If You’re Gonna Play in Texas…

…ya gotta have a fiddle in the band! And a couple of monster Defensive Linemen never hurt either.

We’re really here to put some thoughts together about JMU’s dominant performance in the semi-final victory over Weber St., but first we’d just to share with all of you our sense of gratitude and wonder that the Dukes are headed back to the National Championship game for the 3rd time in 4 years! These right here ARE the good ole’ days and don’t get so caught up looking ahead and arguing with Bison fans online to stop and appreciate what an incredible run the Dukes are on right now.

In no particular order, here are our notables from the 30-14 win on Saturday night.

Beer

Oh JMU did you miss out on some cash when the beer ran dry mid-2nd the other night. But probably for the best and they’ll be plenty of time for celebrating in Texas.

Mateo Jackson

We’ve been begging for someone to step up and just be willing to be a little crazy on Special Teams since Sam Kidd went down. And it was thrilling to see the young player from Hermitage in Richmond really making an impact last night.

Icing the Kicker

Thank you Weber! Bet they wish they had that decision back as Ratke left the kick short but the Dukes just turned and threw it up to Riley for the play that essentially ended the competitive portion of the evening. Oh yeah, how much swag does Cignetti have?! Late in the game he called for victory formation. Weber called an unnecessary timeout. So Cignetti got pissed and threw another one up for Riley to end it. It was glorious!

Speaking of Stapletons

Weber St. fans will have nightmares of Riley after two legendary performances against them for years to come. And oh by the way, it must’ve been such a kick in the nads to have Dylan Stapleton joining his brother in marauding through the defense and generally wrecking things all night!

467-256

Those are the yardage totals for the Dukes and Weber respectively. JMU went up 17-0, go the big play at the end of the first half and then grinded through the second half in a way that was more dominant than the final score indicated and continues Coach Cignetti’s just do what needs to be done. JMU’s offensive and defensive lines are just wearing people out and its beautiful to watch. Hopefully with a few weeks to get fully healthy again for guys like Holloway, Nooch, Percy, and Polk this team will be fresh and ready to roll. All things considered, and of course noting that everyone is a little banged up after 15 games, assuming Holloway’s ankle sprain heals up for Frisco, we can’t ever recall a JMU team this healthy this late. Man are they primed for the rematch they’ve worked two years through two staffs to get to.

The Hammer

It’s frighteningly unfair for opponents to have Latrele Palmer enter the game late for the Dukes after Fornadel, Patrick, Wilson, Percy and co. have been getting after people for a few quarters. Needless to say, all the backs are running outstanding right now, but whoo boy is it fun to see Latrele in the 4th.

Up Next

Y’all know. This is the one we all wanted. Have fun the next few weeks, don’t take things too personally, only troll if you can handle the smoke yourself, and most of all, remember we’re lucky to be Dukes! See ya at The Star!