LIBERTY REPORT: Scouting Lafayette

During Liberty’s 11-game home win streak, the Flames haven’t really been challenged. The game results:
21 Western Carolina   0
34 Charleston Southern 20
35 Tusculum 14
35 Shippensburg 14
68 St. Francis (Pa.)  10
48 Presbyterian 14
37 Coastal Carolina 24
73 VMI   34
49 North Greenville 10
44 Glenville State 27
33 Stony Brook 0

The common thread among those home opponents is that, well, none of them were any good. Charleston Southern came to town 9-0 and ranked No. 24, but much of CSU’s record that season was built upon four wins against non-Division I teams. And that game wasn’t as close as the score indicated. In fact, at no point in these 11 games did the opponent go into the fourth quarter with a chance to legitimately challenge the Flames.

I write this because I think that all changes Saturday when Lafayette comes to town. The Leopards are 4-1 and have been to the playoffs in three of the last four years. This is a program that’s used to going on the road and giving ranked teams trouble—see 2005 when it lost 34-23 to Appalachian State in Boone in the first round of the playoffs. I get the feeling that half of Liberty’s student body won’t be able to check out of the stands by the third quarter, as it did last week against Stony Brook (that’s a blog for another day, by the way.)

Some things to watch Saturday:

Lafayette enters the game ranked No. 1 in FCS in scoring defense (11.8 points per game) and No. 5 in total defense (256.6 yards per game allowed). But let’s examine those numbers closer:

Lafayette’s opponents this year and how they rank in scoring and total offense out of 118 teams:

MARIST (W, 28-6)
94th in scoring offense, 92nd in total offense

GEORGETOWN (W, 24-6)
116th in scoring offense, 116th in total offense

PENNSYLVANIA (W, 24-17)
89th in scoring offense, 79th in total offense

HARVARD (L, 27-13)
49th in scoring offense, 11th in total offense

COLUMBIA (W, 13-3)
99th in scoring offense, 85th in total offense

The one team with even a modicum of offensive talent that Lafayette faced (Harvard) managed to put up 27 points and 419 yards against the Leopards. So the gaudy defensive rank was built by feasting on some of the FCS’ worst defenses. That’s probably why Lafayette coach Frank Tavani has little interest in getting too wrapped up in those numbers.

“I don’t pay any attention to that, and I don’t believe our kids do either. That’s for everybody else to read about,“ Tavani said. “There are goals and things you want to achieve as a defense. But it’s not about how many yards you give up and those types of things. But our defense prides itself to adjusting to whatever the situation is.“

Case in point: Columbia chewed up some yards last week and moved to the Lafayette 1.

“Our defense had to shut down Columbia inside the 1 twice and then block a field goal. That’s tough business,“ Tavani said. “That’s the kind of thing you want to see. You don’t worry that they gave up the drive down the field right before the half.“

The player to watch on Lafayette’s defense is linebacker Andy Romans, who was added to the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, given annually to the FCS’ top defensive player. Romans made 15 tackles from his outside linebacker spot last week and leads the Leopards with 54 stops.

Offense has been the biggest issue for Lafayette, which has not scored more than 28 points in a game this season. Liberty hasn’t scored fewer than 33 points in its last 10 home games, so either Lafayette’s defense will have to come up huge or the Leopards will have to find an offensive spark to pull out the win on the road. Lafayette will be without top tailback Maurice White who dislocated a big toe last week and may be done for the season.

The quarterback, Rob Curley, has only thrown for more than 200 yards once, in the game against Harvard. In the other four games, Lafayette held early leads, though, and chose to grind the clock down with the run game. Lafayette played from behind against Harvard, and Curley was efficient, going 23 for 29 for 220 yards with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Adair.

Lafayette’s offensive line is stout. All five starters are either juniors and seniors, and weight-wise, they go 297, 305, 295, 295, 330.

Just for fun, here are some famous Lafayette alumni, courtesy of Wikipedia:

* James McKeen Cattell, class of 1880, the first professor of psychology in the United States.

* Joel Silver, head of Hollywood’s Silver Pictures and producer of films including the Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and The Matrix series.

* William E. Simon, class of 1952, 63rd Secretary of the Treasury, President of the United States Olympic Committee.

* Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, attended for one semester before leaving to focus exclusively on his writing.

* Pete Carril, class of 1951, former Princeton University head-coach and assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings

* Joe Maddon, class of 1976, current (2005-2008-) manager of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.

* George “Rose” Barclay, class of 1898, inventor of the football helmet

ABOUT LIBERTY
LOCATION: Easton, Pa.
ENROLLMENT: 2,403
FOUNDED: 1826
COLORS: Maroon and white
CONFERENCE: Patriot League
STADIUM: Fisher Stadium (13,132)
SURFACE: Field Turf
HEAD COACH: Frank Tavani (49-47, ninth year)
OFFENSE: Multiple
DEFENSE: 4-3
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST: 14/10
SERIES WITH LIBERTY: First meeting