It’s the final home game for Stephon Robertson and the rest of JMU’s seniors. The Dukes need a win and lots of help to keep their playoff dreams alive. Kick-off is set for 3:30 in Bridgeforth. Consider this your open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Here’s to hoping the seniors close out an undefeated season at home. Root fer Dukes.
Look, Stony Brook is a decent university by all measures. But seriously, if “Stony Brook” doesn’t scream “what the hell are we still doing in the CAA?!” then we just don’t know what to say. That said, Stony Brook has been more than legit the last few years on the gridiron and despite their middling record and the loss of an NFL running back in Miguel Maysonet last year, they are more than capable of competing with, and beating, this edition of JMU football. But seriously, the Stony Brook Seawolves, playing out the end of their first long, tough season in the CAA better not be able to show up the Dukes this weekend.
The Basics
First ballot guy.
This is 99% certain to be Stephon Robertson’s last home game in purple and gold. Everything else is really secondary to this fact this weekend. In case you haven’t been paying attention or have spent all your energy bitching at the administration or the coaching staff the last few years, you may have missed one of the singularly spectacular JMU careers of all time for this do-everything linebacker and unquestioned leader of the Dukes. Robertson is a finalist for the Buck Buchanon award, given to the nation’s best defensive player at the FCS level, and is very likely one of the top two candidates nationally at this late stage of the season. Stephon was making HUGE plays in Lane Stadium four years ago when he began to show flashes of the unbelievable field-covering, QB wrecking, tackling machine he would become. Regardless of whether he wins an award or the team finds a way to the playoffs, he and the other seniors deserve all of our attention and respect this weekend.
This also very well could be the last home game for Mickey Matthews in what has to be at least partially known as The House That Mickey Built. We covered this at length earlier this week, but no need to do anything but root fer Dukes and keep a little perspective this weekend no matter the result.
Stony Brook is a run-first team with a TON of injuries, especially on Defense. We’ve cited this as something that should play into the Dukes’ hands earlier this season and ended up looking “chicken of the sea” dumb, so we’ll just say it’s at least not a bad thing. The Seawolves are also a fairly strong defensive squad and JMU would probably qualify as one of their best wins of the year so there’s nothing to take lightly here.
Scoreboard Watching
Told you we’d be back with a fresh pitcher of purple KoolAid later this week despite the fact it’s time for the MM era to draw to a close. And after a good hard look at the CAA and national schedule and standings, it’s actually a lot more realistic to see the Dukes heading to Towson next week with a very decent shot at qualifying for the playoffs if they can win this one. If you’re into this as much as we are, here’s a basic primer on who to pull for elsewhere this weekend (some of these are more important, or more realistic, than others, but all worth keeping an eye and thanks to the boards for sourcing this):
Root: Montana St over Southern Utah
Root: W&M over Towson (so we control ourselves with TU but oddly if Towson wins we can still root for UR to then beat WM again to help the Dukes)
Root: Albany over UNH (root extra hard despite the fact this isn’t likely – do it for Bob Ford one time!)
Root: South Dakota over South Dakota State
Root: Chattanooga over Samford (don’t F it up Durden! – seriously, this one is to make the SoCon a one-bid league)
Root: Appalachain St over Wofford (it’s hard to root for ASU, but necessary)
Root: Against Delaware
The simplest is thing is root for W&M, if they beat Towson that will likely set up the JMU/Towson game to be a play-in game (even a weak BCS win – UCONN – and higher expectations all season won’t be worth a head-to-head against a team with an identical record. Would be very similar to the ODU game last season.
Beer of the Week
It’s that time. Nearly all of the hideous pumpkin beers have been cleared from the shelves in favor of the best beer season of the year – winter! And my (Todd) all-time favorite beer, Founder’s Backwoods Bastard is out and about if you look hard enough at specialty stores (growler fills available at Fair Lakes Whole Foods!). The idea of bourbon-beer is wonderful, but unfortunately most folks doing it now just can’t pull it off. It either tastes like straight liquor or merely flavored beer. But Founders nails it dead center with a 10.5% ABV that brings all the goodness of whiskey without the harsh bite. This beer is made for a campfire, a cigar, and a long conversation. Simply one of the best.
Prediction
Dukes 38, Stony Brook 13 – Dukes roll in this one. Stony Brook is beat down by the CAA and we don’t think MM will let the boys give up whatever belief they’ve got left just yet. Smells a lot like this same week two years ago.
Life got in the way and we didn’t have time to do the prediction contest last week. And JMU lost. Maybe it was our fault. Or maybe it’s just because the game was played on the road. The world may never know. In any case, let’s run the prediction contest back again this week. Same rules as ever. Leave a comment indicating who you think will win this Saturday’s game and what the final score will be. The person who comes to closes to predicting the outcome correctly (winner & score), will get to write a guest post next week.
So it’s the Dukes vs. the Brook (is that a thing? can we make that a thing?) in the first ever CAA match-up between the schools. It’s an absolute must win for JMU if the Dukes hope to keep their ridiculously slim hopes for the playoffs alive. Let us know who you think will win in the comments. Keep rootin fer Dukes.
JMU fell 33-17 at New Hampshire in another sluggish, uninspired performance marred by hideous gameplanning, clock management, and immature behavior towards officials that has become more than a trend on the road this year. All you need to know about how bad this one was is that DaeQuan Scott had more yards passing than rushing. The Dukes are now 6-0 at home and 0-4 on the road and almost eliminated from playoff contention. To be clear, there will very likely be 8-4 teams that qualify for the field (and maybe even a 7-4 or 7-5 team), but the Dukes are likely too far back in the CAA to justify their inclusion even assuming they can win out. We will of course keep rootin’ the next two weeks and should a miracle occur, we’ll be happy to witness it, and I’m sure by the end of this week we’ll be back to telling you how to scoreboard watch in the Dukes favor the next two weeks, but today we’re not going to talk about the ill-fated trip to New Hampshire or the rest of this season.
Instead, we’re going to take a step back, look at the big picture, and hopefully encourage some measured thinking and reactions from the little corner of JMU Nation we reach as the season winds down and big changes loom on the horizon for the football program. Here’s the story: Mickey Matthews has been at JMU well over a decade, through a few contract extensions, and next year is the last year of his deal. JMU is likely switching conferences next spring and would be transitioning to FBS over the next two seasons. Those seasons, especially the first (in 2014) are likely to be rough. The schedule may be a bit haphazard (i.e. whoever we can find to play) next season if ODU this year is any indication and with a strong possibility of no postseason on the line (no FBS bowl-eligibility during transition and no FCS playoff-eligibility due to increased scholarships) it’s going to take some hardcore players and fans to produce a memorable year next year. It can be done and the potential excitement and expectation over the move will certainly help enthusiasm among the masses, but it’s still going to be an odd period.
Even if we strip away all the personal reasons expressed by some here at JMUSB and the tactical, on-field issues cited by more rationale fans, it’s still seems it’s time for a change. To be honest, Mickey has never expressed much enthusiasm for a move to FBS, but we were kind of hoping he’d pull one more good season off this year and be the one to weather the transitional storm (We were also hoping he’d pull it off because as fans we would have loved one more playoff run). One thing’s for sure: Given the insane expectations of certain quarters of the JMU fanbase, we would be concerned for a new coach to have to suffer through what are likely to be a few lean years no matter what (see Brady, Matt in the aftermath of the Dean Keener/Sherm Dillard era). That said, we’d think the administration and smart supporters would grasp the transitional difficulties and be patient assuming we see improvements in things like a) a modern offense (yes, you can read into this our lack of support for Mike O’Cain if you want to), b) no embarrassing on-field antics, and c) at least the appearance of offseason discipline amongst players.
One other fact we should point out is JMU’s utter distaste historically for buying out coaches before the end of their deals and their idiotic willingness to engage in the bad business of letting coaches work in lame-duck status. There are some respected voices in the JMU community who think MM is here next year no matter what based on the unwillingness to pay a buy-out. We have ZERO knowledge where the Alger administration would come down on buying out MM, but we do know that this cost will be dwarfed by the other costs of moving up and it seems to just make sense that if you’re not sold on MM long-term, are very disappointed in him short-term, and are embarking on one of the most important steps in the history of JMU Athletics, it might be a good time for some new blood.
We could dive into the details of this decision forever, but that’s the basic framework through which we’d encourage you to view the MM situation as you discuss it at your tailgate against Stony Brook, at Towson, or at hoops games over the next few weeks. In essence it comes down to this: It’s time for a change, but don’t discount or disparage what the Mickey era has brought us as you advocate for that change. Lastly, and most importantly, despite our position that barring a miracle run (e.g. win out, make playoffs, win two games) it’s time for a change, and despite the fact even MM would credit much of the following to great players and good fortune PLEASE please please take a step back and consider the following before you use that pitchfork:
Those of us who graduated before 2004 could never have dreamed of the way we spent a glorious Homecoming afternoon last weekend. And the fact we get to do it again this weekend is even more incredible. That was less than 10 years ago. If you graduated after 2004, we’re not saying you’re wrong that it’s time for a change, we’re just saying you need to listen to those who remember (or really, don’t remember) what JMU football was before.
7% is a horrendous percentage for alumni giving, but I seriously wonder if myself and many others would even be a part of that number without what the re-engagement with JMU that the Mickey era has brought us. And a lot of us definitely wouldn’t remember the words to the fight song.
We all care enough to write blogs, post on message boards, read blogs, comment on them, go to viewing parties, and threaten to injure offensive coordinators. Seriously, just stop and think about that. Does it even matter nearly as much to your friends that went to another non-BCS school? Or even a lot of BCS schools for that matter (we’re looking at you UVA).
Streamers, Start Wearing Purple, Chattanooga, App. St., Scotty, Rodney, Moats, Jordan, Watford, Caussin, Rascati, Stephon, LeZotte.
And of course:
JMU and New Hampshire kickoff at 12:30 PM. Watch it on television on NBC Sportsnetwork. Discuss it here. Consider this your open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. This is a big one. Win and the playoff dream is alive. DC/NoVA folks can join Todd at Dogwood Tavern. Keep rootin.
JMU got the 2013-2014 hoops season started in less than spectacular fashion last night. The Dukes dropped a 61-41 decision to a legitimately good UVA team. A loss is a loss and it’s very difficult to find positives in a 20 point loss at that. However, this is not the end of the world or a harbinger of bad times to come. Far from it. It was more likely just a slow opening night for a young team. The second youngest team in the country in fact. And we’re not talking about Kentucky one and done sort of youth. We’re talking about a throw back sort of youth, in which players pay their dues and develop over the course of a four year career. So while losses are never fun. Let’s not all freak out and give up on the season.
As for bright spots, if you’re a real Kool Aid drinker, you could point to Tom Vodanovich reaching double figures in his first college game. The freshman lead JMU with 11 points to go along with 4 boards and 2 assists. Ron Curry and Charles Cooke each scored 9 points and Andrey Semenov chipped in with 8. Nobody else scored. And that was a bit of a problem. JMU shot terribly from the field in the first half, connecting on only 20% of its attempts. Things improved after the break, but it was really too late. UVA is a solid defensive team, which contributed to the Dukes’ awful shooting night. Still though, JMU simply has too shoot the ball better.
It’s only one game. And it was against arguably the best team JMU might face all season. Let’s put it behind us and move on. Besides, as Dukes fans we have a football game to look forward to in a few hours. A game our team has real shot at winning that we would never ever consider wearing a necktie to. Neither of things are true for our friends in Hooville. So in that sense we’re already winning in the game of life when compared to our friends in them anyway. Keep rootin.
Before we get to football, we need to throw in a quick plug for another badassed JMU squad. The Women’s Soccer team won the CAA’s regular season title and with it earned the opportunity to host the CAA tournament this weekend. They kick off Friday in semi-final action at the fantastic new University Park at 6 p.m. If you aren’t in C’ville or the Convo for hoops, make sure you get out to support! And definitely keep an eye out for the final on Sunday if they win tomorrow!
Feed the Beast, this team can’t stop him!
Alright, on to football.
The Basics
The Dukes have not won a road game all year. Let that sink in before we all get fired up after last week’s win. And just like last week, this week’s Wildcats are playing for their playoff lives at 3-2 just like the Dukes in the CAA. At 4-4 overall, UNH’s best-in-FCS playoff streak is basically on life support already with four losses, especially since they only play 11 games this year while most teams play 12. So really this amounts to an elimination game again.
UNH is always tough at home, and generally plays close games. None of their losses (Central Michigan, Lehigh, Towson and W&M) are terrible and like the Dukes, their best win was over Villanova at home (a game in which they converted a 2-pointer for the win after blowing a big lead late). Last week, like the Dukes they were completely shut down at William & Mary, only they were actually shutout 17-0.
Unlike past UNH teams, this one is not quite as high-flying and is more balanced in terms of run/pass than we’re used to seeing from them. However, just like past UNH teams, they’re suspect on defense – and this year that comes complete with poor tackling. Wildcats have actually never tackled well, but have always created big plays on D and the Dukes will need to protect the ball.
What’s at Stake for the Dukes
Simply their playoff lives in all likelihood. But find a way to win a road game here in the weak high school stadium in Durham, NH (i.e. nowheresville, USA) and the possibilities will really open up for them with Stony Brook coming to the ‘Burg next week. Beyond that, wouldn’t it be nice to get the road monkey off their backs, stop the yo-yo season, and build some momentum.
Coverage
This one kicks off at 12:30 p.m. as the national television game on NBCSportsNetwork. No game preceding the Dukes, so you won’t even have to “join in progress” like some places did last week. We’ve actually gone bona fide this week and worked with the actual JMU Alumni Association chapter (in our case the MetroDukes) on a viewing party. I’ll be coordinating the first-ever Falls Church gathering at Dogwood Tavern so stop by, say hi, and join us to root! (Note: weather permitting, we’re going to take over the new roof deck/terrace thing, so be prepared). MetroDukes are also continuing the great new viewing party at Penn Social for you younger, hipper folks downtown (younger and hipper covers everyone reading this in all likelihood relative to us). If you know of other locations, let us know in the comments.
Beer of the Week
After the desperation and excess of Homecoming last week, even though we want something that will stand up to a cold New Hampshire mid-November day, we’re going to bring this back to something sensible. Something with actual flavor, but still capable of sessioning for an early kickoff. You can never go wrong with Stone Pale Ale. Yes, Stone goes nuts with some of their more adventurous offerings, but this is a GREAT example of a traditional Pale that’s one step removed from the original Sierra.
Prediction
Dukes 31, Wildcats 21 – Repeat of last week, this time on the road, and we are rolling!
We’re a week into November which means it’s time for college basketball to start. Wait, what? That’s right, college basketball now begins prior to football even hitting the homestretch. Depending on your perspective, hat’s either another example of the over expansion of sports in general or a delicious treat. In any case, the season is here and both the JMU men and women get going tonight with games against UVA. The women, who are the favorites to win the CAA, play at home at 7:00. Head on over to the Convo if you’re in the ‘burg, listen to the Pep Band, and give Kenny Brooks and the ladies some support. They’re sure to be very good this year and have their sights set on returning to the Big Dance. read more…
JMU knocked off Villanova 31-21 last weekend and reader Amy came closest to predicting it. Thus she won the right to guest post, for the second time this season. Take it away Amy.
So winning the game score again has left me with trying to figure out what to say next to everyone on this blog. As a girl that never has played the game makes it hard to go into depth about football. I guess what I can tell you about is what I think about the few games I’ve been able to attend this season. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to see them all due to the fact that I’m a nurse that works night shift. So based on the few I’ve been to here are some thoughts.
The Good Things:
Seeing the players come together as a team after losing games is always exciting. Knowing that they lost the week before but for the next game they always move on and try their hardest. I think it’s great to support a team that can lose a game and still come out for the next one believing they will win. I also think it’s awesome when JMU gets those big penalties (like last week) and they still try to overcome them and use that added pressure to their advantage instead of letting it drag them down. I know not everyone is proud of Mickey’s behavior during the games but I like it. I know getting penalties put on his team because of his behavior may not be the best way to go about showing his passion for his team, but I do think that it shows how much heart the man has for his players. During this last game it proved to me that he really cares about his team and that he was upset with the bad calls they were getting. His behavior may not be what everyone wants to see, but at least he can show his emotion. I’d much rather notice the coach on the sideline then not even know where he is during the game. read more…
Former JMU Women’s Soccer player Karly Skladany and Chris Kirkpatrick tied the knot in Orlando over the weekend. Kirkpatrick is best known for being one of the guys in ‘N Sync who is not Justin Timberlake. Skladany was a standout soccer player for JMU from 2002 until 2005. She was tied for third leading goal scorer her senior year and was a member of the 2004 team the advanced to the NCAA tournament.
The ceremony took place in front of family and friends at the Loews Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Justin Timberlake, his wife Jessica Biel, and all the other guys who used to be in ‘N Sync, were all in attendance. The tabloids fail to mention who from JMU was there for some reason. Congrats to the happy couple. About the only thing that could make is happier is if Justin Rascati got hitched to one of Miley Cyrus’ back-up singers.
