Ready for cool, crisp football weather? You won’t find it today at James Madison. It’s flippin’ hot out here. The thermometer on the trusty Stratus (which is back in commission, thankfully, after a shaky week), said 94 when I got to Harrisonburg. We’ve already seen a member of Liberty’s marching band go down with heat-related issues. Yet Liberty coach Danny Rocco is on the sidelines wearing a sweatshirt. I’m sweating through my shirt just thinking about it.

The big news here is that Liberty quarterback Mike Brown is a little gimpy. He rolled his right ankle (on his plant foot) at the end of last week’s game against Robert Morris, and the Liberty coaching staff (understandly so) didn’t say much about it this week. He didn’t practice a whole lot (I didn’t make it out to practice much this week because of the aforementioned vehicle issues), and from what I’m hearing, the biggest effects of the injury will be in how he runs and scrambles. He can throw just fine. Just another reason why the Flames’ tailbacks—Korrey Davis and SirChauncey Holloway—will have to get going today if Liberty has any chance of springing an upset.

* For in-game updates, follow me on Twitter (@ChrisLangLNA).

* Safety Corey Lillard (hamstring) is dressed and warming up now. An athletic trainer is stretching the heck out of his injured left hamstring.

* Chase Barnett shaved his beard. As a bearded fellow myself, I’m disappointed to lose a member of the beard fraternity.

* WR Ervin Garner (foot) is also dressed. He’s warming up and doesn’t look to be favoring his injured foot a whole lot.

* A scout for the Atlanta Falcons is in attendance today on a tightly packed press row. The new press box will be built across the way from where I’m sitting currently on the second level of the renovated Bridgeforth Stadium. This place will be really impressive when it’s done.

* There are a couple of adjustments to the starting lineup. Brent Vinson will start at weak safety, Danny Broggin at adjuster and if Garner doesn’t start, Pat Kelly will go in his place.

* Liberty’s biggest defensive challenge today will be in how the Flames defend JMU’s pistol look. The Flames have not looked good in man-to-man defense over the last few seasons, and the JMU offense presents some option looks in which quarterback Drew Dudzik throws on the run. It’s similar to what VMI used to run in terms of how you have to defend it. It’s not a triple-option look, but assignment defense is key, and you can’t let Dudzik get outside where he has a chance to get man-on-man with a linebacker in pass or run coverage.

* And obviously, if the Flames tackle like they did last week at Robert Morris, this will be an ugly game. Like 45-7 ugly.

That’s all for now.