JMU Beats Stony Brook 38-20 and the Bandwagon Picks Up Speed
The Dukes are rolling. JMU defeated Stony Brook by the score of 38-20 in a rain soaked Bridgeforth Stadium. The win moved JMU to 5-0 (2-0 CAA) for the first time in program history. The Seawolves fell to 2-2 (1-2 CAA). Khalid Abdullah lead the way with 114 yards rushing on just 17 carries. He also scored 2 TDs, to push his season total to an FCS best 8. His backfield mate Cardon Johnson, chipped in 87 yards and a TD, while Vad Lee ran for 91 and a score, in addition to throwing for 225 and a TD. Not a bad effort in the rain. Here are a few quick thoughts on the win.
500 Yards of Offense, Again
The weather was pretty ugly yesterday and at times, so was the play. Yet, JMU still produced 519 yards of total offense and scored 38 points. And it could have been more, had a late Vad Lee touchdown not been called back by a penalty. This was probably the most pedestrian performance of the season by the offense, yet it still averaged over 6 yards a play. It says a lot when as fans, we’re sort of underwhelmed by a 38 point effort. Behind a couple of great runs by Abdullah, the Dukes got out to an early lead. Then they just sort of went into autopilot and played out the string. It was never in doubt.
No Letdown, No Trap Game
Was I the only one worried that all of the hype surrounding this team last week was going to result in a letdown? Thankfully, it did not. In fact, JMU came out and pretty much stepped on Stony Brook’s throat in the first half. The team was intense from the get go and put the game out of reach in the first half. With the weather, ESPN being on campus, and the growing bandwagon, it would be easy to understand if the Dukes came out flat. Credit to all the coaches and players for making sure that didn’t happen.
Gage is Back and Reynolds Never Left
Gage Steele had a monster freshman season playing alongside Dukes all-timer Stephon Robertson. Last year he faced a number of injuries and never seemed to find his stride. He’s back to playing at the level we all expected him to now. Yesterday, he lead the Dukes with 18 tackles.
Taylor Reynolds on the other hand, had a more typical freshman season. After converting to corner, he show glimpses of real talent, but also struggled at times. He elevated his game last year and has been even better this season. Reynolds picked off one pass yesterday and batted down five more. He’s become one of the top cover corners in the CAA.
Big Uglies
While the skill position players often get the glory, the interior line play on both sides often are the difference between winning and losing. The Dukes big guys have been carrying the load thus far. Yesterday, the offensive lineman opened up huge holes for Abdullah and Johnson. They also prevented the opposition from getting a single sack for the second week in a row and gave Vad Lee plenty of time to link up with his receivers.
On the other side of the ball, the Dukes defensive line had 3 sacks and helped hold the Seawolves to a modest 2.5 yards per rush. After a relatively slow start to the season, the line is now consistently pressuring QBs. And they’re doing it without Simeyon Robinson. Once he returns from suspension, the line should be even better.
speaking of the OL – we have a good LT in Aaron Stinnie, 2 more years of development after this year and sky’s the limit. Also, rewatch the game and see how many guys Matt Frank threw on the ground and took completely out of the play. MVP moves by the staff in the offseason so far
I was quite pleased with how well our offense looked playing in less than ideal weather conditions. Still appeared to move the ball well in spite of weather conditions and a physical defense.
Also, an excellent job by the staff preparing the team to play and keep them focused on football this week.
It got a little sloppy and lacked a little focus on defense late but at that point the game was in hand.
Once again the CAA officiating crew looked like a ‘clown show’ on the field. These officials really are consistently the worst I have ever seen.
Gonna be “that guy”- Taylor Reynolds’ INT was thrown directly into his stomach…and you neglected to mention how they intentionally picked on him when they isolated him in 1-on-1 coverage, where he gave up an easy TD.
Not saying he sucks…he’s a decent player, but “one of the top cover corners in the CAA” is kind of ridiculous. People have been jocking him ever since he set foot on campus, and the film just doesn’t back any of it up.
Ironically, the TD Reynolds gave up made the above “highlight” reel. lol
In the interest of not being overly realistic, Abdullah is one most underrated backs JMU had ever had.
The only thing setting Reynolds back is consistency… he played phenomenal versus SMU’s wideouts but had a lot of miss opportunities vs. SB. Same can be said about Jordan Brown and Curtis Oliver as well. Weather, short week, noon kickoff.. what have you, those guys weren’t 100% but we are damn lucky to have them.
Being outscored 13 to 10 in the 2nd half by Stony Brook is not good even with the game in hand.
Thought the second half was lacking. Need to keep our intensity throughout the game. 5-0 is great! GO DUKES!
Agreed – coaches will stress finishing in the next 2 week and will have an opportunity to show it in-game with Towson and Elon
Off topic: I think we are close to getting a commitment from MD TE Will Huff 🙂 (crossed-fingers)
Great start to the season. Let’s just keep our eye on the last four games. Up until now, the season’s been, frankly, dominance against a bunch of no-names + a great win in Dallas. We should be 7-0 headed into Homecoming, but then it gets real: Ticks, Griffins, Hens and Nova, with Ticks and Cats ranked and the other two true traps. Come out of that in good shape, and then we’ll all be agonizing about why we can’t get a home playoff game.