Oct 26 / Todd

Offense Keeps Up the Pace, Dukes Down Charlotte 48-40

Some things never change. Dan Synder is an ass, April 15th sucks, and no matter what, some elements of our fanbase will find things to complain about. Yes, I’m looking at you guy a few rows back who complained about Vad Lee the first time the Dukes failed to get a first down yesterday when they were already leading 21-0 on a beautiful day at Charlotte. But then again, occasionally some things do. Like the JMU offense, which is quickly turning into a Big 12esque machine capable of scoring points in bunches and the JMU defense, which is beginning to be more reminiscent of the Alex Wood days than the staunch group we’d all grown accustomed to under Mickey and his visor.

The Good

The start. After a string of sluggish play to start games, the Dukes were in shockingly fine form early on, boatracing the 49ers on their way to a 21-0 lead. Obviously this didn’t hold up and when you play at the speed JMU does, this can make for a lot of really quick possessions and punts at times, but there’s no denying the Dukes are finding their rhythm on offense as the season progresses and it can be impressive in that Baylor/Oregon type way at times. We screamed “pass more” and “modernize” for years under the Mickey regime, and now we’ve got a team blowing the doors off the CAA in plays per game and no matter what it’s tough to argue with the point and yardage totals of late.

The Normbulance - a myth no longer. Thanks to Rob and Mandeeb for being such great hosts!

The Normbulance – a myth no longer. Thanks to Rob and Mandeeb for being such great hosts!

Charlotte. Really everything about this game was outstanding. Their fans are warm, welcoming, and incredibly pro-tailgating, pro-partying. So refreshing to get outside the utter lack of a fanbase in general at nearly every CAA school save Delaware.  The commingled pregame tailgate was fun and the Niner fans seemed genuinely happy to have what many of their fans said was the first team that’s really brought a meaningful fan base to a game there. The weather was great, the stadium and campus clean, well thought-out, and generally great looking. We only wish there were more games scheduled with Charlotte (yes, we really wish they were conference games, but at this points we’ll take what we can get) as this seems like a team and school that really has the potential for a great rivalry. It should be noted that my friend that works at Charlotte said of their fans hospitality that “We just haven’t won enough for anyone to get chesty yet” but it’s not hard to have fun on nice days with great scenery in the south.

Vad Lee. Accounted for over 400 yards of offense and six TD’s. Sure the long passes are as shaky as anything Thorpe or Landers ever threw, but his decision making is quickly veering towards the Landers side of the ledger and that’s great news. He’s keeping the ball when it matters, does a a great time buying time and looking downfield (even to backup TE’s), and is underrated in some subtle ways like throwing the ball away (the right way) to save a drive and picking up on down and distance issues. Again, 400 plus yards and 6 td’s. If you’re still missing the Ginger Giant, keep it to yourself till Vad does anything except lead this offense in the right direction. Also nice to see his line coming together, though it’s admittedly tough to evaluate against Charlotte’s D. We’ll see everything we need to know against the featherless Tribe next week.

The JMU friends – Dave, Ronnell, Cam, Sarah, Tay – great to see you all and looking forward to next week!

The Bad

Big plays given up on the defensive side of the ball. We get it, the Dukes are struggling on D. We also get it that Charlotte is what their record says they are. But having seen them in person, their top WR, the tastefully named Austin Duke (#10), and RB Kalif Philips, would be absolute studs for any FCS team in the nation including our own. It’s also noteworthy that each of their respective biggest plays of the day produced the Niners two first half TD’s right up the middle while JMU Senior Safety Dean Marlowe sat on the sideline due to the bogus targeting penalty and subsequent suspension from the Towson game.  That said, Charlotte scored even more points in the second half, usually on drives made of up a few huge plays and chunk yardage. The Dukes also struggled to get pressure once Rhakeem Stallings went out injured (but man are they dangerous when he and Harold are working together). We’re just not sure what the answer is at this point, but we were encouraged by the big play late from Gage Steele who’s finally starting to look like himself and the continued improvement on the perimeter from Taylor Reynolds and Jeremiah Wilson.

The Ugly

A few small notes: Bounced passes counting as completions, amateur hour chain gangs (slowing down the JMU offense by having generally zero clue what’s going on)  and scoreboard ops (how many timeouts did Charlotte get in the 2nd half and is it really necessary to have two third down reminders for the crowd every time?).

On the bigger side, the clock management during the last five minutes was downright Andy Reid-ish. We absolutely get that JMU’s pace is a huge factor in wearing other teams down and giving the Dukes an advantage, but snapping the ball with 20 seconds on the playclock up two scores with four minutes left is unacceptable. Doing it over and over and having to face an onside kick is just hideous. I will note that the decision to kick the FG on fourth and goal at the one was one I understood despite my constant desire to go for it more. After all, the Dukes had already given up on 98 yard TD earlier in the day and their was no reason not to make it two scores again there. Also liked the willingness to stick with what was working, particularly the dive to Latney. If it weren’t such a hot day filled with so much cramping, he and the line might set records.

“Uh-Huh!” Man – If you were there, you know what I’m talking about. I know Charlotte is short on homegrown traditions, but boy is this guy a pain.

Now, on to Homecoming and our last true rival! (Stop it with UR, they play in the A-10 in everything else and laugh their heads off at our dumbasses when their conference gets five bids to the tournament and the CAA goes to Dayton). If the Dukes can get to 6-3 and pull ahead of W&M, they’ll be in great position for the home stretch. HUGE game.

9 Comments

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  1. maddukes98 / Oct 27 2014

    I think we just need to have some moderation on our thoughts as it relates to rest of THIS season. We don’t have a playoff caliber defense so even if we somehow are able to get to a 8-3 record (which is actually fairly possible), it doesn’t mean we should qualify for the playoffs, no matter how large the field currently is (24 teams good god). We probably won’t get to 8-3 (7-4 probably the best case) and it is entirely possible of going O-fer the rest of the way, but even if we did get 4 more wins lets just remember this is a bad defense and will get destroyed if we made the playoffs (off of our name and past season reputation). We just need to improve, help build Coach W’s confidence and returning (and recruited) players’ confidence in the program, and then work towards NEXT season to improve the defense which I would hope Coach W would have some experience doing.

  2. LD / Oct 27 2014

    Todd, so what you are saying is 2004 Duke was sitting behind you.

  3. Shady_P / Oct 27 2014

    Certainly glad JMU had Vad to take this game over on offense. He is continuing to show improvement and more confidence from week to week. Also pleased with the kicking from Maglio and the punting from Kane. Not to be overly nit-picky but does Arnone have to kick at least one kickoff out of bounds every week. This drives me crazy everytime he does it, i get maybe 1-2 a season but he does this waaaayyyy too much when this is now his only job.

    Come on D, tighten it up a little and keep the opponent under 30.

  4. Todd / Oct 27 2014

    maddukes – not trying to give you too hard a time, but come on man, we have twelve games this year, you’re better than that. So 8-4 is very reachable and only three wins are needed to get there. At that point, playoffs will be there if that happens. I also think you’re forgetting how watered down FCS is right now. The losses of ODU, real GSU, and App. really show when you start trying to piece together a 24 team field. Outside of the top five-ish right now (NDSU, Illinois St., Nova, UNH, Coastal), it’s just a slew of inconsistent teams (see losses by SELA and EWU) and the CAA will get four in if they have four with 8 wins and above .500 in conference.

    The cool thing is it’s an old-school Virginia round robin for third and fourth in the CAA with JMU, UR, and W&M all still set to play each other and the top two likely to get in.

  5. JT2001 / Oct 27 2014

    Everyone needs to R E L A X on the defense. Our offense puts it on the field at an incredible rate any way you look at it. Our pace is easily responsible for about two opponent TDs a game. Watching the defense it is hard to see where it is any worse than it was the last few years, We’re weak at CB (although we’re a little better than we have been) and we lack a play-maker like Moats or Robertson.

    With Steele hopefully rounding into shape and getting Moreland and Stallings back we should be OK as long as our offense can continue to play the way it has played.

  6. 2004 Duke / Oct 28 2014

    LD-

    Wasn’t at the game. Didn’t watch, so I don’t have any realistic, non-kool-aid commentary for you this week. Sounds like the offense is hitting their stride at the right time and we’re still playing Texas Tech defense…. which is totally ok as long as we keep putting up 40 points per game. Not gonna win the big dance, but it was a very successful formula for UNH for about a decade. Excited to see the team start to gel under EW, and will be rootin fer Dukes down the homestretch.

    Sorry to disappoint, bro.

  7. Shady_P / Oct 28 2014

    2004 – Excellent point on UNH — I think that formula has the longest consecutive playoff streak in the CAA. I am ok with that.

  8. OuterBanksDuke83 / Oct 28 2014

    …and 150 straight weeks in the top 25.

  9. maddukes98 / Oct 28 2014

    @Todd – LOL shows how much I have checked out this season. Goes along with me giving up my season tickets. Call it the Mickey Hangover or whatever. Yeah, so we have 12 games. That is one more to lose. Bottom line, is I am not hating on this year’s team, but just noting we need to really keep looking toward next season and the future under EW. Even if we get into the playoffs, the top 5 are so much better and its likely just another title for NDSU, we will get killed in first round (or second at the best case by a Top 4 seeded team). It would be better to return to playoffs than take a nose-dive but just need to keep expectations in moderation is all I was saying. You can’t deny the product on the field (at least on defense) is just not there, YET. I think next season, assuming Vad can keep healthy, and we can bring in some defensive recruits to build on, then maybe we have something more to look forward to next years playoffs with a legit shot of going deep instead of just getting pummeled in first round. I still am rootin’ fer Dukes though! #BleedPurple

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