Gameday Open Thread: JMU vs. St. Francis
It’s another beautiful Fall day and the Dukes are playing host to St. Francis. Kick-off is set for 6:00. Here’s your open thread for pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. And if you missed it, Akron nearly knocked off Michigan in the Big House earlier today. They fell 28-24, but the strong effort might change some folks’ opinion on last week’s JMU loss. In any case, root fer Dukes everyone.
There are some absolutely AWFUL games in the CAA today.
And no, Akron’s performance against Team Canada does not change anything. Our defensive backs still sucked.
I like the mortal kombat themed duke dog intro. I see what you did there.
Good work D.
Everyone who said I was being too negative….where you at?
Recap:
STFU:bomb, TD
JMU: fumble called an incomplete pass
JMU: DQS rt for zero
JMU: interception
Glad to see coach had everyone ready to play.
I’m scared all this passing@3mins before halftime might make us score a TD….. Lets go back to the run.
Birdsong isn’t right tonight – stick to our ground game.
Pretty pathetic so far on offense. Defense good except for. That first play, of course. But they still seem to play kind of dumb- the punt that went off of Scott’s shoe for example. Looks like it is going to be struggle tonight.
Even someone as brutally in touch with reality as myself is stunned by the steaming pile of crap we just laid down.
Tell me Mickey, are we all drunk tonight?
just tuned in on madizone….is this really happening at the taj-ma-mickey?
Idk if our D is really playing well or if STFU is calling horrible plays. I think it is the latter.
Holy crap. JMU could actually lose this game. Just assumed they take control after the half. No such luck so far.
Their RT guard is HUGE.
how nice to hear the schickster….”Touchdown, James Madison University!!!” I guess the trick was to abandon the video and move to the audio! Go Dukes!
what just happened to the feed??
Nice TD run by Dae’Quan just then. I can’t believe this is JMU’s first lead of the day.
Another pick by Birdsong? Just when I was starting to relax, JMU lets St. Francis hang around.
Is this happening right now?
Stupid play calling
Nice bit of running by Dae’Quan and Dejor there. JMU really needed that scoring drive.
1 first down should do it since SFU has only one time out left.
nobody should win the score contest this week. good enough to win…barely. I stand by my prediction that, in its current state, this team is not playoff caliber. Blog hosts disagree to your heart’s content, but this is what my eyes tell me after week 3.
@Ken You may be right, but it’s week 3. JMU is sitting at 2-1. There are plenty of things to improve upon, and thankfully there is time to do it. And other than Towson, most teams in the league have been experiencing the same sort of issues as JMU. We’re not throwing in the towel before CAA play even starts.
@Rob; I’m not either. I think they’ve got a huge upside and Birdsong will become the real deal! Given Richmond’s struggle tonight (haven’t checked yet to see if they came back and beat Gardner-Webb) and Villanova’s head-scratching start, I believe the conference pecking order is a huge unknown.
The general consensus was that SFU was a horrid team that didn’t put up much of a fight in Statesboro in game 1. From what I could see, when my madizone feed was not “buffering” ad infinitum, they had a pretty good game plan and executed it pretty well.
Credit to D. Scott for running hard and hammering the SFU defense. We didn’t play a complete game, but still won — that’s a positive upon which to build.
I appreciate your time and passion on the blog; not many Dukes out here in Louisville, so it’s nice to connect with others. I spent my freshman year as a student manager for Lou Campanelli’s 1st D-1 NCAA team and worked for the Sports Information Office for the next 4 years. I love my school and its teams and travel to see them when my schedule allows and they are w/in 4 hours or so of here.
Go Dukes.
now that i’ve seen more of the game and spent some time in the box score, SFU’s offense pretty much stunk up the joint — mea culpa. +4 in the turnover department can hide a lot of offensive suckiness…
…I rescind my earlier statement about the SFU gameplan.
@Ken Todd and I get as emotional as anyone during the game, but when we talked after it was over we decided that we just haven’t figured this team out. Plenty of issues, but we’re staying optimistic.
And you live in Louisville? Todd and I have always wanted to make a big Derby/bourbon trail trip. Maybe you can give us some local tips if we ever make it happen.
Thanks for the kind words about the blog. We love it and are excited to get a chance to connect with other Dukes fans like yourself.
@Rob. Yes, about 20 minutes from Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory; and a short drive from the world’s best bourbon (Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Four Roses and Woodford Reserve distilleries all within about 90 minutes from my driveway!
This is the first time I have left a JMU game early in 12 years. I turned this garbage off at halftime.
I don’t want to make the playoffs playing at this embarrassing level. It would only encourage and reward this garbage.
The Dukes served up another crap sandwich last night and were dang lucky to escape with the win. Had STFU not had to switch QBs, I’m certain that JMU loses that game. With the scrutiny that our D-Backfield has been under this last week, it is absolutely inexcusable that first play from scrimmage happens! Who knows, maybe the coaching staff thinks they are playing okay??? The schedule is about to get a lot tougher and I don’t see any CAA team on the schedule that I think we can beat right now. Start packing your bags MM cause this team is not making the playoffs! 2-1 but very disappointed with JMU football right now.
Easy now Deacon…..I am not pleased with the result of last night’s game either but it is still a win and we are 2-1 with only 1 team, Towson, looking dominant in the CAA.
To all that want MM’s head on a stake be careful what you ask for because I have two words of caution – Alex Wood. You may not always be happy with MM but it could be a lot worse.
Richmond list to Garder-Webb….should they fire Rocco, heck no he is probably the best coach Richmond has ever had.
Hard to blame MM for the offense simply not showing up and being ready to play yesterday. And say what you will but when it became obvious the passing game was not going to work, MM pulled the plug on it and went with what would against SFU pounding the ball on the ground. I agree Lambert should not be on the field wearing a cast if he cannot hold onto the ball and MM accepted the blame for that in the post-game and said he would not be back until healed. Not sure why he was ahead of Simmons on the depth chart anyway.
The defense played pretty well with the exception of 2 big plays which is still a problem. QB pressure was very good and we should continue to blitz so the receivers cannot get deep while the CBs are getting game experience.