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- Liberty’s Matt Bevins earned Big South special teams player in the week honors for the third time in four weeks after his four field-goal performance against VMI last Saturday.

- Liberty jumped to No. 21 in the GPI this week, a key indicator of a team’s position in terms of earning an at-large berth in the FCS playoffs. A closer look at the teams ahead of Liberty reveals:

12. Jacksonville State—ineligible for the playoffs
13. Eastern Washington—must win its final two games (at Southern Utah, at Northern Arizona) to reach seven DI wins.
14. Delaware—must beat Navy and Villanova to reach seven DI wins.
16. Weber State—must beat Northern Arizona and Cal Poly to reach seven DI wins.
18. James Madison—cannot reach seven DI wins.
t19. Northern Arizona—must beat Weber State and Eastern Washington to reach seven DI wins, would be a great test case for a 7-4 team if it wins out

Of those six teams, only one will be in a position to compete with a 9-2 Liberty at season’s end if the Flames can win their last two games. And don’t forget Montana State, which is lurking at No. 23 and can get to 8-3 by winning out against a suddenly surging Sacramento State team and arch-rival Montana.

My ballot for this week’s Sports Network poll:

1. Villanova
2. Southern Illinois
3. Richmond
4. Montana
5. New Hampshire
6. Elon
7. William & Mary
8. McNeese St.
9. Appalachian St.
10. South Carolina St.
11. South Dakota St.
12. Northern Iowa
13. Eastern Illinois
14. Eastern Washington
15. Liberty
16. Stephen F. Austin
17. Jacksonville St.
18. Holy Cross
19. Lafayette
20. Montana St.
21. Weber St.
22. Florida A&M
23. Prairie View A&M
24. Southeastern Louisiana
25. Texas St.

—Couple of quick notes here.

1. Yeah, I dropped Montana two spots for barely beating Idaho State. The Griz needed a field goal as time expired to beat possibly the worst team in the country. On the road or not, that’s not impressive. Southern Illinois beating the pants off a Top-10 South Dakota State team in Brookings was impressive. Villanova finding a way to battle and grind out a road win against the defending national champions, that was impressive. And that contributed to me dropping the Griz like I did. Had SIU knocked off Indiana State Saturday rather than SDSU, maybe I look at it differently. This is a snapshot, in my mind, of who the best teams are in the country. Not who has the best record. That’s why I’m not ranking Butler.

2. The bottom of the poll was easier to fill out this week. Harvard and Penn both just missed. Penn’s defense has been impressive this season. The teams play each other this week with the Ivy League title on the line, and more than likely, the winner will sneak onto my ballot next week.

—I’ll be back later this evening with the usual Tuesday press conference notes.

—As I mentioned last week, I’m on poll board this year for the AP basketball top 25. The preseason poll came out last week with Kansas at No. 1. My ballot:

The Gardner-Webb scouting report:

GARDNER-WEBB
LOCATION: Boiling Springs, N.C.
ENROLLMENT: 4,000
FOUNDED: 1905
NICKNAME: Bulldogs
COLORS: Scarlet and Black
CONFERENCE: Big South
STADIUM: Ernest W. Spangler Stadium (9,000)
SURFACE: Natural grass (Bermuda)

HEAD COACH: Steve Patton (Furman ‘77)
RECORD: 112-81-1 overall; 82-57 at GWU, 13th year

2008 RECORD: 5-6 (2-3 Big South)
POSTSEASON: None
2009 RECORD: 5-4 (2-2 Big South)
OFFENSIVE FORMATION: Spread
DEFENSIVE FORMATION: 4-3
LETTERMAN RETURNING/LOST: 52/20
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST: 23/8
OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 10/10

2009 SCHEDULE/RESULTS (5-4)
September
5….....MARS HILL…........................W, 58-14
12…...at Western Carolina…............W, 27-20
19…...at North Carolina State…........L, 45-14
October
3….....at VMI…................................W, 27-23
10…...at Buffalo….............................L, 40-3
17…...CHARLESTON SOUTHERN…..W, 27-20
24…...SOUTHERN VIRGINIA…..........W, 65-0
31…...STONY BROOK…...................L, 24-14
November
7….....at Coastal Carolina…...............L, 26-21
14…...LIBERTY….............................1:30 p.m.
21…...at Presbyterian….....................1 p.m.

2008 RESULTS
August
28…....at Tennessee Tech…................L, 28-12
September
6…....TUSCULUM…............................W, 31-12
13…..at Austin Peay…........................W, 31-15
27…..SAM HOUSTON STATE…...........L, 49-33
October
4…....at Charleston Southern….............L, 13-10
11…..at Georgia Tech….......................L, 10-7
18…..PRESBYTERIAN….....................W, 47-21
25…..VMI…........................................W, 34-27
November
1…....at Stony Brook….........................W, 34-33
8…....COASTAL CAROLINA…...............L, 23-18
15…...at Liberty….................................L, 30-10

PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB STAN DOOLITTLE
Photo credit: Gardner-Webb University

After splitting time for years with Devin Campbell, Doolittle has had the starting job to himself this season. He’s thrown for 1,774 yards and nine touchdowns and has been picked off five times, with three of those interceptions coming last week at Coastal Carolina.

RB PATRICK HALL
Photo credit: Gardner-Webb University

Hall is a threat to score—he’s found the end zone seven times. But he’s not really a big-play threat. He’s only had one 100-yard rushing game this season, running for 118 against Charleston Southern in a game in which he scored three touchdowns. Hall’s had one run longer than 21 yards this season.

LB MARTY PATTERSON
Photo credit: Gardner-Webb University

GWU seems to grow linebackers with a high number of tackles on trees. This year, it’s Patterson, a junior who leads the Bulldogs with 82 tackles and is tied for the team lead with four sacks.