Above: Liberty quarterback Tommy Beecher looks to the coaches for a play call Thursday night at Williams Stadium.

Once the hubbub from Thursday’s freshman football orientation night died down at Williams Stadium, Danny Rocco and crew got down to the business of the last major scrimmage of the “training camp” portion of practice. The team will have a full practice Friday morning and a special teams practice Saturday morning before taking a break until Tuesday. First day of classes at LU is Monday, and Rocco doesn’t like holding a practice that day, because focus is often a major issue.

“Historically, the first day of class has been a very tough practice day,“ Rocco said. “A lot of the young kids have not really attended school here. It gives the kids a chance to have a rest, get into class, get off to a good start and come back on Tuesday and get back into a routine.“

First, to clear up some injury news:

—Receiver Ervin Garner returned to practice for the first time in nearly two weeks Thursday and participated in the first half of the scrimmage, which was held sans referees. Last Saturday’s scrimmage featured a full complement of zebras. Garner caught a few passes, but he spent much of his time working with the third time. He’ll need some time to work his way back if he wants to compete for a playing time.

—Running back SirChauncey Holloway has missed roughly six days dealing with a hamstring injury, and he didn’t scrimmage Thursday.

—Offensive lineman Stan Herring has been out several days with an ankle injury.

—Offensive lineman Josh Weaver has been nursing a sore shoulder and missed Thursday’s practice. Both Herring and Weaver are tackles, so depth has taken a hit at that spot.

—Not sure how I missed the giant cast Chuck Duffey was wearing, but I did. He’s been out for a while with a thumb ligament injury. He’ll be casted next week and is expected to be ready for the Sept. 5 opener at West Virginia. One change for Duffey. Because of the hand injury, he’s been moved back to safety. He was slated to move from safety to receiver this season.

“He would be nothing but a decoy” at receiver, Rocco said. “I think people would figure that out pretty quickly.“

—Rocco’s general impressions of the scrimmage:

“Offensively, I thought we were able to get into a rhythm. I thought we were able to make some big plays. We didn’t start real well. But once we got into a rhythm, I saw a number of guys step up and make plays. Tommy Beecher made some good throws. Freddy Brown made a couple of big catches. Michael Brown did a number of things, throwing it, running it and catching it. B.J. Hayes shined at times. And Chris Summers made some big plays. So I think as far as our ability to get the ball to our talent, there were some real demonstrated pictures of us doing that tonight.

Now some criticism from Rocco:

“I challenged our defense tonight at the end of the day. I’ve been saying all year long that we’re going to have a championship quality defense. I didn’t see it tonight. I just don’t see the passion right now that they need to have. It could be because of the monotony of camp. When we’re not scrimmaging live, it’s a little harder to thud defensively than it is on offense. But we’re going to have to play with a little bit more intensity than we did out here tonight.“

—Two plays really stood out to me Thursday night. First, No. 3 QB Tyler Brennan launched a ball down the left sideline, and it had a ton of air underneath it. Not the best of throws. The intended receiver, Pat Kelly stuck with the ball though, eventually finding his way around his defender to catch it and make a big play. Just a great play by Kelly.

The other play? Not as noticeable to the naked eye. But on a simple slip screen to the right, Beecher burst to his right and threw a huge block at an onrushing linebacker, springing the ballcarrier free for a big gain. I’d guess that backs and receivers would like playing for a guy who is willing to sell his body out like that.

—I asked Rocco to name two players—one offensive and one defensive—who have really caught his eye during these first few weeks of practice. He said linebacker Chad Brown has had an outstanding camp, and on the offensive side, he noted (again) that running back Aldreakis Allen has turned heads. That’s about the fifth time Rocco has mentioned Allen. Time to start taking this kid seriously, folks.

“I just see something in him that just really looks special,“ Rocco said.

—We’ll be back tomorrow on the blog with the final installment of the FCS 40 (teams 1-10), and a preview of Liberty’s offensive line.