Norfolk St. @ JMU: Official 2022 JMUSB Game #2 Preview
Matchup: JMU Dukes (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs. Norfolk State Spartans (0-1, 0-0 CUSA)
Kickoff: 4:00 p.m. EST. Saturday, September 10, 2022, Bridgeforth Stadium, Rocktown
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 77, humid
Broadcast: ESPN+
Boys in the Desert: JMU by a LOT
How We Got Here
The Dukes turned quite a few heads in the FBS college football world (and none moreso than among our own fans) with an exquisite performance during a 44-7 thrashing of (possibly) mid-tier G5 team MTSU last week. Norfolk St. on the other took their expected beating 55-3 at the hands of fellow new Sun Belt member Marshall in Huntington.
How Norfolk St. Can Win
Have COVID decimate JMU’s roster between now and kickoff. That’s really about it.
How JMU Can Win
Don’t act like they won a trophy last week. JMU’s only danger this week is themselves and feeling way too pleased and proud. Based on what we saw last week from these two teams (and based on what we’ve seen from this matchup a couple times in recent years), the Dukes should be embarrassed if this is close at the half. But that SBC logo on the field, and the hype of the last week off the field, don’t actually win games and the boys need to get back in the lab. Unlike past seasons, this is the only true cupcake on the schedule (well, we’ll see about Texas St.) and this game should be treated as maybe the only serious opportunity to get real work for lots of backups and young guys who will likely be sorely needed later in the first FBS slog. It’s also a chance to clean up some of the unnecessary penalties from last week and get the timing right in the placekicking game.
JMUSB Beer of the Week
Santa Fe Brewing’s New Mexico Standard. New Mexico is arguably the nation’s most underrated state. And almost inarguably the nation’s most underrated beer state. Unfortunately, Santa Fe Brewing is largely the only brewery with (sort of) widely available products east of the Mississippi and it’s lineup is not the best representative of The Beers of Enchantment. With exceptional producers like La Cumbre, Marble, and Bosque cranking out the amazingly weird products that come from a beer-culture with no limitations but little distribution, it’s disappointing for this place and its beer that we love. But this lager, an aptly named Standard, is absolutely what it claims: a clean, crisp standard lager with a low ABV (in a gorgeous can worthy of the state with the best lineup of license plates) perfect for long tailgates and humid September days.
Official JMUSB Prediction
Lots of Billy Atkins to Maxwell James and hopefully even an Alonza Barnett cameo.
JMU 48, Norfolk St. 13
JMU – 65
NSU – 10
JMU. Pick a number
NSU 7
Great win last week! Solid performance all around. Having a true dual run/pass threat at QB (first time since Vad Lee) can be a total game changer. Lets pray Todd stays healthy! Great job as well by the secondary, which I’ve always had lingering concerns about. Aside from a few blown coverages which MTSU failed to capitalize on, pretty good coverage and NO PI calls!
To be honest, however, that was a really POOR showing by MTSU. Maybe JMU was the better team, but Middle Tenn looked truly awful.
Should be a ground ball this week against Norfolk State, but hopefully we won’t get too complacent (that’s certainly happened before). Getting that first team some rest and those backups some reps in the second half would be great.
Looking forward to our game against App State and seeing what this team is really made of. Anyone want to join me on a trip to Louisville in early November? We can do the bourbon trail…
Who is the clicky pen bandit???
Really enjoying the podcast. One comment though, the last two weeks it has sounded like someone is periodically clicking a pen continuously throughout the recording and it’s pretty distracting. You may want to eliminate all click pens for the recording area just to be safe. Otherwise keep up the good work.
Cheers