Good, Bag, Ugly from JMU’s Win over Rhode Island
Some things never change. Thanks to Jimmy and all the seniors for a helluva run!
The Dukes, for a week at least, righted the ship in downing Rhode Island 48-31 on Senior Day in a game that had to feel great for the offense in that it was really the week they won a game for the good guys. JMU gets to 7-3 (5-2 CAA) and gives themselves a chance to possibly play for a seed at fellow CAA-heavy Towson next week. Given results around the country, the Dukes have likely punched a playoff ticket but a win would make all the difference in the world if it gets them a bye and a guaranteed home game. We still have no idea what the ceiling or the floor is for this squad, but let’s all sit back and enjoy having a HUGE game on the horizon this week.
The Good
Zaire Bathea and the O-Line – It wasn’t perfect, but yesterday’s O-Line performance was the best we’ve seen in some time. Bathea in particular stood out in the pull game and this is hopefully something to build on. Cardon’s longish run early and his TD late were two of the best-blocked plays we’ve seen all year.
Jimmy – Gamechanger. Always. Fitting Senior Day highlight.
Good Nooch – What can we say? There was a whole lot of good Nooch going on yesterday. Getting everyone involved and a the kind of fearlessness to tuck and run that we saw back in Raleigh. Still don’t love every decision on the read option but the swag was back and it might’ve been just in time to make something of this season yet! His first TD pass (of four!) was exactly the kind of play – making a great move to avoid a sure-fire sack and improvising for a short toss – that separates him when he’s at his best.
Spreading the ball around – Not sure who to credit here but DiNucci and Donnie K probably deserve the most credit. After weeks of “run for two yards on first down, run for one yard on second, try and force it to Riley on third” we saw all kinds of name involved in the offense right from the jump. Dean, Brown, Sims, Dylan, Riley, Percy, Eldridge, CJ, and Sharp all got great opportunities in places they could do things yesterday and it made all the difference.
Trott using depth – Make no mistake, URI can throw the ball with anyone in the nation. These are the Rams point totals from the games Lawson has played in this year: 21 (win over UD), 45 (win over Albany), 49 (loss to FBS UConn), 23 (win over a good Harvard team), 48 (shutting out Brown), 36 (nail-biting loss to likely CAA Champ Maine), 21 (three-point loss to Elon), 31 (JMU). What we’re saying is yes, JMU’s defense got beat some yesterday in the air. We’ve learned that the Dukes D is susceptible to teams that can really sling it, probably as much based on their style (stop the run, leave everyone vulnerable and rely on talent in the back) as their ability. The Dukes needed to find pressure yesterday. When they didn’t, they got roasted. But they found a way to manufacture enough pressure to make quite a few huge negative plays for URI in the form of multiple sacks and of course the huge Jimmy pick. A lot of this was DC Bob Trott keeping everyone fresh by using all of JMU’s considerable depth. Solid second-half shifts from Matt Terrell and Paris Black helped layer in behind the game changers like Rondell Carter and John Daka.
Charles Tutt getting healthy – Burst was back. He missed that INT, but he was a real factor on the back end yesterday and having him running around with Jimmy and Amos could make a huge difference against the high-flying Tigers next week.
Also, Tyler Gray got engaged after the game with the whole team cheering. And it was as great as that sounds! Congrats!
The Bad
Bad Nooch – The first pick was the only real appearance of Bad Nooch in this game. Real tough look for our guy. But if one per game is the ratio, the Dukes offense has a lot more room to grow. More on the second pick later, but that was NOT bad Nooch.
URI punt return – Ugh. Talk about giving away any chance of a comeback with a mental mistake. That was hideous. And thank you from the bottom of our purple hearts!
The Ugly
CAA Officiating – Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Every week is a sh*tshow with the CAA, but this was comically bad and thankfully not consequential in the outcome.
Ole! – On DiNucci’s second interception, there was a whiff of a block by a TE that would’ve made a matador proud. Watch it again for a laugh and even the staunchest anti-Noochers out there have to admit that ain’t on the QB. We were just glad to see Houston get into the blocker and not Ben after the play.
Loved seeing the offense get back after it. I have to say I think it’s interesting looking at commentary on college football defenses. Rarely do teams have years like Bama is having, most defenses that are lauded for being great still give up points during the season. Sometimes games turn into shootouts where defenses get tired and have trouble keeping control, see bama and Clemson title games when by the end both offenses are running rampant. All that said, I still like our defense, maybe not quite as good as a couple seasons ago but still up there.
I also wanted to share my thoughts on the whole JMU getting to NDSU level. I think we’re the clear 2 to their 1 but all it takes to jump right to their level is another legit QB that we have 100% confidence in. Looking at NDSU’s run of dominance, it started really with Carson Wentz. A lot of FCS programs would’ve taken a massive leap with that sort of once in a few decades talent to appear on the FCS level. We knocked them off in their first year with their current QB but now he is rolling and has experience. If Nooch and play up in the rest of the games we play this season we have a shot at making another run and being in prime position next year too. If we falter and move on to a new guy next year, then maybe the new guy will be what separates us. As a program with recruiting and talent though, we are right there to dethrone or share the throne with the bison.
It seemed like Trott changed tactics after the first few RI drives. We stopped bringing so many blitzes, and instead relied on the front four to bring pressure, and dropped the linebackers into coverage. It seemed to frustrate RI on several occasions when there was nobody open.
And congrats to Gray! Counting the proposal, he was 3-for-3!
Welcome back to the party for the offense. Nice job all game long. The play-calling was much improved and the offense displayed unpredictability and creativity. The was the first time since pre-caa play that it seemed the coaches let Ben be Ben at QB and not make him a vanilla version of himself. Keep the reigns off and let players make plays.
I joke about CAA refs, but geez that squad of Saturday looked like clowns that had no clue what was going on out there. The best was the play in the 2nd half where it appeared JMU came away with the ball on a strip interception over the middle and b/c they could not decide what happened they just decided to call a mystery penalty to apparently appease both sides (sort of like a do-over in backyard football)…….oddly enough they never wanted to take a look at that one on replay….why not??? Oh an the QB sneak TD where Ben was at the back of the endzone waving the ball around and they looked utterly lost to make a call. And that targeting call against RI was complete garbage…..that was just 2 guys running into each other along the sideline, nothing malicious. I have said it a 1000x if no flag in thrown on the field, targeting should not be able to be called from replay officials after the fact.
Best thing about the playoffs……..no CAA refs!!!!!!!!!
Great overall job by the Dukes! Big improvement on the offensive side of the ball. One more for the bad column IMO, was the call to go after the punt late in the game. I don’t how we did not block that ball as we had three guys all over the punter, but I don’t think we should have even been trying to block it. 3 and out, get the ball back late up 17… game over. Instead we give them the 1st down, they proceed to march down the field and score to pull within 10 and breathed life back into RI’s day. Fortunately on our next punt they returned the favor and make and ever bigger bone headed play with the RI guy dashed in and tried to keep the ball from rolling another Yard and ended up in a turnover which resulted in a qucik strike to Dean for a TD in the bushes… once we showed the CAA officials it really was a good catch! Regarding the officiating, I think yesterday was the worse I have ever seen at Bridgeforth. Those guys need to stop trying to do High School games on Friday nite and college games on Saturday. Clearly too much for them!
Go Dukes!
Speaking of the officials, there was a clear non-catch in the 2nd half which they didn’t review. Good for Rhode Island for getting a quick snap and avoiding the replay. The receiver caught the ball, but lost it going out of bounds.
Selfishly, I want the Dukes to end up on Kennesaw St.’s side of the bracket for a possible game to attend 5 minutes from my house. With a win against Towson, JMU could easily sneak in to the 8th seed and depending on other outcomes, as high as 6. It’ll be interesting to see all the tie breaker scenarios with the CAA championship if Maine were to lose. And if Maine wins, do they somehow get seeded higher than JMU?
Liking the positive comments today! Good call that I missed the hideous roughing the punter call, and the decision to even try to block one there.
Drake – I’d LOVE to be on KSU’s side. Watched them Saturday and they’re a fraud. I think it’d be easy for the committee to give the Dukes a higher seed than Maine if they want to since the Bears avoided JMU this year. That said, if Maine wins the conference at 7-1, they should get a seed (too).
Speaking of officiating….after watching a CAA ref’d game….I have no idea what a catch is anymore. That RI catch along the sideline is a catch (no review) but the ball Riley got stripped out of his hands in the endzone after he appeared to catch it and possess the ball for a long time prior to being stripped out. Just how long do you need to hold on to it, that play before the end of the half looked waaaayyy over before he lost possession. I just hate that what constitutes a catch between the 20’s is not what a catch is in the endzone.
wow, lots of love on here as there should be for a Dukes board. But it appears some of you didn’t see the game, you are simply looking at the score and assuming the Dukes dominated.
here’s a reality check…. this wasn’t the convincing win most of you have made it out to be. First TD was a gift from the refs, Ram defender clearly recovered the fumble inbounds around the 2 before they gave it to the Dukes at the 10. And if the dumbass Ram returner doesn’t touch a punt at the 20 which turned into a turnover for the Dukes and subsequent TD, this could have been a 3 point win.
I realize the game is full of “what ifs” and it’s debatable what impact those plays would have eventually had on the the game, but here’s what isn’t debatable…. secondary got torched throughout the game all over the field. running game was suspect and dinucci, just isn’t good enough to take this team deep into the playoffs. This team isn’t challenging NDSU or anyone beyond the second round. it’s doubtful they’ll even get past Towson this week.
Oh, and Matt, JMU the “clear” #2 to NDSU’s #1, come on man. One team has been in 6 of the last 7 FCS championship games and is on pace to make it 7 of 8. The other had a nice two year run and isn’t even the best team in their own conference this season. But I do agree with you that it starts with a top level QB — Dukes don’t have that in dinucci or johnson. Hopeful Maloney will take the reins next season and develop into that level of talent.
RB you realize URI’s receivers are most likely the best we’ll see all year right? And going with your what if scenario, what if the refs didn’t call the URI catch on the sideline that was clearly out of bounds a catch? What if they called Riley’s catch right before the half a touchdown like it should have? What if the refs didnt call that bush league targeting penalty late in the game? What if jmu doesnt have a brain fart and doesnt go after the punt? URI wasn’t really in that game and other than the first drive I wouldnt go as far to say their secondary was “torched”. The bigger issue was the pass rush getting too far up field allowing Lawson to move up in the pocket and either run for 15 yards or create time for receivers to come open.
And URI didnt clearly recover the fumble on the 2. His feet were in the air when he had full possession and landed out of bounds
Tuna, maybe you watched the game on a flip phone, but many of your points are incorrect. fumble was recovered in bounds, clearly had possession. “brain fart” as you called it on the punt block I chalk up to poor coaching — absolutely no need to try for a block when you’re up 17. You are probably right about URI having the best receiving corps we’ll face because we won’t get far enough into the playoffs to play high caliber teams. And so what if they were the best receiving corps — our secondary got TORCHED, it’s good they wore black uniforms because the burnt marks would show on white ones.
RB, I suggest you take another look at the fumble, his body was in bounds but his feet were not on the ground when he had possession. Im sorry that you couldnt pick up on my term of JMU having a brain fart as a poor decision but I cant control your lack of interpretation skills. If you think giving up 255 yards passing with one pick and an easy missed second one as getting torched to the best offense we’ve seen since NCST, I cant help you there. I also like that you claim “many” of my points are incorrect but agreed with one and couldnt comprehend another. I don’t think you understand what getting torched in the secondary really means. There were few big plays where Lawson sat in the pocket and just threw to an open receiver. Most of them came on him extending the play by moving around with a ton of time since our pass rush was undisciplined in the rushes. You cannot expect the secondary to cover receivers for the entire time he’s running around. I will admit it wasnt their best game but by no means were they torched
I think RB’s analysis is on point. I’m happy for the win, and I think JMU was the better team, but let’s not forget that URI put up 31 points against our defense and remained in striking distance throughout most of the game. We can outlast a .500 team but come playoff time we’re going to be in trouble. Teams are figuring us out and exploiting our vulnerabilities. Towson is going to be a tough game for us. They’re 7-3 just like us, and just torched Elon last week. Win or lose, we’ll probably still squeak into the playoffs on an at-large based largely on our reputation. But given the performance trajectory that we’re on, I doubt we’ll see the Dukes playing in December.
I think our best hope in the offseason is to pick up some FBS transfers that can spark some new life into the team. A QB transfer would be huge. We’re good, but we’re not great…we just need to find that extra spark that can give us the edge that we need.
@RB – Not sure who is saying this was a dominating win, but it was good win when we desperately needed a win! The offense (QB play, blocking, catching) were all improved from the past couple of weeks. And yes, we all like the Defense to be more dominant that what we saw on Saturday. But I think we have the right guy in Bob Trott to go to work on some of those issues. Go Dukes!
Tuna, whatever dude, it only takes one foot in college sports — watched it numerous times on a 70inch TV – easily possession. The refs miss calls both ways, not just against the Dukes.
I feel like i’m having this argument with an actual tuna so not going to continue the discourse other than to answer your question — yes, when receivers roam free from 1st to 4th quarter and URI had more misses on open receivers than dukes had defended passes that easily equals torched… and by a 3-4 team that isn’t playing after Thanksgiving.
RB, you are correct on the one foot rule in college but on my 71″ TV – possession with no feet on the ground. Again not torched by a 3-4 CAA team that didnt have its qb for 4 weeks 3 of which were conference games. Records dont always indicate how good a team is