Let’s get going first, as we do every week, with the promos:

- The link to the Twitter feed is here. The 100th follower will win a free pack of Orbit Positively Pomegranate gum. OK, maybe not. But it’s a pretty tasty piece of gum. And heart healthy. (Not really, but the pomegranate industry will try to sell you on that one ...).

- Coming in Wednesday’s print News & Advance, a story discussing the significance of Saturday’s Liberty-JMU game in terms of national respect for the Flames.

- Wednesday on the blog, I’ll share my conversation with the Daily News Record’s Mike Barber, who covers the Dukes on a daily basis. Check out Barber’s JMU blog here.

- Coming Thursday, a story on Mike Brown‘s leadership ability and how its cultivated itself at a fairly early point in his career.

- Coming Friday, a piece on how Liberty’s special teams’ hope to minimize the damage from JMU’s Scotty McGee.

- Of course, full game preview coverage Saturday, a gameday blog post Saturday, Twitter posts during the game and post-game coverage both in print and on the blog Sunday.

Now let’s get to the news from Tuesday’s presser:

- Wide receiver Chris Summers, who caught 14 passes Saturday at Lafayette—one shy of a school record—was indeed wearing a boot on his right foot Tuesday. He has what he’s calling a bone bruise in his right foot.

“I hurt it on the first play of the game, but I didn’t really feel it until after the game with all of the adrenaline pumping,“ Summers said. “So it’s really not a big deal.“

Clearly, if he was able to play through the injury and make 14 catches, he should be able to go Saturday against James Madison. The boot is more of a precaution than anything. He’s been receiving ice treatments to ease swelling, and he didn’t practice Monday or today. He’s expected back Wednesday.

“I’m trying to keep rehabbing it,“ Summers said. “I’m ready to go. I won’t feel no pain come Saturday.“

- More on Summers. I asked him what has changed for him, mindset-wise, since the breakthrough game at Lafayette. He went into the game with five career receptions, and he eclipsed that mark by halftime.

“Nothing really has changed in my mind. Me being out there and having the game that I had, I know what I’m capable of now. I knew what I was capable of, but I really needed to show people what I was capable of doing. Nothing changes for me though. It’s just another game.“

He did say his confidence soared after the performance, which is not surprising.

- I didn’t make much of a mention of the new TV deal Liberty signed last week with JCTV, which is a partnership of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, mostly because it the deal had little impact on the upcoming Lafayette game, which was televised regionally in the Easton, Pa., area. But JCTV will begin carrying Flames football games, using the FTN feed that is shown locally on the Liberty Channel. It’s a nice deal for a school that has a fairly national alumni base. For those who own/rent dishes, LU’s home games will now be available on Dish Network channel 260 and DirecTV channel 372.

- Speaking of DirecTV, I think the new Friday Night Lights season starts soon. Great show. Too bad I have Dish at the house. Guess I’ll wait until the NBC run begins in January.

- Some more injury news, this regarding starting right offensive tackle Justin Vargas, who suffered a high ankle sprain Saturday at Lafayette.

“Today, I would have to say Justin Vargas is doubtful, potentially questionable,“ Liberty coach Danny Rocco said. “He’s working hard with Chris Casola, our trainer, to be available. I think he’s going to make every possible effort to be available. I think in theory this one will be a game-time decision.“

If Vargas can’t go, 6-foot-8, 300-pound Soeren Wendland will likely get the start in his place. Rocco’s impressions from what he was able to see on film following the Lafayette game:

“Soeren will play. Soeren’s going to be a good player. He’s played defense for us for the first several years. We always knew he’d be a better offensive player, we just didn’t have the luxury of being able to take him away from the defense. He played pretty well (last week). His first play was not good, and then he had a procedure penalty. But I think when you look at the big picture, he moved well, he was in position, he was physical. He controlled his body. He’s tough, he’s big and he’s long. He’s a giant. I mean, this is a big man. Obviously, Vargas has some playing experience that’s a great advantage in a game like this, but at least this week, Wendland will be out there practicing and getting the repetitions. He’s a conscientious kid, a good kid. I’m sure he’ll give us everything he’s got and I’m sure he’ll be able to play winning football for us.“

- Rocco said he expects quarterback Tommy Beecher to play Saturday.

“I’ve yet to determine how much or whether he will in fact start. But he certainly will play and I will play two quarterbacks in this game.“

- Rocco’s initial thoughts on James Madison:

“This week, we have one of the premier programs in all of FCS football coming into Williams Stadium. James Madison University is extremely talented, very well coached and it’s a program that’s accomplished a lot of great things in the last several years. I’ve got great respect for Mickey Matthews and what he’s done there at James Madison, having won a national championship, having been national coach of the year, and just the way he’s gone about running his program. I think the biggest thing that jumps out at me is the team speed that they have. Defensively, they do really run to the ball very well. Every position has speed on defense. Offensively, their offensive line is very quick. Their wide receivers are fast. And both of their quarterbacks are elusive and are dual threat athletes as they can throw and run the football. In the kicking game, they’re dynamic. We’ll have to do a really good job here in the kicking game in terms of minimizing it. Scotty McGee, their cornerback/kick returner, is an All-American player. He’s dynamic as both a punt returner and a kick returner. We’re certainly going to have to play much better this week to have a chance to win. We’re going to have to play our best game of the season to have a chance to win. But at the same token, we do not have to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination. We just have to make ourselves hard to beat, be sound and take advantage of any opportunities that we have. We’re very excited about this game and very excited about being back at Williams Stadium with an opportunity to play in front of another record crowd. We look forward to the challenge.“

- On Monday’s CAA coaches teleconference, James Madison coach Mickey Matthews expressed his displeasure with how the Dukes’ offensive front played against VMI last Saturday. Liberty’s defensive front, historically, has been more physical than VMI’s. So is there a potential advantage there for the Flames?

“I guess the answer is yes, I do. I do think, though, that coach Matthews is ranting and raving as we speak up there to challenge his kids. I’m sure he’s telling them how inept they were and everything else. It’s funny how things that sometimes you might think will work in your favor can work against you. Since there was some attention drawn to the inability to run the ball with the efficiency that they would have wanted, you know it has been a real legitimate topic of conversation up there this week. So I’m sure they’re challenging those five offensive linemen, they’re challenging those five backups to step up, they’re challenging the running backs to hit it up in there. I’m sure they’re going to come out here with a little more passion and fire.

“But on film, I feel good about our matchups in the front seven. I usually do. I think their offensive line is talented and athletic, but I think physically, we should be able to hold up and hold in there very well as we play our base defense.“

- Rocco broke down the Flames’ two major miscues in the kick game last week—a blocked extra point and a blocked field goal.

“The first one was an extra point, and Matt (Bevins) just mis-hit the ball. I saw that one on the sideline. Whether it was the hold or the kick, I wasn’t able to tell until I watched the film. There wasn’t any penetration on that play. The ball actually hit one our players in the back of the helmet or the shoulder. Any time you do that, the kick’s too low. Matt just didn’t have a good approach on the ball, and I talked to him last night about that.

“The second one got knocked back out of there. They overloaded one of our gaps. They’ve got two guys on each shoulder and one over the middle and they knocked a guy back. That’s one way of going about blocking a field goal, and they did a good job with that.

“We’ve made some changed this week, last night, in our field-goal protection unit, moreso just with personnel. Hopefully, we will have alleviated that problem.“

- Liberty has won its last three games against ranked teams, beating No. 24 Charleston Southern in 2006 and topping No. 23 Youngstown State and No. 12 Elon last season.

- However, Liberty is 0-12 all-time against programs ranked in the FCS Top 10.

- Liberty has met JMU more than any other program in the state, as this will be the 15th meeting between the teams. The next most faced Virginia opponent? VMI (eight meetings).

- Before last year’s FCS playoff semifinal loss to Montana, JMU had won seven straight games against ranked opponents, including road wins at Villanova and Richmond. And here’s an eye-popping number. In four years under Rocco, Liberty has faced four ranked opponents, none ranked higher than No. 12. Last year alone, JMU played SEVEN top-10 teams and won six of those games.

OK, that’s all for today. Check in tomorrow for the Mike Barber Q&A, plus some more news and notes.