{"id":4829,"date":"2012-12-30T20:43:45","date_gmt":"2012-12-31T01:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4829"},"modified":"2012-12-30T20:46:50","modified_gmt":"2012-12-31T01:46:50","slug":"old-rivals-unfamiliar-faces-on-2013-jmu-football-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4829","title":{"rendered":"Old Rivals & Unfamiliar Faces on 2013 JMU Football Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>JMU officially announced its football schedule for the 2013 season today. There are 6 home games on the slate and a whopping 2\/3 of them might actually be worth attending. We kid, we kid, but there is likely a significant portion of the Dukes’ fanbase that isn’t overly excited about Central Connecticut State and St. Francis once again coming to Bridgeforth Stadium. The schedule also features a seemingly winnable FBS game against the Akron Zips from the MAC. I’m sure there are more than a few Dukes’ fans who are looking forward to that one and ready to use it as some of measuring stick or audition for the MAC.<\/p>\n

Personally, while the Dukes win over the Hokies was amazing and the game at FedEx WVU was an absolute blast, I like seeing this sort of FBS game on the schedule. Not only are games against non-BCS conference teams more winnable, the fans’ reaction to and enthusiasm for them might be telling. If (and this is a huge IF) JMU were to ever move up to FBS, it would be to a non-BCS league. So if fans can get excited over games against MAC teams, moving up might make a little more sense to some. If fans essentially dismiss or ignore them, then the powers that be might be less likely to take the leap of faith. Or maybe I’m just trying to read into things too much.<\/p>\n

In terms of the CAA slate, it’s nice to see\u00a0Blue Chickens back after a few years. JMU will play at Delaware to open conference play on September 28. And the Dukes will get both of the new kids on the CAA block at home. Albany will come to Harrisonburg for Family Weekend and JMU’s home finale will be against Stony Brook. And just like they used to, JMU will close the season against the Towson Tigers. Last year, when the schedule was released we said that it set JMU up for run. It did, but the Dukes didn’t deliver. We’re staying away from predictions this time around, but looking forward to the opportunity to spend 6 more Saturdays in the ‘Burg next Fall. And if we finally get to go to a post-Thanksgiving home game that would obviously be great to.<\/p>\n

Here’s the full schedule.<\/p>\n

August 31 – Central Connecticut State<\/p>\n

September 7 – @ Akron<\/p>\n

September 14 – St. Francis<\/p>\n

September 28 – @ Delaware<\/p>\n

October 5 – Albany<\/p>\n

October 12 – Richmond<\/p>\n

October 26 – @ William & Mary<\/p>\n

November 2 – Villanova<\/p>\n

November 9 – @ New Hampshire<\/p>\n

November 16 – Stony Brook<\/p>\n

November 23 – @ Towson<\/p>\n