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- Liberty’s SirChauncey Holloway earned Big South freshman of the week honors, and QB Tommy Beecher was the conference’s offensive player of the week.

- Liberty made huge jumps in both human polls, going from No. 23 to No. 16 in the TSN poll and from No. 24 to No. 17 in the FCS Coaches Poll. The Flames held at No. 23 in the GPI, mostly because Presbyterian didn’t exactly help LU’s strength of schedule and computer numbers.

My ballot for this week’s Sports Network poll:

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

—Couple of quick notes here.

1. There really aren’t 25 teams worth ranking this week. So many teams with three and four losses, yet a couple of two-loss teams—Harvard and Penn—I just can’t take seriously because they’ve beaten no one outside of the Ivy league. So that’s why a four-loss Weber State team is still in the poll. I dumped Central Arkansas entirely. I see no reason to rank the Bears with three losses and two Division II wins. A win over the worst team in FBS (Western Kentucky) will only take you so far.

2. People at this level of football are really obsessed with “good losses.“ Look, if we just rated teams the basis of “good losses” Towson would be in the Top 25 every week. I don’t care how nice of a schedule you play, you’ve got to win a game or two on said schedule to garner a ranking in my eyes. That was my point with UC Davis in recent weeks, and though Southern Utah has looked good this season, the Thunderbirds are still 4-4. James Madison has two very good wins (at Liberty, at Delaware), but at some point, you have to wonder if a 3-5 team is really one of the Top 25 teams in the country. I’m not advocating blindly voting for teams with gaudy records (i.e. Butler, Harvard, etc.). But I can’t buy the argument that Weber State should be in the Top 15 just because it lost to a bunch of good teams.

—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:

1. Kansas
2. Michigan State
3. Texas
4. Villanova
5. Purdue
6. North Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. West Virginia
9. Duke
10. Tennessee
11. Michigan
12. Butler
13. California
14. Washington
15. Minnesota
16. Connecticut
17. Maryland
18. Ohio State
19. Dayton
20. Boston College
21. Siena
22. Florida State
23. Clemson
24. Oklahoma
25. Tulsa

(Apparently, I was one of only two people to vote for BC, as the Eagles finished with six poll points, five coming from me. I like what Al Skinner does there every year, and the core of that team will be pretty good, even without Tyrese Rice).

The next poll ballots are due Nov. 16, so I’ll post my first regular-season one once I turn it in.

The VMI scouting report:

VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
LOCATION: Lexington, Va.
ENROLLMENT: 1,400
FOUNDED: 1839
NICKNAME: Keydets
COLORS: Red, White and Yellow
CONFERENCE: Big South
STADIUM: Wesley P. Foster, Jr. Stadium (10,000)

HEAD COACH: Sparky Woods
RECORD: 69-57-5 overall; 6-13 at VMI, second year

2008 RECORD: 4-7 (1-4 Big South)
POSTSEASON: None
2009 RECORD: 2-6 (1-4 Big South)
OFFENSIVE FORMATION: Spread option
DEFENSIVE FORMATION: 3-4
LETTERMAN RETURNING/LOST: 43/11
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST: 20/4
OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE STARTERS RETURNING: 10/9

2009 SCHEDULE/RESULTS (2-6)
September
5….....ROBERT MORRIS…..............W, 14-13
19…...at James Madison…...............L, 44-16
26…...at Richmond….......................L, 38-28
October
3….....GARDNER-WEBB…..............L, 27-23
10…...at Coastal Carolina…..............L, 20-6
17…...STONY BROOK…..................L, 27-20
24…...at Presbyterian…....................W, 31-20
31…...CHARLESTON SOUTHERN…..L, 31-21
November
7….....at Liberty…............................7 p.m.
14…...at Army…..............................TBA
21…...OLD DOMINION…..................1:30 p.m.

2008 RESULTS
September
6…....ST. FRANCIS…........................W, 49-0
13…..at William & Mary…...................L, 52-17
20…..CHOWAN…..............................W, 69-20
27…...at Ohio….................................L, 51-31
October
4…....RICHMOND…............................L, 56-16
11…..COASTAL CAROLINA….............W, 47-20
25…..at Gardner-Webb….....................L, 34-27
November
1…....at Charleston Southern….............L, 31-21
8…....LIBERTY….................................L, 38-26
15…..at Stony Brook….........................L, 40-26
22…..PRESBYTERIAN…......................W, 49-27

PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB KYLE HUGHES
Photo credit: VMIKeydets.com

Hughes is one part of the one-two punch at QB for the Keydets, with Tim Maypray being the other. Hughes can run the ball (495 yards, five touchdowns), but Maypray is the more dangerous runner of the two. Though Maypray can throw the ball, Hughes is better in that area, though he’s only completing 48 percent of his passes and has six interceptions against four touchdowns.

RB HOWARD ABEGESAH
Photo credit: VMIKeydets.com

Abegesah has really started to turn it up of late. He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry and has five touchdowns and leads the Keydets with 691 net rush yards.

DB BYRON ALLEN
Photo credit: VMIKeydets.com

Allen is by far the team’s leading tackler with 73 stops. He has two tackles for loss and has forced a fumble this season.

VMI MEDIA COVERAGE

The Roanoke Times
VMI official football site