First, as always, you can follow the blog on Twitter.

I never posted a post-game blog from NCCU Saturday because, well, it was really late by the time I got done filing all of the copy (midnight-ish). So before we look at the Leopards, here are some bullet-point impressions of the game:

Links to the game coverage:

- Game story.

- My apologies, as the notebook never seemed to make it online Saturday night. Just posted it. Here’s a link.

- We’ll find out a definitive answer tomorrow in regards to the status of QB Tommy Beecher. You hate to speculate, but because Beecher was reportedly “woozy” and went to the hospital for a CT scan, it’s safe to assume he suffered a concussion of some degree. Beecher certainly isn’t afraid to mix it up, something his teammates appreciate. But he’s taken a few hits to the ol’ melon here early on in the season, including the one Saturday that put him out for the game.

Beecher was 3-for-6 for 18 yards in about a quarter and a half before being hurt. He led the Flames on an early drive after a Wes Cheek interception, but it stalled in the NCCU red zone and ended when Matt Bevins doinked a 24-yard field goal off the right upright.

After that miss, North Carolina Central got the ball back at the 10:43 mark of the first half, and the Eagles held the ball for the rest of the first quarter, thanks to penalties and gaffes on special teams. NCCU ran 18 straight plays to end the quarter and scored a touchdown thanks to great field position.

Beecher was on the field for only 13 plays Saturday, so it’s hard to make a real comparison between how the offense ran when he was under center and how it ran with Mike Brown at quarterback.

- Speaking of Brown, he was the punt returner on the weird play that resulted in a muffed punt and two penalties, giving NCCU the ball at the Liberty 21, setting up the Eagles’ lone touchdown. I had a heck of a time seeing exactly what happened from my seat in the press box, because the play was on the opposite side of the field. From my vantage point, it appeared that a Liberty player took Brown out, resulting in the muff. Brown’s take on the play:

“I’m not sure. I think they called a block in the back. I tried to fair catch it or whatever. It was actually a guy on the other team that hit me. If we get the ball, we actually had a pretty good return set up.“

- I asked Aldreakis Allen point blank about his own mistake in the kick game. After NCCU kicked a field goal to go up 10-0, the Eagles’ Nickolas Hahula floated an ugly kickoff straight toward the home sideline, and instead of letting it float out of bounds, Allen fielded the ball and nearly immediately stepped out of bounds at the LU 12. That play cost the Flames 28 yards of field position on a drive that would end at the NCCU 46 on a Mike Larsson punt. If the ball goes out of bounds, Liberty starts the drive at the 40 instead of the 12.

“I should understand all of the rules,“ Allen said. “It’s my fault for not knowing that.“

Nice to Allen own up to the mistake instead of making excuses. I’m guessing that play will be tattooed in Allen’s brain for the rest of the year, and it’s a mistake that won’t crop up again.

- Spoke to Flames guard Bryan Mosier about the adjustments Liberty made in the run game after halftime. The Flames ran the ball 14 times for 75 yards in the first half and trailed 10-7. Liberty ran it 20 times for 156 yards after the break and outscored NCCU 28-0.

“We thought they were going to come out in a ‘Bear’ front with three inside guys, but they didn’t show too much of that in this game,“ Mosier said. “So we went back to simple inside zones. Whatever comes to our box, we block it. We just went back to what was easy.“

- Linemen are always good for a chuckle, and quite frankly, they tend to be some of the best interviews on the team across the board. I’ve found that with just about every football team I’ve covered. Mosier and Josh Weaver were joking at the end of the game on the field, enjoying the Flames’ new videoboard. Mosier kept raising his jersey and patting his gut, trying to get the cameraman to put him up on the big screen. I found that amusing, at least.

- Danny Rocco on the Flames’ special teams, which were so good at West Virginia and so bad against NCCU, at least for the first quarter and a half:

“I’m a little bit at a loss here. We had a punt safe situation, and we had a guy jump offsides and then a guy rough the punter. I mean, what does punt safe mean? It doesn’t mean that. There were just some real mental breakdowns. Matt Bevins hits the upright, which is real uncharacteristic for him. We had a miscue on the punt return. Now I watched that thing on the Jumbotron. When it occurred, I did not think I saw a blue shirt anywhere near that ball. I’ll have to watch that film. That was an odd call. I thought for certain that they were gonna call interference on Mike Brown, on our return man. I couldn’t fathom what else the call could be, because I did not see another one of our players near the ball. Next thing you know, they’re calling a penalty and we’re losing possession of the football. That really gave them some momentum right there and put us on our heels.“

- Rocco liked that his team had to sweat out Saturday’s win.

“There’s a lot to be gained from this performance,“ he said. “You’re down 10-7 at halftime. There’s a lot of ways you can go. You can go south. You can go in the tank. You can find a way to stop fighting. We opted to fight. We opted to regain the momentum. We opted to make ourselves a better football team, and we earned our first victory here.“

- Did it take Liberty’s players a little while to believe that this was going to be a tough game?

“Probably,“ Rocco said. “That’s so often the case in a game that plays out this way. When you watch the Hampton film. I told our kids this week, the more I watched them on film, the more I was convinced they were a very solid football team. They’d be a very formidable opponent in the Big South Conference. They were well coached. They had speed. They had size. They ran well. Their big guys in the offensive line, they weren’t fat. They weren’t sloppy. They were fit. They were a good looking football team. That’s a solid FCS football team. Coach Rison has that program going in the right direction. They’ve got a bright future.“

- As I’ve said before, I vote in The Sports Network’s Top 25, so I figure it’s only fair to share my ballot with readers. My vote this week:

1. Richmond
2. Northern Iowa
3. Villanova
4. William & Mary
5. Montana
6. Southern Illinois
7. McNeese St.
8. Elon
9. Appalachian St.
10. James Madison
11. Wofford
12. Weber St.
13. New Hampshire
14. South Carolina St.
15. South Dakota St.
16. Massachusetts
17. Eastern Illinois
18. Holy Cross
19. Hofstra
20. Cal Poly
21. Liberty
22. Central Arkansas
23. Grambling St.
24. Maine
25. Furman

I didn’t have Liberty ranked in the preseason, but the West Virginia game was enough of an eye-opener for me to put the Flames in. I’ve not been impressed with a few of the teams that seem to be getting a lot of national love (especially Texas State and Eastern Washington), and it’s clear I’m more impressed with Holy Cross and South Carolina State than most are. Take these things for what they’re worth. They’re fun conversation starters, but not much else.

NOW, for the Lafayette scouting report:

LAFAYETTE
LOCATION: Easton, Pa.
ENROLLMENT: 2,382
FOUNDED: 1826
NICKNAME: Leopards
COLORS: Maroon and White
CONFERENCE: Patriot League
STADIUM: Fisher Stadium (13,132)

HEAD COACH: Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley, ‘75)
RECORD: 53-50 (10th year at LC)/Same overall

2008 RECORD: 7-4
POSTSEASON: None
2009 RECORD: 1-0
OFFENSIVE FORMATION: Multiple
DEFENSIVE FORMATION: 4-3
LETTERMAN RETURNING/LOST: 40/16
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST: 14/10
OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 5/6

2009 SCHEDULE (1-0)
September
12…..at Georgetown…...............W, 23-3
19…..LIBERTY….......................6 p.m.
26…..PENNSYLVANIA…...........6 p.m.
October
3…....at Yale….........................12:30 p.m.
10…..COLUMBIA…...................6 p.m.
17…..at Harvard….....................12:30 p.m.
24…..FORDHAM…...................1 p.m.
31…..BUCKNELL…..................1 p.m.
November
7…....COLGATE…....................1 p.m.
14…..at Holy Cross…................12:30 p.m.
21…..at Lehigh….......................12:30 p.m.

2008 RESULTS
September
6…....at Marist….......................W, 28-6
13…..GEORGETOWN…............W, 24-6
27…..PENNSYLVANIA…...........W, 24-17
October
4…....HARVARD…....................L, 27-13
11…..at Columbia…...................W, 13-3
18…..at Liberty….......................W, 35-21
25…..at Fordham…....................W, 48-13
November
1…....at Colgate…......................L, 21-13
8…....at Bucknell…....................W, 38-21
15…..HOLY CROSS…...............L, 27-26
22…..LEHIGH….........................L, 31-15

PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB ROB CURLEY
Photo credit: Lafayette College

Curley was efficient at Georgetown last week, completing 20 of 34 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception.

TB MAURICE WHITE
Photo credit: Lafayette College

White ran for 76 yards on 17 carries in Lafayette’s win at Georgetown last week. White missed last year’s LU-LC game in Lynchburg due to a foot injury.

LB MARK LEGGIERO
Photo credit: Lafayette College

With all-everything linebacker Andy Romans graduated, Leggiero steps into a leadership role on defense. He had seven tackles at Georgetown.

LAFAYETTE MEDIA COVERAGE

Easton Express-Times

Allentown Morning Call

Lafayette official site