Quick Thoughts on the JMU Win Over Alcorn State
The JMU Dukes cruised to a very easy 42-3 win over the Alcorn State Braves last night. The kick-off was delayed an hour due to some horrific weather, but the fans that persevered were rewarded with a dominant Dukes win. And a double-rainbow. The win moved the Dukes to 2-0 on the season. It’s just the third time the Dukes have started out 2-0 in the past 8 years. And one of those times, in 2004, included 2 season opening wins before JMU fell to WVU. Of course the Dukes bounced back from that loss by winning the National Championship. So yeah, things are setting up nicely here. Here are some quick thoughts on last night’s win.
The Good
There was a whole lot of good to choose from. Justin Thorpe’s escapability and nose for the endzone. Dean Marlowe and Stephon Robertson elevating their games in Jakarie Jackson’s absence. Ryan Smith’s amazing all around effort. The kicking game. The crowd that stuck it out through the storm. But Dae’Quan Scott was a man among boys last night. He looked like a threat to take it to the house every single time he touched the ball. When he wasn’t eluding defenders, he was breaking tackles. And when he wasn’t breaking tackles, it was probably because he was already in the endzone. He had 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving) and 107 yards rushing to go along with another 39 receiving. Unfortunately, he turned an ankle and sat out the second half. He was unstoppable when he was on the field though.
The Bad
And here is our counterpoint to the above. The bad was clearly the fact that Scott turned an ankle. It’s unclear how serious it is, but just seeing Scott holding his ankle in the endzone (after a TD of course) was enough to scare the crap out of every Dukes fan. Yes, the Dukes have tremendous depth at running back. Jordan Anderson is a beast both running and catching the ball. Hykeem Brodie can break one any time he touches it. Dejor Simmons, who didn’t play last night due to a “violation of team rules”, has game changing speed. So the Dukes have plenty of guys who can carry the load. But having Scott on the field elevates each of those guys’ games. Word is that his ankle injury isn’t serious and he’ll be back in a few days. Let’s hope so.
The Ugly
Alcorn State’s defense. Look, I don’t want to bash the Braves. They were simply outmatched. The defense was practically helpless against the Dukes’ attack. And I only point this out as a way to temper our expectations for the rest of the season. Yes, we all expected the JMU offense to be better this year. And it clearly is. Scoring 55 and 42 points in back-to-back weeks is exciting. As is only surrendering 10 total points through 2 games. Last year, JMU’s offense struggled to get into a groove prior to CAA play. This year the Dukes have taken care of business so far and been humming offensively. But St. Francis and Alcorn State are not CAA level competition. They’re both pretty miserable actually. And Alcorn’s defense was especially inept last night. I happen to think this JMU team is for real. But let’s not jump to conclusions before we get into CAA play.
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“But Dae’Quan Scott was a man among boys last night. He looked like a threat to take it to the house every single time he touched the ball. When he wasn’t eluding defenders, he was breaking tackles. And when he wasn’t breaking tackles…”
…and when he wasn’t breaking tackles, he was muffing punts.
That kind of crap won’t beat Delaware/Towson/ODU/Etc.
I also decided we need to do something about our non-conf. schedule. While we were scrimmaging Alcorn State, Crappy Appy was playing Montana. Their annual “big FBS game” was against a very beatable ECU, while we are going to FedEx field for a public humiliation against a top 10 BCS powerhouse.
Rather than play these rediculous non-conference games, I’d like to see something more like this:
Game #1- VMI (Big South/Patriot League)
Game #2- App State (Playoff Contender)
Game #3- ECU (Beatable, NOT-top-25 BCS opponent)
For game #3, I suggest filling it with ODU from the 2013 season to eternity.
Yea, the first two games are not exciting opponents, but we are 2 games towards the goal of 8 DI wins to get into the playoffs.
My feelings on scheduling philosophy are probably better suited to be discussed over a few beers than in the comments section, but I agree with some pieces of what both 2004 and Tank are saying. I don’t really care of the FBS games much, but I’ve come to grips with them. They’re a money grab and almost a necessary evil. JMU has gone the “beatable” FBS program route before (Duke, MD, UNC) and it didn’t really work out. And ECU destroyed Appy. In that sense, I’m fine with just taking the money and hoping like hell for a miracle and the associated publicity that would come with it.
I like the idea of locking in 2 teams JMU should beat in the out of conference. I just wish they could do it against teams the average person had heard of. Teams from the Patriot League are at least more recognizable than Alcorn or St. Francis. I’d really love if JMU could convince some of the Ivy League teams to get out of their little bubble and play a home and home. And I’d personally be in favor of dropping the FBS games in exchange for games against Appy, Montana, or some other FCS powers. The money that FBS schools throw at JMU makes it almost impossible to turn down however.
Certainly for the fans out of conference games such as Montana/App. state are great. But I am sure Montana will regret it if it misses the playoffs because of this additional loss. With a tough CAA schedule already, I just don’t think JMU needs another tough game and risk missing the playoffs.
Rob makes a good point about the FBS games (although we got screwed at UMD…. we should have beat them last time). If we are going to whore ourselves out and take a paycheck for getting humiliated/not making any kind of effort to win, maybe it is better to do it against a WVU or Alabama.
With regards to the other two games, however, I am a die-hard fan and season ticket holder, but I’m not going to spend 6 hours driving to and from Harrisonburg to watch our backups play 30 mins of mop-up duty against St. Northwestern Tech State No-name College. I realize it makes an easy road to the playoffs, but I’d rather be a “fighter’s champion”, as they say.
I doubt it’s just me.
Well I for one think the scheduling formula works out just fine….my only concern is that we play stud team like WVU and get beat up and injured right before the games start to count. If I am Mickey I sit anyone out of this game that even thinks they feel bad. I want to see a lot of Birdsong, Latney, and Simmons in this one and give Thorpe, Scott, and Anderson most of the day off. As for out of conference games, if you play in the CAA you have nothing to prove and need those two wins. That being said I would like to see that be a game against lesser teams from Big South, SOCON, or Patriot League.
I quote a horrible coach “You play to win the game.” You play your best players, they have the same chance of getting hurt against WVU as any other team. For recruiting it’s got to help playing against a FBS team every year. That kinda game gets guys like Moats and Claussin noticed. You get more guys in the NFL and recruiting gets easier. It’s a snowball effect, better players = more wins.