Dukes Dominate Another Cupcake; UNC up next
That was easy. If there was a Staples button for the firs two weeks, it would pretty much sum things up. While this week’s performance was not nearly as crisp or consistent as the opener, the Dukes still blew out CCSU 56-21 and flashed their considerable potential on numerous occasions.
The Good
John Miller and Terrance Alls getting involved early. There are a ton of weapons on O and our hope is that kids don’t get frustrated when there just aren’t enough balls to go around some weeks. But we appreciated the coaches getting to Miller and Alls, the Duke transfer, early in the game after neither of them scratched the stat sheet last week.
Student turnout and overall embrace of the Whiteout – we can’t blame anyone for leaving at the half of this one, especially after last week and in this week’s heat, but the student turnout and their embrace of the theme was outstanding. The end zone was full in the first half, and we haven’t seen much of that even the last two years. Keep up the good work!
Uni swag – On a similar note, the Whiteout unis were outstanding and it was pretty obvious on Twitter that players and recruits love ’em. And now we can put away the “white helmets were bad luck” talk I hope.
#49 Brandon Hereford – Even we have to admit the junior linebacker from Glen Allen is not as player that’s really been on our radar all that much. But man did he take the opportunity presented by Gage Steele’s absence and knock it out of the park. Had to be the leading tackler and was in on seemingly every play defensively during the competitive portion of the blowout. Great to see the depth built up in this program!
He’s #37 these days, but still making plays whenever he gets a chance.
Special Teams! – Two punt return TD’s after one in the opener?! Obviously, this mean’s the Dukes are gonna have three this week in Chapel Hill! Of special note, gotta say our man Jimmy effin Moreland is out there hustling his butt off whenever he gets a chance. He’s been running out front blocking on at least two of the three returns, even in garbage time, and has been all over the place on coverage teams. Needless to say, the way he appears to be handling sitting out a year and losing his starting spot is a magnificent example a few other players – at least through the body language they display on the sideline – in similar frustrating spots could learn from.
Abdullah joined the 2000 yard club and Ravenel keeps moving up the receiving lists. Hope they keep it up. Schor also would’ve made the good for another great performance, but ewww, that pick. Hope he got it outta his system before this week.
The Bad
MadiZone outages. This service has been huge for fans like us and we’re not willing to needlessly whine and complain when the generous Alumni Association has made it so wonderfully easy (and free!) for all of us to follow along, but THAT was bad, really bad. Hasn’t really happened before though and we’re hopeful it will not again, especially in games more worth watching.
The Ugly
The sloppiness after halftime. Look, we’ve made our point about the schedule itself’s ugliness, and it stands to reason that after an entire offseason, a full fall camp, and two game week’s worth of practice, it’s a bit of a letdown to have zero competition when you actually get to hit someone at game speed, but both offense and defense were a slovenly mess after halftime in this one. The defense was particularly lazy it seemed, but even the O threw a horrendous pick six and the offense fumbled in the red zone.
Gage Steele missing this one with injury. Hereford was great, but this team could really use a healthy Gage.
One can only hope that Trotts been hiding some tricks up his sleeve for UNC, weve played very vanilla coverage… same on offense, weve ran the same plays out of multiple formations. I can expect to see “new” offensive sets…albeit still lead by Dullah/Johnson.
I came away most impressed by the defenses discipline. Trott, Thweatt and Hanson have these guys dialed in with chips on their shoulder…. now about those sacks 😉
LOVED the Unis! Just wished the JMU helmet decal was chrome purple, so it matched the purple accents on the jerseys & pants and so it could be seen on TV…
Lets have a good showing in Chapel Hill! GO DUKES!
The Good:
We won. No major injuries during the game. The preseason is officially over this week and we can start playing real games.
The Bad:
I would GLADLY pay for a subscription to madizone if it actually worked. If ESPN3 and CBSSN can stream properly online, I’m sure we can come up with something.
The Ugly:
I really hope this nationwide whiteout/blackout fad is about to end. All I could think about looking at those hideous white domes was the epic failure last year against Richmond and the colossal humiliation on ESPN College Gameday. That is a memory I don’t want. Please throw them in the trash. We are JMU…we wear purple. There is a reason the band doesn’t play “Start wearing white”.
Big chance this weekend to make a statement and prove yourself, Coach Houston… good luck! #Rootin
The white helmets are still HORRIBLE, should have left H-burg with Dithers.
I don’t think we got humiliated on College Gameday – the world saw what we were all about and it was fantastic. The GAME outcome wasn’t what we wanted but I didn’t feel particularly embarrassed to be a Duke
Re: the unis/color schemes, I’m glad JMU is FINALLY in the 21st century… I’ll always remember Mickey Matthews’ “Twatter” comment
There are certain things you need to do as a program to keep up with the environment, it’s the cost of doing business… you have to innovate or you’ll fade away – I just wish we had this mentality in 2011 when we opened up Bridgeforth
I can tell you the recruits LOVED the helmets – that’s all that matters hah – we can find other things to complain about
When all we have to complain about is unis and helmets the team is doing something right. This week will bew a tough one lets go DUKES!
If his name was Joe Smith would anyone even notice Gage Steele didn’t play Saturday? I sure didn’t until one of the announcers said something about it. The guy lost his starting job last year for a reason, and it wasn’t just because he was “banged up.” It’s nice to have depth and I’m glad Hereford has played well.
Agree with all aspects of your analysis of the game and unis. Following the half it looked like the entire team had been hitting the bottle in the locker room. Pretty terrible decision making in second half. Hope those items get addressed this week, otherwise the UNC matchup is going to make us look like what our opponents the first 2 weeks appeared to be to us. You didn’t mention it, but we did have some pretty dumb penalties that hit pretty hard…need that cleaned up as well.
Still Rootin’ and hoping for greatness in NC. Go Dukes!
“You boys watch out for the internet…stay off bookface and tweester.”
-MM
I felt like the refs screwed us in the 3rd, but it wasn’t like I could see it clearly as *all* of the action took place in the far end zone from my seats.
I don’t like the white uniforms because it makes me think of waving a white flag. But if the recruits liked them then bring it on. The play matters more to me than the unis.