Quick Thoughts on JMU over Charlotte
The Dukes defeated the Charlotte 49ers yesterday by the score of 34-7. It was sometimes sloppy, always wet, and yet never really in doubt after a rough opening for JMU. As fans we had that sinking feeling in our stomachs, when the 49ers punched it in for a quick TD after JMU coughed up the opening kick. Thankfully, JMU answered with a TD from Dae’Quan Scott and promptly took control of the game. Overall, it was probably the strongest effort of the season for JMU and it left us with a lot to be optimistic about. Things were far from perfect however, and there are still things the Dukes need to tighten up for CAA play.
Things We Liked
Dae’Quan Scott’s first half was a thing of beauty. He played well the entire game, but really took the reins and put the team on his back in the opening 30 minutes. His two first half touchdowns put the Dukes in the driver’s seat. For the game he rushed 35 times for 176 yards. It was his fourth straight 100 yard game.
Scott’s back-ups were also a bright spot. Dejor Simmons once again showed that he’s more than capable of spelling Scott effectively. While only carrying the ball 8 times, he rushed for 4 yards a pop and helped keep the Dukes offense moving. True freshmen Khalid Abdullah was the player many fans were talking about after the game. Mickey pulled his redshirt this week and we quickly understood why. He rushed 13 times for 61 yards and TD. Not too much to say other than, the kid looks crazy talented and it’s going to be a pleasure watching him for the next four years.
The running backs didn’t do it all on their own though. The o-line did a nice job clearing space and opening up holes all night. And they gave the Ginga Ninja time to throw as well. As a result, Michael Birdsong threw for over 200 yards. It was a solid, if not spectacular outing, for the sophomore QB making only his 6th start. He had a couple tosses I’m sure he wants back, but he also made throws that we haven’t seen a JMU QB make in years. On the whole, the offense did what it needed to do and took another step forward. Over 500 yards and 34 points on a miserably wet night. Not a bad way to close out non-conference play.
Defensively, the front seven was great. Yes, it was only Charlotte, but the d-lineman and linebackers played like men amongst boys. Stephon Robertson was once again Stephon Robertson, launching himself all over the field and leading the team in tackles. The defense’s relentless pressure rendered Charlottes passing attack ineffective. And the 49ers didn’t have much more success on the ground, averaging a meager 3 yards a carry. The D really was dominant, and didn’t have the mental lapses we saw the first three games.
Things We Didn’t Like
The turnovers. JMU controlled the game and it’s tough to get worked up about a 34-7 victory. The truth is it shouldn’t have been that close. The Dukes turned it over 5 times. Two of them were picks from Birdsong, which we can write off as growing pains for a young QB. The Dukes fumbled 3 more times though, which is harder to overlook. JMU has 10 fumbles thus far in 2013. They’re going to have a tough time winning football games in the CAA if they keep killing scoring opportunities by coughing the ball up.
Sage Harold’s injury is also troubling. He left the game with an ankle injury and reports are he could be out 3-6 weeks. While the defense didn’t lose a step without Harold and Jordan Stanton, who was ejected for targeting, Sage is a player who the Dukes were counting on heading into conference play. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.
Moving On
The Dukes head up to Delaware to start CAA play next Saturday. They’re 3-1 and should have some confidence after dominating Charlotte. There were some things to get excited about in the first 4 games (rushing attack, front seven, Birdsong’s high ceiling, wide receiver talent) and some things to make fans crazy (the turnovers, mental mistakes, giving up big plays, the turnovers).
It’s clear this JMU team has talent. If not for some dumb mistakes and costly turnovers, they’d probably be heading into Newark at 4-0 with a head of steam. The mistakes happened though. And they need to stop. The glass half-full perspective says that it’s easier to eliminate mistakes than to attempt to overcome a talent deficit. Aside from Towson, there isn’t a CAA team out there that has been impressive every week thus far. But like JMU, several teams have shown glimpses. If the Dukes hold onto the ball and stop the mental lapses, the Dukes can beat any of them. If they don’t, we’ll all be talking hoops much earlier than anticipated.
I was here and had no idea Jordan Stanton was ejected. Was it on the play when we were called for personal foul on the QB?
I was “there”, rather.
Yes it was, I was there as well and it did not even look like it should have been flagged as a personal foul, and no way was it an ejectable offense.
I actually can cut the team some slack this week about the turnovers (I say that as a fan, not a coach). It was raining in buckets, and the ball is almost impossible to hold on to when it gets wet. Especially if it is a relatively new ball. When a new ball gets wet, it gets this slimy film all over it that makes life miserable.
That targeting penalty was absolute crap.
Awful call on that Personal Foul/Ejection. Also, awful call on the UNCC punt where the UNCC player kicked/hit the ball twice yielding 10-12 more yards down the field. The one ref who saw it and tried to overturn got overruled. MM was absolutely irate both times.
All in all a decent effort in miserable conditions and a good win heading into CAA play. Couple of key things to work on. First of all we do not win another game on our schedule with 5 turnovers. These turnovers have to be driving MM crazy. Our Dukes have got to take better care of the football. The other thing is our 4th down conversion attempts. Need to start making some of these. Turned the ball over twice deep in UNCC territory with failed attempts.
Hunter and Brown looking great at WR. Can’t wait to get Smith back as well. Added some good talent at RB with the Freshman. I think Lambert needs to take the rest of the season to rehab that thumb.
Let’s get off to a 1-0 start in the CAA Dukes! We are going to need to be hitting on all cylinders as Delaware is not going to rollover.
with that ejection being in the first half, can Jordan Stanton play in the UD game?
Yeah, the Ref said he targeted the QB (play happened about 30 seconds before the half if memory serves…which it may not). There’s an outside chance the CAA could choose to extend his ejection for the first half of next week as well I think, since it happened so close to half time.
Coach Mickey had some words in the post game about how silly the rule was when there is no review. The decision to eject has to be made live and at game speed.
These new rules are killing the sport. If someone was going to actually “target” another player, it:
a) wouldn’t be anyone playing for UNCC
b) wouldn’t happen at almost halftime
c) wouldn’t happen in a non-conference game
d) wouldn’t happen with a solid lead in the game
“Targeting” would happen in the first quarter of a conference game against a major contender with a Walter Payton Award candidate, and would probably go for something easy to break, like a knee. That kind of crap actually happened like 50 years ago. In the 15 years I played the sport, nobody ever even joked about doing it. Horrible, horrible call by the official.
According to the DNR’s Matthew Stoss, Mickey said today that Stanton won’t miss any playing time on Saturday. Good news.
I understand wanting to protect players, but this stuff has gotten sort of ridiculous. Might as well put red-jerseys on the QBs and make it 2-hand touch on them. The defensive players have it really tough, when all the rules in the current era of football are geared toward the offense.
Just some clarification on the new targeting rule, for those who are unfamiliar with the verbiage:
No player shall target and initiate contact vs. opponent with the crown of his helmet. Additionally, no player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent.
Totally agree that it’s a stupid rule. The reason behind it is good, I guess, but it’s just too grey of an area to officiate at live game speed. You gotta let em play, and then if you really need to, deal out after-the-fact suspensions based on game tape if you find out someone is intentionally targeting above the shoulders/knees with intent to maliciously wound another player.
Could not disagree more. The rule is a good one. Rules around concussions are still pretty new, and this time may have been a little hair-trigger, so I’ll argue with the call. But the rule is solid. It’s long overdue that football players learn to tackle in a way that is responsible to the game and to their opponents. Legislating it is vital to the game long term, and it’s the right thing to do short term. At this point, I’d rather see the refs make the call a little tighter and improve the safety of the game– even if it means sending someone off in a purple jersey– than see kids carted off with neck stabilizers every week. If that’s the definition of “let ’em play”, forget it.
I’m with Electriczoo84 on this one. I didn’t see the hit in question, but if it was in fact a helmet to helmet shot, then I’m OK with the ejection. They’ve got the rule in place to discourage those sorts of plays and try to limit injuries. It’s got nothing to do with whether or not the hit was intentional or not.
Also, you won last week’s prediction contest. Check your email for details.
I totally disagree with ElectricZoo and Rob.
First… “Targeting” is different from “Helmet to Helmet” and/or “hitting a defenseless player”. Everyone is using them interchangably, but they are not the same thing.
Second, players do not intentionally lead with their head. Ever. Anyone who has ever played the game has made that mistake ONE time, and learned their lesson. 99.999999% of the time, “helmet-to-helmet” hits are total accidents. It’s not like the guy you are tackling is just standing still. I mean… that’s the whole reason we even wear helmets at all….. because of accidental head-to-head hitting. To call that “targeting” is absolutely rediculous. It doesn’t make anyone “safer” to eject someone froma football game because his helmet did its job and protected his head.
If you seriously believe the rule makes people “more safe”, then I have to ask why the “Spearing rule” (i.e. not allowing you to lead with you head), is a) never called, and b) obviously not doing anything to protect players since we apparently need yet another rule to ban leading with your head?
Again…. 99.9999999% of the time when you are trying to hit a moving target, helmet-to-helmet contact is completely accidental. Thus the helmets. This is a stupid rule.
I am with 2004Duke on this one – helmet to helmet hits are unavoidable in football. Defensive players are hitting moving targets it is gonna happen. Fine if you want to call it a 15 yard penalty, but to eject someone is ridiculous.
For example, perhaps QBs should be ejected for hanging WRs out over the middle and creating most of the dangerous situations to begin with.
With QBs would someone please tell me where you are supposed to hit them now:
– If out hit them square in the chest the helmets will most likely come in contact with one another.
– If you go low you get blamed/flagged for going at their kneees.
– If you raise your hands and jump to deflect a pass your hand(s) may brush/come in contact with their helmet.
– If you push them out of bounds like a running back you get flagged, but if you let up they scamper for another few yards and you look like an idiot that did not finish the play.
Seriously it is getting to the point where QBs are ridiculously protected during games. I am not saying open season on QBs but they are playing the same game as everyone else. At some point you got to put the blame on coaches – if you run pass-happy offenses QBs are gonna take more shots – that is just a simple fact and coaches are willing to take that risk it is on them.
Shady-
I fully support open season on QB’s. They put on pads just like everyone else.
I also thought you made an excellent point about QB’s hanging WR’s out to dry over the middle. That should absolutely result in an ejection of the QB for “Endangering a WR”
I also think Defensive Linemen should be ejected for touching the helmet of an offensive lineman… just like if they touch the QB.
You two just said all of the things I didn’t say above. I don’t agree with the targeting rule because football isn’t played on paper. It’s played on the field. I’ve never put on pads in my life, but every football player I’ve ever talked to has echoed the above. It’s impossible to hit the guy where you want 100% of the time.