a pretty good schedule.

All of us know we have a "weak" schedule for 2007. The rational LU fans know that to even be able to speak the word "playoff" we have to go 10-1 or 11-0.

As it's been said before, Coach Rocco's first goal is the Big South Championship. Once we get to that, we can start looking to other things. He got us a .500 season in year 1, year 2 is a Big South Championship hopefully, then year 3 we hope to contend for the playoffs.

[TexasTerror]

All of us know we have a "weak" schedule for 2007. The rational LU fans know that to even be able to speak the word "playoff" we have to go 10-1 or 11-0.

11-0 or 10-1 with a loss to Toledo is the only way to make the playoffs...

With three Div II games, there is no other way...:nono:

[Seawolf97]

Looked at the schedule and sometimes to build you have to take humane beatings to improve. We had no real reason to play New Hampshire and UMass back to back last season but we did and got pounded. What is interesting is you mentioned Stonybrook and Albany as possible conference members in 2008. There was a real interesting thread a few days all about that. Two big SUNY schools playing in a conference down south. Would that just be football or all sports? Also congratulations to the Great Danes for winning th America East mens basketball title 60-59 over Vermont!

[Sly Fox]

It would be a schedulign convenience in football only with Albany & SB if it does wind up happening.

Nobody in Lynchburg is thrilled with what we have lined up this fall. But it is what it is. SJ lined up many of the issues facing us scheduling contests.

We have signed longterm home & homes with both JMU as well as W&M. We're excited about facing these guys every fall for awhile. But getting other regional FCS schools to agree to home & homes has proven difficult.

[Seawolf97]

I know Stonybrook and Albany would be competitive teams for you and if this is true then Albany will be moving toward a full scholarship program. I know Stonybrooks schedule is tough this year with Youngstown St., Richmond and Maine to name a few good teams. In 2008 we could possibly add Brown, Colgate along with Maine, Elon and Hofstra. Well good luck in 2007 and we will see all about this new conference stuff for 2008.

[SuperJon]

Looked at the schedule and sometimes to build you have to take humane beatings to improve. We had no real reason to play New Hampshire and UMass back to back last season but we did and got pounded.

In some cases you would be correct. However, in the case of Liberty, when most of the current players were freshmen and sophomores they played a schedule that was insane non-conference and were shutout three weeks in a row by a combined 148-0 score or something like that (I wasn't a student then, thank God). You can't put those sames kids in the same situation and expect good things. The approach Coach Rocco is using is a good one, and most of us agree with it. We don't like playing the DIIs, and Rocco does, and our AD doesn't (he even said flat out he doesn't like doing it). It's just a matter of building a program. I think this is the last year you'll see more than one DII on there.

We had no choice about Presby though.

[*****]

It would be a schedulign convenience in football only with Albany & SB if it does wind up happening.

Nobody in Lynchburg is thrilled with what we have lined up this fall. But it is what it is. SJ lined up many of the issues facing us scheduling contests.

We have signed longterm home & homes with both JMU as well as W&M. We're excited about facing these guys every fall for awhile. But getting other regional FCS schools to agree to home & homes has proven difficult.Just keep on winning! :thumbsup:

[PAmedic]

RALPH- it was decided that the Nov 10 home game vs VMI would be the ideal time for you to visit the mountain and see whats been going on.

Plus, you could check 2 BSOUTH teams off your list in one fell swoop.

see you at the flamefans.com tent for tailgating, 10 AM sharp. ;)

[lizrdgizrd]

In some cases you would be correct. However, in the case of Liberty, when most of the current players were freshmen and sophomores they played a schedule that was insane non-conference and were shutout three weeks in a row by a combined 148-0 score or something like that (I wasn't a student then, thank God). You can't put those sames kids in the same situation and expect good things. The approach Coach Rocco is using is a good one, and most of us agree with it. We don't like playing the DIIs, and Rocco does, and our AD doesn't (he even said flat out he doesn't like doing it). It's just a matter of building a program. I think this is the last year you'll see more than one DII on there.

We had no choice about Presby though.
I don't think Presby is really a black mark on your schedule since they'll be in your conference soon. Just keep winning and let the playoffs fall where they may.

[OL FU]

Tusculum Head Coach - Frankie DeBusk- QB for the 1988 national champion Furman Paladinsxthumbsupx



http://www.tusculum.edu/athletics/football/coaches.html

[Libertine]

Tusculum Head Coach - Frankie DeBusk- QB for the 1988 national champion Furman Paladinsxthumbsupx



http://www.tusculum.edu/athletics/football/coaches.html

Jeez, how old is that picture? xlolx

http://www.tusculum.edu/athletics/football/images/DeBusk.JPG

[SuperJon]

I don't think Presby is really a black mark on your schedule since they'll be in your conference soon. Just keep winning and let the playoffs fall where they may.

Like I said, the playoffs aren't the immediate goal right now. The immediate goal is a Big South Championship. Once we get to that, we can start focusing on the other stuff, but it's impossible to get to bigger things and not win our conference.

[MarkCCU]

The Flames have come along way from the early 2000's. I can honestly see y'all competeing more with CCU and CSU this year then ever before. Hell, over CSU I pull for you guys.

[Libertine]

The Flames have come along way from the early 2000's. I can honestly see y'all competeing more with CCU and CSU this year then ever before. Hell, over CSU I pull for you guys.

Gee. Thanks. xmadx

[SuperJon]

We gotta do this whole "start winning more" thing. I hate being compared to CSU, even after we completely beat the piss out of them last year.

[OL FU]

Jeez, how old is that picture? xlolx

http://www.tusculum.edu/athletics/football/images/DeBusk.JPG

He hasn't aged a bitxsmiley_wix :D

[Go...gate]

Shippensburg is not a bad game - the D-II Pennsylvania Athletic Conference is very, very competitive.

[SuperJon]

Our two DIIs are good DII teams, it's just that they're DIIs.

[Libertine]

We gotta do this whole "start winning more" thing. I hate being compared to CSU, even after we completely beat the piss out of them last year.

Remember when having CSU on the calendar basically meant an automatic 'W'? That was what? Way back in 2004? They've become such a powerhouse since then. xrolleyesx

[Tribe4SF]

It would be a schedulign convenience in football only with Albany & SB if it does wind up happening.

Nobody in Lynchburg is thrilled with what we have lined up this fall. But it is what it is. SJ lined up many of the issues facing us scheduling contests.

We have signed longterm home & homes with both JMU as well as W&M. We're excited about facing these guys every fall for awhile. But getting other regional FCS schools to agree to home & homes has proven difficult.

I haven't heard anything about a long term deal with W&M. You're off our schedule in 2008 (two year deal with Elon), and it would be unusual for W&M to commit to their only available OOC spot three years out.

This schedule is not a step in the right direction. Liberty was very competitive last year, and should be better this year. As for the guys who got beat up a couple of years ago, not many of them are still featured in your lineup. All those transfers signed on to play Tusculum, Shippensburg and St. Francis? I think not.

Liberty hyped a fast track to success, and in context of that hype, this schedule is pitiful. Basically tells the players they're not good enough to make the playoffs. Hard to build fan interest with this.

[MarkCCU]

We gotta do this whole "start winning more" thing. I hate being compared to CSU, even after we completely beat the piss out of them last year.

It used to be, Liberty and CSU were guarenteed wins. Now both schools are gaining momentum to battle the top dog of the conference. CCU!:D :D VMI is still a win for the most part, they just suck

[SuperJon]

VMI's gonna surprise some people if they're taken lightly, especially in Lexington.

[MarkCCU]

VMI's gonna surprise some people if they're taken lightly, especially in Lexington.

Surprised that they showed up?xlolx xlolx