LU finds its offense is becoming predictable

Aldreakis Allen lined up behind quarterback Tommy Beecher last Saturday at Charleston Southern, like he does any time Liberty sets up in the power-I formation.

But what Allen heard stunned him.

As Beecher barked out a playcall, Charleston Southern’s linebackers reacted immediately, yelling and identifying the plays the Flames were going to run.

It happened all afternoon, as CSU held the Flames to 165 yards, the lowest total in the Danny Rocco era. After the game, Rocco concluded that Liberty might have become a little too predictable on offense.

“I was trippin’, man,” Allen said. “We’re set up in power and I’d come up to the line, and they’re calling, ‘Iso! Iso!’ The outside linebacker was calling out plays, telling the defensive linemen to shift this way or that.

“I was thinking, ‘can we please audible?’”

Rocco was aware that his offense was becoming too easy to recognize even before CSU started barking out plays. Before Saturday’s game, he and offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter drew up a gameplan that would have Beecher running more often and Mike Brown throwing more.

Before, with Brown in the game, he ran with the ball at least 70 percent of the time. So Beecher ran a few designed draws, and Brown threw the Flames’ only touchdown pass.

That play was Liberty’s offense at its unpredictable best. Brown faked a reverse handoff to Aaron Hewlett before moving up like he was going to take off. CSU’s linebackers bit, and Brown stopped and found Will Quarles, his second read on the play, streaking across the back of the end zone.

Another problem Saturday was that Charleston Southern simply played with more intensity from the get-go, Streeter said. Turnovers gave the Flames short fields to work with, and CSU’s defense knocked Liberty’s offensive line back on its heels.

“We need to run different formations, a few different plays, but for the most part, you’ve just got to tweak the plays that you already have,” Streeter said. “Make it look different, with some little different window dressing, that’s all.”

Liberty could face Presbyterian Saturday with a decimated run game. The Flames will be without tailback B.J. Hayes (shoulder) for a second straight week, and Allen is questionable due to a sprained A.C. joint in his left shoulder.

He hurt the shoulder on the game’s first play Saturday and tried to tough things out. But he took another direct hit from a helmet on the shoulder later in the game and couldn’t finish.

If Allen can’t go, Danny Broggin and SirChauncey Holloway will likely split the workload at tailback, Rocco said.

w More LU football on Chris Lang’s blog at http://www.mynewsadvance.com.