Before getting onto the first in a series of position previews leading into the season opener at West Virginia Sept. 5, wanted to share some pics taken today at practice. I borrowed a point-and-shoot digital from the office, mostly because I wanted to share photos from the road and at practices during the season. Forgive my amateur photo skills, please, but I thought I’d try out the new toy and see what happened.

First, the construction of the new scoreboard is nearly complete. They’re filling in ad panels on each side and still need to post the Jeffersonian pillars along the four scoreboard posts, and they need to add the “Liberty University” lettering up top. Here’s a look:

Later, at the end of practice, the board showed a little video capability for the first time. Just a screen saver of an American flag, but impressive nonetheless:

At the other end of the stadium, the scoreboard that has stood since—I assume—the stadium opened, was in the process of coming down. And quickly.

I looked up about 10 minutes later, and even more of it was gone. I assume the whole thing has been taken down at this point:

One last note about this morning’s practice. Since I’m working on positional previews, I didn’t speak to Flames head coach Danny Rocco today, but he did mention in passing: “If you’re looking for a headline today, it’s just ‘Practice sucked.‘“ Safe to say, the head man wasn’t all that pleased with the effort out there this morning, or the last two days in particular.

Onto the position previews. I’m meeting with each of the positional coaches to chat about what to expect this season. Running backs coach Pete Sundheim gave me a few minutes of his time Monday to discuss the backfield, which must replace the most prolific back in Big South history, Rashad Jennings, plus a pretty darn good second option in Zach Terrell. Up Wednesday: Receivers coach Charlie Skalaski discusses the wideouts.

First, the stats:
RBs LOST
Rashad Jennings (263 carries, 1,500 yards, 5.7 ypc, 17 TD, 136.4 ypg)
Zach Terrell (76 carries, 375 yards, 4.9 ypc, 3 TD, 46.9 ypg)
Terry Williams (2 carries, 3 yards—injured)

RBs RETURNING
B.J. Hayes (18 carries, 194 yards, 10.8 ypc, 1 TD, 16.2 ypg)
Terron Lawrence (22 carries, 89 yards, 4.0 ypc, 1 TD, 14.8 ypg)
Danny Broggin (19 carries, 75 yards, 3.9 ypc, 7.5 ypg)

Let’s start with the two guys in competition for the No. 1 tailback job—B.J. Hayes (5-9, 185, rSo.) and Danny Broggin (6-0, 195, rJr.). Just from watching practice, the clear edge right now goes to Hayes, who played tailback in high school. Broggin was a quarterback at William Campbell High School, and though he spent a lot of time running in the Generals’ spread offense, running out of the shotgun and taking handoffs in the Power I are two completely different animals. Sundheim’s assessment of the two:

First, on Broggin’s improvement from spring to summer:

“He’s just seeing things. He’s better on his decision making. I think the biggest thing, if you ask Danny, is that he stayed here all summer working hard. He’s put himself in position to compete. ... He was a quarterback in high school and started here as a receiver. He was given everything last spring, just given the nature of who was graduating. So he goes from, here you go to, all of the sudden, the heat’s on. We’re on a short fuse, but it’s real positive. These guys are working hard. But we’ve got a ways to go.“

At the beginning of camp, Hayes moved from his hybrid slot receiver/tailback position and began working exclusively out of the backfield as a running back.

“He’s a tailback,“ Sundheim said. “That’s what he was in high school. So he probably had a bigger transition learning the slot position as he started with us the year before. He’s spent a lot of time back there, and I think he’s comfortable back there. He’s got great vision. And I think what he has, and what we haven’t had in the past, he’s got the breakaway speed. If we can get him to the second level, I think we’ll see some things happen. He’s got soft hands. I think he’s a tough kid. He works hard.“

Another player to watch is Aldreakis Allen (6-0, 210, Fr.), who spent more time in high school as a receiver than as a tailback. But he’s made an immediate impression on the coaching staff and is a candidate for early playing time.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise, because he’s a load. He came out of high school at about 205 (pounds), and he’s 226 now. He’s got a great attitude. He has a lot of skills. He can catch the ball. He can block. He runs with power. He runs with speed. He’s got good vision. He’s a good football player. It’s just his inexperience, snaps, what does it take on this level to get it going? I think he’s going to be a real good player.“

Broggin showed the coaching staff something last Saturday with his ability to pick up blitzes in live situations.

“All of these guys have to block,“ Sundheim said. “In this offense, you can’t be one dimensional. Obviously, you’re looking for a guy who can run the football, and more importantly secure the football. That’s really the No. 1 goal, to hold onto that egg. With that, he’s got to be able to block and protect. We want to throw the ball. There’s a number of things that we have to do in protection that becomes a big part of that process. You’ve got to understand who you have, who to pick up, how to pick him up, and then to execute. And then they’ve got to be able to run routes. They’ve got to be able to go out and catch the ball. They have to be able to do all of those different skills. It’s going to be a process here. These guys are a work in progress.“

Rocco and Sundheim have also raved about SirChauncey Holloway (5-8, 190, Fr.) during camp, as he’s shown a good deal of physical toughness and willingness to mix it up in the middle. Other tailbacks on the roster include Chase Barnett (5-8, 175, Fr.), who is battling back from an ankle injury suffered in high school; Terron Lawrence (5-7, 175, rSr.), who played limited minutes last year; Alfonso Wells (5-10, 195, rJr.); Irwin Coleman (5-9, 190, rJr.); and Kevin Fogg (5-10, 175, Fr.), who has split time working with the tailbacks and receivers.

The Flames are senior laden at fullback, bringing back Derek Bishop (5-10, 225, Sr.) and Mark Malvaso (6-0, 225, rSr.). Courtney Anderson (5-11, 230, Jr.) will see time at fullback as well.

Sundheim on Bishop: “There isn’t a tougher guy on our football team than Derek Bishop. He’s the kind of guy who will physically get after you. He’s a tough guy.“

Check back later on today for another blog post, this one dealing with teams 21-30 in the FCS 40.