Looking Back at the JMU Loss to Maine
JMU suffered its first home loss of the season, falling 25-24 to Maine in overtime. Before anyone accuses me of pulling a Mitch Albom, let me tell you that I recorded this one on the DVR with plans to go into full “cone of silence” mode so that I could watch it without knowing the outcome later. Unfortunately, my curiosity got the best of me about 10 minutes after kick-off and I started following it online and via Twitter. I guess it’s a good thing, because my DVR cut off just before the OT started. Lucky for me (not really) Maine’s nifty (read: crappy) 2 point conversion was unavoidable on the morning highlight shows.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me get something else off my chest. We need to give Maine some credit here. They won the game. I’m sure lots of people are frustrated or think the Dukes gave one away. JMU had chances to take control yes, but Maine got it done and earned the W. Let’s not lose sight of that. Maine is a good team. And truth be told they could have won in regulation if not for a phantom block in the back call that took a go-ahead TD off the board.
With that being said, we all saw some things the Dukes need to work on if they want to go anywhere this season. First and foremost is the pass defense. JMU has relied on a “bend but don’t break” defense in the past, but yesterday there was way too much bending. Maine’s QB, Warren Smith, was picking the Dukes apart with underneath throws. JMU was giving the receivers 5-8 yard cushions all day and failed to adjust at all. And without a pass rush getting to Smith, it was just too easy for him. As a result Maine’s back-up tight-end, Justin Perillo, looked like Mark Bavaro out there.
There were some good things to. Obviously Jordan Anderson is proving to be an absolute beast. There seems to be a constant surge of JMU fans screaming for the Dukes to pass more. Whatever your thoughts are on the ideal rush-pass balance, we all should be screaming for Anderson to run more. Dae’Quan Scott has had some nice games, but I don’t see how Anderson can’t be the #1 running back at this point. He makes one cut and hits the hole quick. And as he showed on the 80 yard TD, if he gets past the linebackers, he’s gone. He rushed for over 200 yards yesterday and is averaging a ridiculous 7.7 yards a carry. Make him the starter already.
Jace Edwards also continues to impress. He showed a lot of poise throughout the game and has a better arm than Thorpe in my opinion. He missed a long toss to Brown that would have been a TD, but I continue to be impressed by his play. He’s got command of the offense and certainly didn’t look like a guy making his second career start. The future is bright with this kid.
So it was a tough loss, but not a terrible loss. Had Edwards connected with Brown or Deandre Smith not bobbled the ball on the end-around, JMU might have won. They didn’t though. And Maine stepped up big with a gutsy 2 point conversion call in OT, and even gutsier execution. The CAA isn’t really down this year folks. It’s just that the toughest teams, like Maine, aren’t the ones we expected. The Dukes are still in a good position. They’ve just got to put this one behind them and close out the homestand with a win over Nova next Saturday.
Photo courtesey of JMUsports.com
Not that one play made the difference, but on the two-point con. why didn’t mickey call a t.o. when they saw the odd formation. I didn’t watch the game but our def should have called a t.o. if they were surprised by the call/formation prior to snap.
Jason,
Mickey said they weren’t surprised by that formation. They had seen it from Maine before and had practiced it numerous times this week. They felt prepared and, the Maine coach even said we had the right formation up to defend it. Either we didn’t execute or that QB just made a fantastic play…probably a little of both.
Just to echo Dukie95’s comments, but I think they had the play defended well scheme wise. Maine just made a heck of a play. Cosgrove has a history of running gimmick plays and I don’t think JMU was caught off guard. If they called TO, Cosgrove would have probably switched to another gimmick anyway.
Yea I agree, they were in the right spots, there were three guys right where the QB went over the line but he just made it. It was a gutsy move and a heck of a game, just gotta keep our heads on straight and get the win next week.
While unhappy with the loss, I came away happy in a lot of areas. Jace showed that he can make throws and stand in there. We showed more balanced offense. We played a very good team and did not lose because we just got whipped in any one place or failed to show up. We lost because another good team was just a few plays better. We play this game 10 times it is probably a 50/50 split. The loss of Emmons is the biggest thing we lost today, and we will feel it.
Is Emmons hurt again? Is he out for the rest of the season?
Can we talk about how bad our fans were this week? It seemed like everyone left at halftime again and by the time overtime rolled around we were less than half full.
Good write-up!
1. Maine beat us. They earned it.
2. DQ Scott isn’t a RB. Jordan Anderson is, and should be taking most of the carries.
3. Jace is the man.
4. The “phantom” block in the back was plain as day.
5. Who the hell calls an orbit/reverse on the 1.5 yard line???
6. Maine’s head coach and Mickey whipped ’em out in OT, and the guy from Maine’s were bigger. Going for the win on the road in OT takes mega-huge cahones.
Note to the JMU Defense-
It’s called an “out route”. That is where the TE or Slot receiver runs 5 yards down the field and makes a 90 degree turn towards the sideline. Please feel free to jump this route for a pick-6, most especially if they have already run it 100 times in the previous 3 quarters and/or if you know that a 250 lb. TE doesn’t have the speed to cut it upfield and go deep on you.
Thank you for you consideration.
Sincerely,
Any High School Coach in America
@2004 Duke I thought the block in the back was clear as day in full speed, but when I saw the slow motion replay it sure seemed like a legal block to me. JMU caught a break there IMHO.
Have to agree that the fans didn’t stick around for the duration. Couldn’t help but notice most were families with small kids however. JMU may not quite gave the fanatical 25k to fill the stands just yet but it’s a great atmosphere and it won’t take long. I think It’s just growing pains for now. The fact that we can fill the stadium at all currently is a huge plus. One day we will look back and reminisce on the times when we could buy tickets at face value.
The defense looked completely confused and lost on the 2pt conversion. If that is considered coaching for that situation then our special team coaching staff should be replaced. The defense completely froze and let a slow as molasses Maine player make it to the end zone. Mickey should of absolutely called a T.O. there. Another of a long list of reasons he should not be a head coach.
And I think everyone is wrong about the fans. The fans for the most part stayed much longer than the blowout and crappy weather from the Spiders game. The problem was half the fans are not loud and cheering. Wasn’t till the very very end of regulation and O.T. that the typically less vocal fans really got into it. If JMU had won the game it would of really helped in the long run for fan participation in cheering, staying the whole game, etc.
Oh well, learning strides for the season, lets hope they bounce back well against Villanova this week.