Game Preview 11: JMU vs. Elon

The Basics

Match-up: #17 JMU Dukes (8-3, 5-2 CAA) vs. Elon Pheonix (1-10, 0-7 CAA)

Location: Bridgeforth Stadium (aka the Purple Palace) in the lovely Shenandoah Valley

Kick-off: 12:00 on Saturday, November 22

Broadcast Options: Check your local listings for regional television broadcasts or stream it via Madizone. Really though, try to make it back to the ‘burg if you can. It’s Senior Day and both the 1994 Field Hockey and 2004 Football National Championship teams will be honored as part of Champions Weekend.

JMUSB Viewing/Tailgating Situation: We’re actually both going to be in the ‘burg for this one. It will be the first time the two of us have gotten together since Todd moved to North Carolina, so expect tears of joy (or maybe just lots of beer drinking). As of right now, our plan is to park the cars in D2 around 8:30 have some food and drinks and then wander around the lower lots closer an hour or so before kickoff. Please stop by or reach out to us via Twitter if you’d like to meet up.

 How They Got Here

JMU went on the road played in Bridgeforth East and crushed Richmond 55-20 last weekend. It was the streaking Dukes sixth straight win. Everett Withers has the Dukes red hot and playing their best football in years. As a result he was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. Vad Lee, who was recently added to the Payton Award Watch List is playing great football. And the much maligned defense has been steadily improving, pitching second half shutouts the past two weeks. JMU appears to be peaking at just the right time.

As for the Pheonix, it’s pretty much the exact same thing. Except with lots of losses instead of wins. And instead of peaking, they’re struggling. So maybe the situations are slightly different. I’m not good with these sorts of comparisons.

Look at the New Guy

Elon is the new kid on the CAA block. Many of you don’t know much about the Elon sports program. And we know that you’ve come to rely on this very blog to inform you about JMU’s opponents. And we’re definitely not going to let you down. We’re nothing if not consistently respectful of JMU’s opposition. Plus we’re tireless researchers. So without further ado we present JMUSB’s Official List of All the Things That Make Elon an Outstanding Addition to the CAA:

1. It’s close enough to Todd’s house that he can drive to JMU’s away games there

2. ?

Elon Can Win If

It forces JMU to make mistakes and takes advantage of them. With an offense that is only scoring 13 points a game, Elon hasn’t proven it can sustain long scoring drives. The Pheonix are going to have to force a few turnovers to create short fields to get some easy scores. Elon has struggled in its first season of CAA play. The school has improved tremendously in almost every way the past 10-15 years and there’s no reason to believe that won’t carry over to sports eventually. But they’ll need to catch a few breaks this weekend if they expect to get a win. We don’t think they’ll roll over, and upsets happen all the time, but Elon is going to have to elevate its game big time to emerge with a win on Saturday.

JMU Can Win If

It avoids a let down and focuses on the task at hand. JMU is rolling and on the verge of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Vad Lee and the Dukes can’t afford to look past Elon and get caught sleeping. The game plan should be pretty simple. Push the pace on offense and spread the ball around. Stay aggressive on defense. Elon has only averaged 2.8 yards per rush. If the Dukes secondary can shut down the passing game and force Elon to run, it will mean good things for JMU. This is a game the Dukes should win, but could lose if they play sloppy. So don’t do that Dukes.

What We’d Like to See

A full four quarters of solid play. Coach Withers and the Dukes deserve credit for showing improvement all season. The improvement has been noticeable even within single games. However nice the in-game adjustments have been, it would be great to see JMU not have to make as many and to execute effectively on both sides of the ball from the get go.

JMUSB Beer of the Week

It was brought to my attention by our pal Zac, that most of my suggestions seem to be super hoppy beers. Let’s switch it up this week and go with something a little more balanced.

Since it’s the final regular season home game, we’ll choose a beer from the Commonwealth. Devils Backbone Vienna Lager is our JMUSB Beer of the Week. It’s got a nice malt toastiness, with just enough hop bitterness to give it a bight. It’s a good beer that’s approachable for folks who might not go for more aggressively hopped beers. Plus, at 4.9% ABV it’s not going to put you to sleep before a noon kickoff. I really enjoy it and hope you will too.

Official JMUSB Prediction

The seniors go out with a big win in their home finale one of their final home games (don’t get cheap with the playoff bid administration). JMU wins 41-17.