JMU Football Fan Confidence Poll
We’re smack in the middle of the Dukes’ bye week, so we thought it would be a good time to take the pulse of the fanbase. JMU currently sits atop the CAA Football standings with a perfect 4-0 record in league play. The Dukes are 6-1 overall, with a loss on the road to the ACC’s North Carolina Tarheels. The offense, behind QB Bryan Schor, has been very impressive. It’s a balanced attack thanks to some outstanding offensive line play. The run game features the downright dangerous duo of Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson. And Schor has a number of talented receivers catching the ball including Brandon Ravenel and Terrance Alls. The unit is averaging over 500 yards and 44.2 points per game, both league bests.
[polldaddy poll=9556732]And then we have the defense. Its per play averages are nearly the same as last year’s disappointing unit. At times, the defense has looked vastly improved. Other times, it looks like a repeat of 2015. One positive sign is that this year’s D can get off the field. Under Everett Withers the JMU defense let opponents convert 45.7% of 3rd downs. That was the worst in the league. This year, JMU is only letting opponents convert 37.5% of 3rd downs. As a unit, the D has managed to put the clamps on the opponent for stretches, but not a full 60 minutes most weeks. It really seems to have developed the absolutely ugly habit of going to sleep once the offense gets out to a lead. Whether or not its simply a case of losing focus, or a sign of major problems is still to be determined.
In short, the offense has been better than most fans expected. The defense has show flashes, but its disappearing act has many concerned. 6-1 and 4-0 in CAA play with two very tough games at Richmond and at Nova remaining. Barring some sort of catastrophe against Rhode Island or Elon and it’s safe to say the Dukes are playoff bound. In fact, if they win out, they’ll be in the running for a top 4 seed.
We think things are looking up. But we’re curious how you feel. Vote in our poll to let us know how confident you are in the Dukes’ chances going forward. It’s a scale from 1 – utter disaster to 10 – championship.
I voted 9 for a few reasons, the first being that our offense is so good. I didn’t expect anything close to the XBox numbers we put up last year, boy was I wrong. Second, I do see some improvement on defense, both with our ability to get off the field and what I see as fewer cases of blown coverages, missed assignments, etc. We just appear better coached on defense. Finally, I think the upgrade to Coach Houston has been significant and will really start to pay dividends once we hit the UR/Villanova games and the playoffs.
Your summary is ‘spot on’!
Games without any pressure on the opposing QB … then games with sacks! Games with interceptions … then games with none.
Quarters with Duke domination … then quarters with Duke collapses.
Here’s hoping the good outweighs the bad from here on out …
I’m somewhere between a 7 and an 8. The team appears well coached and the offense is playing well, but the defense is not reliable. The team seems kind of soft to me…no real killer instinct or edge to them. I’d like to see someone lay someone out, or an OL start a fight in a non-critical situation. the only games we’ve really played are Maine and UNH, but both of those are about B to B- level teams. Beating them is akin to about a 2nd round playoff game.
Offense: A
Defense: C-
Special Teams: C-
Coaching: A-
The FCS playoffs pretty much run like this:
Rd 1: Bye week. You play some cupcake from the MEAC.
Rd 2: Fairly easy game against a B-level opponent
Rd 3: Another B-level opponent
Semi: You’re playing Richmond/Villanova A-level teams
Champ: North Dakota State/ FBS level team.
I guess the point of that is that if you make the playoffs, winning the first game or two isn’t really a big accomplishment.
So just to be clear 2004Duke, you want undisciplined play from the team? That’s what’s lead to killer penalties at the worst possible times in the past (I firmly believe that getting a reupation for hitting hard will get you more penalties when there are ‘questionable’ hits). I love how well the team plays (especially on the o-line) and how they stay away from stupid (or really many) penalties.
Voted 9 because I believe we can beat anyone right now (except NDSU, they are the big dog until someone else wins the title). Gotta agree with M@ here. As a coach I want my kids to show fight and fire but you do that with gang tackling and pancake blocks. I’ve seen every game in person except two. Those two I watched on tv. JMU absolutely will hit and hit hard. The OL is arguably one of the best in the last 20 years. Even when they run a dive play they still get four yards because the OL is man handling the other teams DL. Barring them laying eggs at Richmond and Nova this team should end up 10-1.
Offense – A
Defense – B (4th quarters -D)
Special teams – A- (Kicker is holding them down)
Coaching – A (1st half B+, 2nd half A+)