JMUSB Game #6 Preview: JMU @ Towson St.
The Basics
#5 James Madison Dukes (5-0, 2-0 CAA) at Towson St. Tigers (2-2, and a ghastly 0-1 in CAA), 3:00 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.
Coverage: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and other affiliates around the country found here. Also on a good note, the announcing team will be the usually solid Brent Harris and the B’more homer Qadry Ismail, so if nothing else it should be a HUGE step up from last week’s shitshow.
Why Towson St. Should Scare Us More Than We Realize
They have a strong QB in Connor Frazier and a strong RB in Darius Victor (who may or may not play). That combo was strong enough to make it to #5 on this list from Hero Sports (who’s doing a nice job with FCS coverage), which clearly knows what they’re talking about based on #1! They’ve also got a Head Coach in Rob Ambrose who, while also taking TSU all the way to the title game (on Terrance West’s back mostly) a couple of years ago has also staked the best claim to replacing former Blue Chickens HC KC Keeler as the CAA’s King Douchebag. Finally, Towson St. appears to be a team that is impossible to figure out how good they really are by looking at the start to their season. They had a very respectable 28-20 loss to ECU in Week 1, beat creampuff St. Francis in Week 2, then won a tough one against a Holy Cross team that destroyed Albany (a team JMU let hang around), and then somehow, someway, inexplicably LOST 17-13 TO ELON last week. There is simply no way to make any sense of that morass and we’re just hoping the team that, again, LOST TO ELON last week shows up instead of whatever unit played ECU tough.
Towson and former O-Lineman Gavin Class are also dealing with one of the most confusing, heart wrenching, no-right-answer stories you’ll ever read as the young man fights to play the game again after heat stroke, a coma, and a subsequent liver transplant last year.
What We’re Looking for from the Dukes
Just a few items we’d like to see the Dukes get back to this week. First, on offense we’d like to see Vad get back to distributing more and being a bit more discreet about when he chooses to run the ball. The SMU game proved he can do it and it was vital in that contest, but we’d like to see him save his legs as much as he can the next two weeks before the stretch run. Second, on defense, maybe a little wrapping up and tackling after a soggy second half last week. And not to be forgotten, on specials it’d be nice if the outside guys could keep contain on the edge when covering kicks after some overzealous efforts and getting trapped inside last week against Pebbly Creek.
A Note on Tailgating at TSU
The Tigers have one of the best, er, the only, tailgate scenes in the CAA outside of the ‘Burg. As you might imagine from a student body and alumni base made up almost exclusively of Preakness infield veterans and the most obnoxious of the “O’s, Strohs, and Natty Bohs” Orioles/Ravens crowd, they are generally and enthusiastically pro-tailgate. They also usually let visiting fans park in the lot right at the entrance to top of the visiting side (Lot 14 if I remember correctly). So load up on the BOTW and join what is usually a large DC contingent of Dukes fans in some Rootin’ for the Dukes’ Death Star this week.
Beer of The Week
Devil’s Backbone Turbo Cougar Blond Bock. I’ll be joining some fellow Dukes at The Festy at Devil’s Backbone’s incredible Basecamp near Wintergreen this weekend (where we’re arranging to have the Dukes game on TV right in the heart of the festival of course!) so DB only seemed natural. Turbo Cougar just sounds incredibly Towson to me, I mean, have you ever been to a weeknight show at the Recher?
The Station is now fully operational, no doubt about it.
Prediction
Look, this game feels a bit trappish, but we’re starting to truly believe in the Dukes’ Death Star’s ability to just hammer through such things. Towson has shown themselves to be a possibly respectable, but unlikely to be special, unit through the early season. The Dukes look every bit the part of a true contender and this is just another opportunity to show the difference between the two.
Dukes 45, Tigers 20
Copying my score prediction I see…
Was there no winner this week for the guest post? I mean, just ask guys, I’ll fill in for no shows. I mean, I teach 4th graders how to write so I’m at least at a 4th grade level.
@Drake there was a winner who we reached out to earlier. Unfortunately, we still haven’t received a reply to our email. If he/she gets back to us, we’ll let them submit something in the future. Otherwise, we’ll just go without a guest post for last week’s game.
Towson hasn’t been Towson State for almost 20 years now….
@TU12 I’m pretty sure they know that. It’s just that Towson wasn’t good back when they were Towson State, so that’s probably the joke
Let’s be honest, neither Towson nor Towson state has ever been good without a Terrence West.
Of course, I am a pessimist, ( didn’t your Mother tell you if you don’t expect too much you won’t be disappointed?), but this game has TRAP written all over it. They, coming off a loss to LEON U. and us unbeaten, but I thought last week was a trap, so what do I know. I just want the Death Star to keep its foot on the accelerator and the defense wreck havoc. Coach Withers has been great at keeping their focus on one game at a time, so I’m thinking he has done it this week. GO DUKES!
I thought the Richmond HC was the biggest d bag in the CAA.
@TU12 it sounds like you’re mixed up regarding the town and the school. Towson is the town, Towson State is the actual name of the school. Not sure why it’s so confusing.
Chris, you’re probably right but the sheer number of things that are douchey about the Ticks makes him just an afterthought.
Towson State jokes aren’t as funny to me as “Just Missed UVA” is.
@tigertown, truly spoken like someone from Towson, a school with about as much prestige as a Target bathroom.
“has also staked the best claim to replacing former Blue Chickens HC KC Keeler as the CAA’s King Douchebag. ”
I love this blog.
I actually turned down UVA, for whatever that is worth.