Rocco Weekly Press Conference: Gardner-Webb
11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Fresh off their fifth-straight victory and pushing their record to 7-2 overall this season, the Flames now begin the final home stretch of their 2009 schedule with a pair of road games, which will determine the fate of this year's Big South championship.
Liberty will begin the pivotal two-game road stretch when the Flames travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., this weekend to face Gardner-Webb.
During his weekly press conference, head coach Danny Rocco previewed the Flames matchup with the Bulldogs and recapped the team's successes during Liberty's 54-14 victory over VMI last weekend.
Below are the numerous subjects Rocco touched upon during the 30-minute press conference:
• Opened the press conference by talking about how excited he is for his program and the fact that he believes his team is right where it needs to be at this point in the season
• Reviewed the game against VMI, where he spoke about the team scoring 27-straight points in the fourth quarter, his disappointment with his inconsistent offense, how pleased he is with the kicking game, how much of a momentum changer Aaron Hewlett's punt return was, Kevin Fogg's alertness and good field position on the late punt coverage and the consistent play of the Flames defense
• How pleased he is with the team responding with five-straight wins after the loss to James Madison and how encouraged he is with his team heading into the final two games of the regular season
• Previewed the Gardner-Webb game, including his thoughts about how he thought Gardner-Webb was going to be the team to beat two weeks ago, his expectations that Gardner-Webb will still give Liberty its best effort in the game, the size of the Bulldogs' offensive line, the play of quarterback Stan Doolittle, how active Gardner-Webb's defensive line is throughout the game and how he is expecting a dog fight the entire 60 minutes of the game
• Was asked to talk about how hard it was to duplicate the speed of VMI's offense during practice last week leading into the game and if he felt his defense was prepared to stop the Keydets unique offensive style
• Commented on a question about what he thought has been the key to Liberty's ability to create turnovers in 2009 and how scoring quickly has allowed Liberty to be ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring offense and No. 42 in total offense
• Talked about Liberty's ability to score 50-plus points in the last few home games and how pleased he is with his team's ability to put points on the scoreboard this year
• Commented on several of Liberty's road games and how Liberty has been able to find a way to win closer games on the road
• Remarked about Gardner-Webb's rushing statistics and how high they are ranked in rushing defense and if that is reflected in the game footage he is currently watching on the Bulldogs
• Talked about how teams have been covering Mike Brown more lately and how Tommy Beecher has been able to adjust and find additional open wide receivers
• Was asked about how aware he was of the overall national FCS football scene with regard to the FCS playoff picture
• Commented on the increased rushing attempts by quarterback Tommy Beecher and how beneficial that has been to the program in terms of opening up other offensive options
• Gave an injury update, including the playing status of running back B.J. Hayes and how he is waiting on doctor's results from several different players in order to determine their status for the Gardner-Webb game
• Talked about how pleased he is with the play of kicker Matt Bevins of late, especially with him being just a sophomore and how his consistency effects the coaching staff's ability to call the game in terms of options on fourth-down plays
• Commented on how obvious it was that VMI did not have the same confidence in its kicking game and how it shows in their play calling
• Asked to talk about the strengths of Gardner-Webb quarterback Stan Doolittle and who kind of performance he is expecting to see from Doolittle on Saturday
• Talked about some lessons learned during the Charleston Southern game and how different it is to go on the road and play as compared to the environment the team is used to at Williams Stadium
Liberty will begin the pivotal two-game road stretch when the Flames travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., this weekend to face Gardner-Webb.
During his weekly press conference, head coach Danny Rocco previewed the Flames matchup with the Bulldogs and recapped the team's successes during Liberty's 54-14 victory over VMI last weekend.
Below are the numerous subjects Rocco touched upon during the 30-minute press conference:
• Opened the press conference by talking about how excited he is for his program and the fact that he believes his team is right where it needs to be at this point in the season
• Reviewed the game against VMI, where he spoke about the team scoring 27-straight points in the fourth quarter, his disappointment with his inconsistent offense, how pleased he is with the kicking game, how much of a momentum changer Aaron Hewlett's punt return was, Kevin Fogg's alertness and good field position on the late punt coverage and the consistent play of the Flames defense
• How pleased he is with the team responding with five-straight wins after the loss to James Madison and how encouraged he is with his team heading into the final two games of the regular season
• Previewed the Gardner-Webb game, including his thoughts about how he thought Gardner-Webb was going to be the team to beat two weeks ago, his expectations that Gardner-Webb will still give Liberty its best effort in the game, the size of the Bulldogs' offensive line, the play of quarterback Stan Doolittle, how active Gardner-Webb's defensive line is throughout the game and how he is expecting a dog fight the entire 60 minutes of the game
• Was asked to talk about how hard it was to duplicate the speed of VMI's offense during practice last week leading into the game and if he felt his defense was prepared to stop the Keydets unique offensive style
• Commented on a question about what he thought has been the key to Liberty's ability to create turnovers in 2009 and how scoring quickly has allowed Liberty to be ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring offense and No. 42 in total offense
• Talked about Liberty's ability to score 50-plus points in the last few home games and how pleased he is with his team's ability to put points on the scoreboard this year
• Commented on several of Liberty's road games and how Liberty has been able to find a way to win closer games on the road
• Remarked about Gardner-Webb's rushing statistics and how high they are ranked in rushing defense and if that is reflected in the game footage he is currently watching on the Bulldogs
• Talked about how teams have been covering Mike Brown more lately and how Tommy Beecher has been able to adjust and find additional open wide receivers
• Was asked about how aware he was of the overall national FCS football scene with regard to the FCS playoff picture
• Commented on the increased rushing attempts by quarterback Tommy Beecher and how beneficial that has been to the program in terms of opening up other offensive options
• Gave an injury update, including the playing status of running back B.J. Hayes and how he is waiting on doctor's results from several different players in order to determine their status for the Gardner-Webb game
• Talked about how pleased he is with the play of kicker Matt Bevins of late, especially with him being just a sophomore and how his consistency effects the coaching staff's ability to call the game in terms of options on fourth-down plays
• Commented on how obvious it was that VMI did not have the same confidence in its kicking game and how it shows in their play calling
• Asked to talk about the strengths of Gardner-Webb quarterback Stan Doolittle and who kind of performance he is expecting to see from Doolittle on Saturday
• Talked about some lessons learned during the Charleston Southern game and how different it is to go on the road and play as compared to the environment the team is used to at Williams Stadium
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