West Virginia coaches are not sure what to expect from Liberty Saturday afternoon in the 2009 season opener at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Running back Rashad Jennings, a Pitt transfer, ran for 1,500 yards and scored 17 touchdowns in 2008. He’s off to the NFL – the first Liberty player since tight end Eric Green and Donald Smith in 1990 to be taken in the NFL draft.
Quarterback Brock Smith, who ranked third in school history in career passing yards (7,036) and second in touchdown passes (50), is now a member of Coach Danny Rocco’s coaching staff as a student assistant.
Wide receivers Dominic Bolden and Jonathan Crawford combined to catch 103 passes for 1,769 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008. Both are gone.
Three-year starting center Mike Godsil, an honorable mention All-American in 2008, has graduated, as has top tackler Nick Hursky (97 tackles, 12 � tackles for losses and two sacks in 2008).
As a result, Coach Danny Rocco is counting on transfers and junior college players to fill the void. Liberty has seven players on its roster from BCS schools, two each from South Carolina (QB Tommy Beecher and WR Freddy Brown) and Virginia Tech (WR Ervin Garner and DE Daryl Robertson), and one each from Pitt (DB Ron Hobby), Ole Miss (LB Marques Jenkins) and Alabama (OG Alex Stadler).
All seven are listed on Liberty’s two-deep for the West Virginia game.
Beecher, a pro-style quarterback, began his college career at South Carolina and has starting experience in the SEC. Beecher appeared in 17 games for the Gamecocks, completing 30 of 51 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Mike Brown is listed as a co-starter at quarterback with Beecher and is more of a runner. In 2008, Brown was the backup quarterback and No. 2 running back where he finished fourth on the team in receiving with 19 catches for 331 yards and a touchdown.
“We will find out where number 10 is and try to do the best that we can. He is a really talented athlete and he is a good football player,” said Stewart.
“You always have to account for the option,” Stewart added. “We will have a plan for that and someone will be assigned to him.”
South Carolina transfer Freddy Brown is a big, physical receiver (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) who played 31 games in the SEC and is familiar with Beecher. In three seasons at South Carolina, Brown caught 38 passes for 408 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, Robertson has claimed the left defensive end position after spending the first two years of his college career at Virginia Tech. At Liberty, Robertson ranked fifth on the team in tackles for losses with 5 � in 2008, while also accounting for a 1 � sacks.
Robertson (285 pounds), nose guard Asa Chapman (377 pounds) and right end Trey Jacobs (280 pounds) are as big as any front three West Virginia will face this year. The 380-pound Chapman was once a West Virginia recruiting target before enrolling at Fork Union Military Academy.
“They come after you, they play hard and they’re strong,” said Stewart. “Their nose guard is a guy we recruited. He’s about 380 pounds and he sorts them out. They also have tough linebackers.
“I worry about them blitzing us and confusing our offensive line.”
Rocco, beginning his fifth season at Liberty, has an impressive coaching resume. He is 24-10 at Liberty, and his offenses have averaged 33.3 points per game since he took over the program. That exceeds the average point total produced by Sam Rutigliano, formerly of the Cleveland Browns.
Rocco’s coaching career includes stops at Wake Forest, Colorado, Boston College, Texas, Maryland, New York Jets and Virginia before taking the Liberty post in 2005.
Rocco coached against West Virginia in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl, and also opposed the Mountaineers in the early 1990s with Boston College and the late 1990s with Maryland.
“I have always admired Danny and his dad, his family and his brothers,” said Stewart. “They are great in the game of football and they are great in the game of life. These are classy people.”
Liberty’s streak of facing FBS opponents ended last year. Prior to that, the Flames had taken on FBS competition for nine consecutive years, including at date at Connecticut in 2005, a 59-0 Husky victory. Liberty’s only win over a FBS program came in 1989 when the Flames upset Eastern Michigan, 25-24, in Yipsilanti, Mich.
West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, meanwhile, has concerns of his own. The second-year coach will be breaking in a remodeled offensive line and introducing a brand new kicking game.
The Mountaineers will also be without quarterback Pat White for the first time since 2004.
“I want to see us play,” said Stewart. “I don’t know where this football team is, but we are going to find out. Like you, I want to see these young men in the arena.”
Senior Jarrett Brown takes over for White. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., resident has appeared in 25 games, completing 81 of 125 passes for 839 yards and five touchdowns. Stewart has been pleased with the way Brown has taken care of the football during training camp.
“What has impressed me most about Jarrett this fall has been his managing of the football,” said Stewart. “He has not committed turnovers.”
The offensive line returns only one regular from a year ago (Selvish Capers), but Eric Jobe and Donny Barclay also have game experience. Jobe started the last five games of 2008 at center, but has since moved to right guard. Barclay earned playing time last year as a freshman and will start at left tackle this season, while the other two spots will be occupied by promising sophomore left guard Josh Jenkins and redshirt freshman center Joey Madsen.
“Everyone is kind of looking at the offensive line, but they will be fine,” said Stewart.
The kicking game is also a big question mark. Pat McAfee, now with the Indianapolis Colts, performed kicking and punting for the Mountaineers in 2008. Redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt will handle the placements, Western Washington transfer Josh Lider will do the kickoffs, and senior Scott Kozlowski will take care of the punting.
“I’m interested to see how they perform with people in the stands. It’s like Christmas, you don’t know what you are going to get until you start opening the packages,” Stewart said.
Noel Devine returns after rushing for 1,289 yards and scoring four touchdowns as a sophomore in 2008. He ran for a career-high 207 yards in West Virginia’s 34-17 victory over Auburn.
“Noel has that burst and that speed that can make a lineman look really good when he does an average job,” said Stewart. “It is a great asset. The faster you are the better you are.”
Jock Sanders also returns after catching a team-best 53 passes and scoring seven touchdowns in 2008. Sanders missed all of spring drills while serving a team-imposed suspension, which Stewart said has since been lifted.
“Jock Sanders has been through the grind and he has done everything that he has been asked to do,” said Stewart, indicating that Sanders would start on Saturday.
The defense appears to be the strength of the team with eight starters returning. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP Reed Williams is back at middle linebacker after missing almost the entire 2008 season while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
Williams, nose tackle Chris Neild, defensive tackle Scooter Berry, and linebacker J.T. Thomas figure to be the anchors of the Mountaineer defense.
Sam linebacker Pat Lazear, defensive end Julian Miller, left cornerback Brandon Hogan, free safety Robert Sands, strong safety Sidney Glover, bandit safety Boogie Allen, and right cornerback Keith Tandy all have playing experience.
Kickoff is set for noon with television coverage being provided by the Big East Network (John Sanders and Rene Nadeau).
Markets carrying the game include: New York (SNY), Philadelphia (WFMZ), Washington, D.C. (WJAL), Tampa (Brighthouse), Cleveland (FSN-Ohio), Denver (Altitude), Pittsburgh (WPCW), Baltimore (MASN), Milwaukee (TW-WI), Louisville (WHAS), Providence (Cox-NE), New Orleans (Cox-NO), Charleston, W.Va. (WCHS), Roanoke, Va. (WSET), Bluefield, W.Va. (WOAY), Wheeling, W.Va. (WTOV), Clarksburg, W.Va. (WVFX), Parkersburg, W.Va. (WTAP).
As of Tuesday, fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for Saturday’s game. Tickets can be ordered by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office toll-free at 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.