Flames notes

CULLOWHEE, N.C. — Nick Hursky sat out of Liberty’s practice Thursday, his swollen right knee wrapped in ice. As the team left the field after practice ended, Hursky limped along to the locker room. He certainly didn’t have the look of a player who would make an impact two days later at Western Carolina.
But after having fluid drained from the knee again, Hursky felt better Saturday. In pre-game warm-ups, he made all of the requisite cuts and moves with no residual pain. He didn’t start — Doncel Bolt did — but Hursky still played a big role in the Flames’ 19-16 victory. He had five tackles, including one for a loss.
Hursky, a captain, missed last week’s game against Glenville State, and his teammates welcomed his leadership back to the field.
“He’s a special player,” LU defensive end Kevin Richard said. “He’s got a nose for the ball and works every play.”
Richard acknowledged that Hursky’s willingness to play hurt lifted the spirits of his teammates.
Hursky re-injured the knee when he fell during practice Tuesday. He said he doesn’t expect the swelling to be an issue for the rest of the season. He had arthroscopic surgery two weeks ago to clean debris out of the knee.
“I don’t think it’s going to balloon up like it did,” Hursky said, noting that he wasn’t wearing a brace or pad when he injured the knee Tuesday. “I had the pad on today and took a couple of shots and it feels perfectly fine.”
Tough sledding
Liberty tailback Rashad Jennings ripped off runs of nine and six yards on his first two carries, and soon thereafter, Western Carolina used its first timeout to make some adjustments.
The Catamounts began to stack eight defenders in the box and essentially took away Liberty’s interior run game. During the rest of the first half, Jennings ran for 32 yards on 15 carries.
“The were overloading the box, and then they were slanting all over the place, because they knew they weren’t going to match up with us man on man,” Liberty center Mike Godsil said. “That’s something we had to deal with and overcome, and in the second half, that’s what we did.”
Jennings ran for 69 yards on 11 second-half carries.
“The second half, we spread them out and ran the ball,” LU coach Danny Rocco said. “We got in the (shot)gun and ran the ball so there were fewer people in the box and a few more soft spots. If they blitz then, we really have some opportunities to pick them up a little bit.”
Averting disaster
Rocco admitted after the game that losing this game would have been a step backward for his program, which was ranked in The Sports Network Top 25 for the first time in 10 years this week.
“It would have been significant,” Rocco said. “I would have rationalized it and justified it somehow, given you something philosophically accurate. But it would have been significant. It allows us to get really five weeks into the season as an undefeated football team.
“We’ve got a lot of guys hurt. Hopefully, we’ll get some guys back in the lineup (before the Sept. 27 game at Youngstown State), to allow us to get to full strength and to allow us to play a little better level of football.”
Extra points
Liberty director of football operations Paul Rutigliano said Saturday that Liberty is in serious talks to add another game at Virginia in 2014 and a game at Virginia Tech in 2016. LU will play West Virginia in next year’s season opener, Wake Forest in 2011 and Virginia in 2013. … Immediately after the game, Western Carolina began tearing out its AstroPlay turf field in order to install another brand of synthetic turf. … Liberty has won three straight road games for the first time since it won six straight in the 1997 season.