LIBERTY REPORT: Liberty-Gardner-Webb game blog

The rain that’s pelted Lynchburg all day seems to have stopped. Just took a quick gander at the radar, and it looks like there are a couple of stray showers to the West that might sneak in, but the main band of precipitation is over Raleigh now, so it should be mostly dry for the rest of the night.

(No word if our broadcast partner, WSLS, wants to hire me as a weather anchor.)

Because of the deadline constraints that come from a 7 p.m. televised football game, I won’t have much chance to post during the game. But some quick thoughts heading into tonight’s game, some football related, some related to other sports at LU.

1. Defensive tackle Colin Dugan (left ankle) is a game-time decision, and the defensive linemen haven’t come out to warm up yet, so I’m not sure if he’s dressed. If he can’t go, I would assume Jay Coady would slip into his place.

1a. The other players who were questionable early in the week were upgraded to probable Thursday, LU coach Danny Rocco said. That list includes tailback Rashad Jennings (hip, groin), cornerback Pat Calvary (ankle) and safety Larry Claiborne (hamstring).

1c. Dugan is warming up down in the left end zone, and he looks pretty spry. So he looks like he might be a go.

2. A guy to watch defensively tonight for Gardner-Webb is linebacker Jeffrey Williams, who leads the Big South with 104 tackles. He had 19 stops against VMI and 18 against Presbyterian, so he’s capable of having a big game. I’m looking forward to seeing the 6-foot, 221-pound Williams clash with Jennings at the second level tonight.

2a. GWU quarterback Devin Campbell has thrown for 300 yards in his last three games.

2b. Bulldog safety Daniel Cooke gets the start tonight, marking his 44th straight start. He’s started every game in his GWU career.

2c. Gardner-Webb is 4-2 all-time in Lynchburg. The Bulldogs were the last Big South team to beat the Flames in Lynchburg, rallying from down 17-0 at halftime in 2006 to beat LU 27-24.

2d. There are no Virginians on the Gardner-Webb roster. Kind of curious, considering the Bulldogs play right next door in North Carolina. Well, not right next door. I don’t think Boiling Springs is right next door to anything.

3. Quick baseball note: The Flames received seven national letters of intent Saturday from the following student-athletes for the 2010 season: RHP Daniel Brown (Raleigh, N.C.); RHP Cameron Giannini (Hargrave); LHP Jake Matthews (Powhatan); RHP J.J. McLeod (Burlington, Wash.); C Jerry Neufang (Stafford); SS/P Josh Richardson (Chesapeake); LHP Chris Roach (Andover, N.J.). Ryan Bomberger, Liberty’s baseball sports information guru, tells me the coaching staff is excited most about McLeod and Roach.

McLeod is a junior transfer from Skagit Valley College who had a 0.92 ERA last season. He won’t pitch this season, though, because he recently underwent Tommy John surgery.

Roach will pitch for Chipola Junior College this fall. He pitched last year at Seton Hall and went 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 49 innings for the Pirates.

4. Quick cross country note: This just in—Sam Chelanga is good. The Liberty sophomore won the Southeast Regional championship today, and he’ll certainly enter the Nov. 24 NCAA championships as one of the pre-race favorites. He ran a 10K cross country personal best 29:53.4 to finish 24 seconds ahead of N.C. State’s Bobby Mack. Chelanga already holds the NCAA pre-national meet record and will be one of the runners to watch in Indiana a week from Monday.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to check in at halftime.