Flames facing their last Division II foe, at least for now

Since 2006, Liberty’s football program has given local fans an introduction to regional Division II football.
In each of Danny Rocco’s three seasons, LU has opened with two home games against DII opponents. Glenville State will end the string today with its second visit to Lynchburg in three years.
The Flames haven’t come close to losing any of these games, but how much has playing a steady stream of DII schools actually helped Liberty?
Not much, if you look at the results of Week 3 games in the Rocco era.
Liberty has played its first Division I opponent on the road in each of the last two seasons and lost both times.
In 2006, Liberty didn’t respond to the rise in competition and came out flat in a 10-3 loss at Towson. Last season at William & Mary, Liberty fell behind 24-13 early in the second half before rallying to force overtime before eventually succumbing 48-41.
Do two gimmes at the start of the year properly help focus a team? There’s no easy answer to that question, or to why LU has scheduled the way it has since 2006.
“It would probably take me 45 minutes to really answer that question,” Rocco said.
Liberty had hoped to avoid playing two DIIs this season. A road game with James Madison was on the schedule, but the Dukes asked to push that game back a year. With Sept. 6 open, another FCS opponent fell through late, leaving Glenville State as the best option.
Rocco also wasn’t interested in playing a season-opening game against a far-away FBS foe.
“For us to go to USC and get beat 66-3 doesn’t do me any good,” Rocco said. “We may make some money on the trip, but it doesn’t do my team any good. I think there are advantages in recruiting, but I think those advantages are moreso in playing regional schools.”
Liberty has games scheduled at West Virginia (2009), Wake Forest (2011) and Virginia (2013), and Rocco said there has been some communication with Virginia Tech about a potential game in the future. The 2009 schedule will be the first in school history devoid of a Division II opponent.
The early-season DII games have proven to be, in essence, scrimmage-like for the Flames. In the five victories, Liberty has outscored its DII foes 180-45, and the closest game was the Flames’ 35-14 win over Shippensburg last September.
Glenville State (1-0) will provide the Flames with a unique challenge, though, because it comes armed with a tailback with two years of FBS experience. Jerry Seymour broke the 1,000-yard mark in each of his two seasons at Central Michigan and was a first-team All-MAC selection as a sophomore before legal problems derailed his CMU career.
He and teammate Jerry King were arrested and charged with second-degree murder for their alleged roles in a June 2005 brawl outside a Michigan nightclub. Seymour and King eventually pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of attempted assault with a deadly weapon. Seymour was sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation. After the plea was reached, Seymour left Central Michigan.
Seymour landed at Glenville State and made a quick impact, setting the school record for single-season rushing yardage as a junior in 2007, finishing with 1,714 yards and 15 touchdowns.
NFL scouts are interested in the 5-foot-7, 210-pound back, and GSC coach Alan Fiddler said a Cleveland Browns scout was in town Thursday to watch Seymour practice.
“He’s very quick. He can start and stop on a dime,” Fiddler said. “He’s a strong kid. He can take a beating. He’s just a physical kid.”
Even with numerous injuries in the linebacking corps, Liberty held North Greenville’s Rashad Cummings — who ran for 1,573 yards and 15 TDs in 2007 — to 65 yards on 21 carries and kept him out of the end zone. Seymour presents a stiffer challenge.
“I’ll be quite frank with you. We’ve lined up against a number of backs these past couple of years that have looked good on tape, and when we played them, they didn’t play hard against us,” Rocco said. “This kid (Seymour) seems to be a tough kid. He’ll fight his way through it and find his yards out there.
“We have to be very disciplined on defense. He’ll be hunting and pecking for a hole.”