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Post by eddantes on Feb 24, 2005 23:10:20 GMT -5
News & Advance says that our star running back of the future (Omar Kilgore) is academically ineligible, so he dropped out of school... Now the RB battle is between our 4th option last year, and some guy who played DB.
Plus, since most of our guys won't get here until August, we won't have the annual Spring practice game. Sweet.
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Post by Sly Fox on Feb 25, 2005 9:38:45 GMT -5
Nothing like having encouraging little nuggets like that to start the day. Its too bad none of the signees at RB were early entrants. Going through spring drills could've left us in much better shape.
PAmedic - It looks like your Pennsylvania boy is going to have every opportunity to play right away. I hope he can step up to the task after playing against that weak Eastern Pennsylvania competition.
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Post by PAmedic on Feb 25, 2005 12:17:02 GMT -5
I was thinking the same thing- and only in the Big South can you get away w/ starting a Frosh at RB.
And by the way- jest if you will: its a known fact that HS football in the Philly metro area is the best in the nation. CB West was #1 in the country for what, 5 years running? Same league as this kid. The top 2 or 3 schools are normally ranked nationally. Only FLA compares- I hear you Texans field them wussy 8 BOY leagues 'cause you can't fill an entire roster!
To paraphrase LUConn on another board- "I pretty much own you"!
hugs and kisses
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Post by Sly Fox on Feb 25, 2005 14:38:46 GMT -5
You don't EVEN want to start trying to compare Eastern PA football to Texas. That can only go VERY badly.
As for starting true freshmen at RB, Oklahoma did all right with a true freshman this past year named Adrian Peterson (Texas kid, by the way) who should've won the Heisman. The year before a fish started at National Champion USC named Reggie Bush. You may have heard of him. I would bring up Maurice Clarett as an example, but as guy who grew up a Buckeye fan I just can't bring myself to think about him for more than a moment or two without getting angry.
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Post by JackSparrow81 on Feb 25, 2005 15:11:17 GMT -5
Clarrett is the biggest idiot in college sports history. I heard that he was about transfer to florida after the fiesta bowl win over miami? haha why? Hopefully him and Ricky Williams stay in the unemployment line for a long time.
We werent comparing FL vs Texas in HS football were we because i get bust out some record of the past games where teams from both states went up head to head and the outcomes was all FL. haha save that thread for another time.
Actually I heard the best states for HS football are Cali, tex, PA, FL and south carolina has judged from College and NFL prospects, so the numbers speak for themselves
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Post by krh44 on Feb 25, 2005 19:23:15 GMT -5
Why didn't Barnes redshirt last year? He came back when season was pretty much over. Was it his choice or coaches?
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Post by Sly Fox on Feb 25, 2005 19:37:13 GMT -5
krh --- Just take a look back on this board at the general reaction of horror when Barnes took off the shirt midseason. I'm sure it was a mutual decision. At the time, the coaching staff could sense some severe peril career-wise if things didn't turn around. As it turned out, it paid shortterm dividends. As for the longterm ...
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Post by eddantes on Feb 26, 2005 0:04:45 GMT -5
Mostly true, mostly conjecture::::::
Karcher un-redshirted Dre Barnes before the Coastal Carolina game because he wanted to win the conference championship. The team was off to another lousy start (2-4) but because of a lucky win against Gardner-Webb was in decent shape to win a championship. Rumor has it that Karcher - who had been on the hot seat, if you remember - wanted to have the conference championship as a bargaining tool come contract negotiations, even if the rest of the season panned out poorly.
Of course, Dre lost his eligibility, we don't have any experienced RBs next year, we lost the Coastal game and Karcher still got re-hired. I couldn't think of a worse scenario.
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Post by Stevev on Feb 27, 2005 21:33:07 GMT -5
Some of the best running backs in 1AA recent history have had success as true freshmen. The RB'S that I am thinking of are Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern), Marcell Shipp (UMASS), and Louis Ivory (Furman). I'm not sure if LU's new recruits are of that calibre but it is possible to have success as a true freshmen. Of course these people played for good 1AA teams and I am sure they got some help from other teammates.
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Post by V88 on Feb 28, 2005 9:14:21 GMT -5
Don't worry about the spring practice game being pushed back. Those games are overrated and you don't really learn that much. As far as the running back situation goes, Liberty has a Junior College player coming in- Rajive Otah(over 1,000 yards rushing as a sophomore). He has experience and will probably join Marcus Hamilton in the backfield. Also, the type of offense Liberty uses is designed for RB's, so a freshman like a Ryan Greiser, could step in and have success. The question is not really about the running backs, it's about the offensive line and who will step up and fill the positions.
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Post by PAmedic on Feb 28, 2005 10:14:45 GMT -5
good point V- what kind of depth do we have at O-line? who is coming back next year? (as far as starters go)
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Post by Jacksparrow81 on Feb 28, 2005 13:08:18 GMT -5
What happen to Eugene Goodman? I know he broke his leg this past year, but i thought he still had a couple of years. In my opinion if you really look at the fundamentals and overall talent, i think he was better than dre.
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Post by gest2b on Feb 28, 2005 14:06:21 GMT -5
Ewgene has no more eligibility.
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Post by Sly Fox on Feb 28, 2005 14:40:13 GMT -5
I'm glad to hear we have a JUCO to fill the gap. But the offensive line wasn't a strength last year so I didn't expect much this fall.
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Post by PAmedic on Feb 28, 2005 17:14:58 GMT -5
just a guess here, but where the big schools (D1-A) have such an advantage is in strength and conditioning programs. remembering from back when, our team just did not have the size to be competitive. That's what hurts the running game.
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Post by PAmedic on Feb 28, 2005 17:23:57 GMT -5
here's what I got off the website (2004 roster)- don't know who's coming back or who contributed much this year, but there's a LOT of young guys on this list- a good sign for possible future improvement?
56 Tim Ayer OL JR 6-3 260 Greensboro, N.C. 56 Britt Stone C FR 6-3 260 Kissimmee, Fla. 58 Jarrett Winfrey OL RSO 6-4 250 Scottdale, Ga. 63 Bobby Payne LS SO 6-2 220 Tampa, Fla. 64 Melvin Taylor OL RFR 6-3 300 Aberdeen, Md. 66 David Cooper OL RJR 6-8 300 Tampa, Fla. 69 Kevin Inge OL RJR 6-4 290 Oviedo, Fla. 70 Markus Ferguson OL RJR 6-4 290 Lynchburg, Va. 71 David Forest OL RFR 6-0 280 Chesapeake, Va. 74 Matt Beard OL FR 6-4 270 Oviedo, Fla 75 Rhett Parson OL RSO 6-6 320 Villa Rica, Ga. 76 Sean Boyle OL SR 6-6 310 Pittsburgh, Pa. 78 Thomas Smith OL SR 6-4 275 Vidalia, Ga. 86 Kavon Mostatabi OL RSO 6-2 310 Menlo, Calif.
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Post by V88 on Feb 28, 2005 18:33:36 GMT -5
The biggest loss on the O line is Center Shaun Boyle. He finished up last year and was injured prior to the final game. Kavon Mostatabi filled the spot and will probably be given a shot at the position next season. Thomas Smith also finished his career. LU signed a juco,Stephen Sene from Dodge City Community College. Don't know much about him except that he's 6'6 320lbs. The comment about conditioning and strength is a good one. Some of you may not be aware but Bill Gillespie has been hired as the new strength & conditioning cordinator. He is working primarily with football. This is a great addition to the program. Bill holds several powerlifting records, was a strength coach at Washington during their championship days and spent the last two years as a strength coach with the Seattle Seahawks. He should take the conditioning program to another level.
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Post by Stevev on Feb 28, 2005 21:10:24 GMT -5
We should be okay with the O-Line. 5 of the projected returnee's have significant starting experience. The JUCO transfere will help with his size. The writeup on him is that he started some games at U of South Carolina (I need confirmation of that) and then transfered to the junior college. Chris Renick, one of this year's recruits looks like a blue chipper and goes 330 lbs. There are some other quality recruits on the list also. The O-line has not been a glaring weakness the last couple of years. We need to fix problems at QB and overall defense. Just my opinion.
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Post by PAmedic on Feb 28, 2005 21:47:41 GMT -5
Good pts about the "D" Steve, I did notice it seemed like we won several by a margin (10 pts or more) or got blown out, IE- the defense didn't normally win it for us. And great news about the new strength/conditioning guy- though it may take a couple of years to see the results, this should pay off big for us. (literally!)
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Post by Stevev on Feb 28, 2005 21:58:22 GMT -5
I went to the game where we played William and Mary and they certainly exposed LU's weaknesses on defense. Pass coverage was very poor and at times non-existant. The defensive line looked very slow (No pressure on the QB). The linebackers looked okay in controlling the run but overall a very weak bunch. I guess it took us playing a good team to expose those kinds of things. As far as strength and conditioning is concerned: Dave Williams and Bill Gillespie look like a possible winning combination.
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Post by V88 on Mar 1, 2005 8:33:05 GMT -5
In the comments from coach Karcher at the signing day press conference, he said the defensive backs position should be much improved this year. Lets hope so. As far as QB they may not be in that bad of shape. After replacing Paul Troth and struggling in his first start, Brock Farrell did a good job the rest of the season. He doesn't WOW you with his arm or his stats, but he doesn't make dumb decisions and seems to read the defense pretty well. I'm sure LU would like to find the QB who can put the ball in the air more, but with a solid running game you can be very successful with a guy who can complete the short-mid range passes and screens. LU did sign a lefthanded QB out of Hershey, Pa but you never know how a freshman will turn out.
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Post by Pessimist on Mar 1, 2005 8:44:06 GMT -5
Brock Farrell was only decent because he didn't have Karcher coaching him for more than one semester. Karcher has the reverse Midas touch when it comes to coaching QBs. Look at Troth, look at Condon. They were awful at a time when the running game should have opened up the passing game. Now you have no running game that we know of. Farrell, I'm sure he's a good person, but the odds are against him.
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Post by Sly Fox on Mar 1, 2005 11:57:37 GMT -5
Its amazing how well Pessimist lives up to his moniker.
Farrell did a good job of not making mistakes a year ago. Perhaps he will buck the trend that pessimist seems so intent on emphasizing by showing improvement this fall.
That's fantastic news about the new strength & conditioning coach. Quality strength coaches rarely take jobs at I-AA schools because they are so in demand. I'm glad to hear we snared one.
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Post by JackSparrow81 on Mar 1, 2005 13:11:52 GMT -5
I think are biggest weakness during the karcher era has been the O-Line. If you watch any games, you would see that The QB rarely had enough time to do anything. i only attended a couple of games where Biff Parsons was at the helm. He seemed to throw up decent numbers. If the O-Line is there then all we need is a average qb and Rb. Condon and Painter were below average though. Whoever made those shirts Condon for Heisman definitly flushed their $ right donw the toilet. It got so bad, I even felt embarrassed for those guys.
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Post by V88 on Mar 1, 2005 13:15:13 GMT -5
So there is actually someone else besides me on this forum who doesn't think it's all gloom and doom for the football program.
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Post by PAmedic on Mar 1, 2005 14:07:01 GMT -5
absolutely: though I think it may naturally arise more from loyalty/hope than solid fact, but it sounds like steps are being taken to ensure a good future (new AD, strength coach, FACILITIES)
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Post by Sly Fox on Mar 1, 2005 14:15:59 GMT -5
V88 -- I think most people on this board WANT to believe we are ont he rise. But as PAmedic mentioned, we've been disappointed so many times over the years that you tend to fear the worst. Its only natural to have worries during spring. I cover regionally schools like Texas, Oklahoma & LSU who all have major issues this spring. And three of those schools will probably start the year Top 10-15 in nation. So its not uncommon for us to moan & groan a little.
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Post by JackSparrow81 on Mar 1, 2005 15:38:42 GMT -5
Sly,
Is Xavier (Pee-Wee) Carter leaving LSU? It has been confirmed that he wants to transfer due to Saban leaving, but i havnt heard anything lately. I thinking he recently just got ther world record is some track meet for the fastest person under 19 in the 200 i believe. He's from my home county so i was just wondering if you were on the inside and would know more.
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Post by Sly Fox on Mar 1, 2005 23:39:04 GMT -5
I believe he wound up sticking around for the spring semester. A lot of those kids talk about leaving in the heat of the moment. But transferring to another I-A school comes at such a penalty that you pretty much have to go I-AA. In other words, it doesn't make sense unless he feels like he so far down the depth charts he needs to go somewhere else.
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Post by PittLU on Mar 2, 2005 9:43:00 GMT -5
Sorry to chime in late, but being from Western PA, I have to say that I have to throw my 2 cents in about high shcool football
PA Medic - who won the AAAA State Championship this year? Thats right - Pittsburgh Central Catholic. The same school that birthed Dan Marino and Mark Bulger. CA West may be ranked, but always choke in the Championship.
Sly Fox - all due respect, but what area has birthed more HOF QB's? Jim Kelly, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, George Blanda
In Western PA, football is king and the HOF players out there and current stars prove it.
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