Payback Feels So Good, Dukes Stomp the Spatters

Beating RU 47-43 in thrilling fashion with purple-clad Dukes fans roaring throughout the Tick’s cute little stadium was just about the best thing JMU fans could’ve hoped for a year after the Gameday debacle. And what a win it was!

The Good

Bryan Schor – We’re about to go nuts about the wide receiver depth but the stats are starting to tell a story of a QB who’s become way, way more than a game manager taking advantage of great talent around him. The kid is flat-out ballin’. And he probably joins Simeyon Robinson on the other side of the ball as the Dukes most irreplaceable player at the moment.

WR Depth and Usage – We knew this was a strength all along, but the way the coaches and the QB are using this posse of talented players is stunning. Four different guys (Kloosterman, Ravenel, Alls, and Davis) caught at least five balls on Saturday and that’s partly because a fifth, Domo Taylor, draws so much attention. Also, we love that the segment called “Your ridiculous catch of the game by Mr. Alls” is becoming a weekly bit!

Improvements/Adjustments – We’re talking big-picture and small here. Year over year, the difference in mental toughness and physicality by the Dukes jumped out at you in the second half Saturday. Last year, the Vad show was forced to simply abandon the running game and keep pace with RU. This year, while it wasn’t a record-setting day like we’ve seen at times this year on the ground, JMU stuck with it and the O-Line eventually wore down the RU front and found tough, valuable yards when it mattered. And the ability to make adjustments on the defensive side of the ball at the half was the difference this week. The first half there were no punts with both teams scoring on all four drives to make it 24-24. And while yielding only 20 points in the second half isn’t something to go nuts over, seven of those were the garbage-time TD on the last play of the game and the Dukes generally found a way to make some plays on defense. Also, while it pains us to say it, RU is sort of good at football and unlike last year, after lighting up scoreboards against lesser competition on their way to this point in the season, the Withers era proved nothing if not that the Dukes could fold up like a lawn chair when the real season/opponents arrived. We’re starting to dream a bit this year now.

JMU Nation Roots! – Not that we expected anything different, but that beautifully obnoxious takeover of quaint Robins stadium woke up the echoes of the City Stadium days. Complete with moaning and whining from Spatter fans about the invasion and our colorful fans, it was exquisite. And when the visiting team crowd contributed to that false start penalty on RU’s most critical drive of the game, we could only smile.

The Bad

The kicking game – This is getting to be a real problem. JMU was the better team after halftime without much doubt, but a blocked FG and a missed XP kept them chasing the game till there were just a couple minutes remaining.

CAA refs – What can you say? Just leave this item here for two more weeks and quit stressing over it as it truly does go poorly for all teams involved.

The Ugly

That challenge call – Boy did that one hurt. After challenging a play that appeared to have no chance of being reversed, especially with the comically high-school camera/tv setup at RU, the Dukes had no way to challenge when the refs missed a fumble and obvious recovery by JMU a couple plays later. Haven’t had many replay issues or opportunities in tight games this year, but the staff will need to tighten up their protocol and discretion for the playoffs.

Spatters – Just ugly

Now onto an even bigger game on The Main Line against Villanofun next week! Hopefully the team is moving on faster than we are because squashing the Ticks is just too great not to enjoy for a bit. Dukes can take the outright CAA title by running the table and likely put themselves in position for a top four seed by winning again this week. Or they can drop into a tie for the title and a scramble to even hang onto a bye. Let’s Go Dukes!