JMU welcomes its old friend Villanova to Bridgeforth Stadium on Saturday. It’s a Homecoming showdown for two teams fighting to keep their playoff dreams alive. A win would get the Dukes to 6-3 and provide some much needed momentum to carry into a brutal closing stretch. A loss for the Wildcats would pretty much shut the door on their postseason chances.
Just the Facts
Match-up: JMU Dukes (5-3, 2-2 CAA) vs. Villanova Wildcats (4-4, 3-2 CAA)
Kickoff: 2:30 at Bridgeforth Stadium
Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 61
Broadcast: Televised on Comcast SportsNet Regional. Streamed via CAA.tv and Madizone
All About Nova
Villanova earned a place in sports history when a ragtag group of underdogs, a blow-fueled point guard, and a coach that looked like Paulie from Rocky, upset Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA Basketball Championship. But Villanova deserves to be known for much more than just that one basketball team. Among the many other things Nova is known for is, well, um, nope that’s pretty much it.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Villanova’s passing attack is 10th in the CAA. You’d be a fool to assume that means they can’t throw the ball though. They can. QB John Robertson throws it quite well actually, completing a league best 71% of his attempts. The Wildcats rank so low in passing offense because they simply don’t throw much. For comparison’s sake, they have 67 fewer attempts than JMU. And they don’t air it out much because their rushing attack is so strong that they don’t need to. They rush for an average of 242 yards a game with an attack spearheaded by Robertson and a stable of capable tailbacks. Robertson has already eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground to go along with 15 TDs. If you’ve never seen them play, Nova essentially has Mickey Matthew’s dream offense. read more…
You wanted a home playoff game? Well, you pretty much got one. Villanova rolls into town to play the Dukes on Saturday. Both teams need a big win to keep their playoff dreams alive. It’s about as close to a must win as you can get for a week 9 game.
And now it’s time for our prediction contest. By now, we trust the majority of you know how this works. Here’s a quick refresher just in case though. Add a comment letting us know who you think will win and what the final score will be. The person who comes closest to predicting the outcome correctly (winner & score) will get to write a guest post. Simple, right? So let us know who you think will win Saturday. And keep rootin fer Dukes.
It’s about that time!!
To paraphrase a favorite Drive-By Truckers songs, Shut Your Mouth and Get Your Ass to the ‘Burg! It is, after all, Homecoming. Yes, it comes a little late this year, but the weather’s looking perfect (Sunny, 63) and pumpkin beers are thankfully mostly gone from the shelves of your local store. Kickoff time (2:30) is a tad early for our liking thanks to television, but a) that’s a good reason and b) is hopefully in a sweet spot in this binge-alicious weekend for students where they can stay the entire game without fear of missing out on parties or even getting cold. Plus it’s daylight savings night so you all get an extra hour to party and/or sleep it off later anyways!
And best of all (ok, maybe around 121st best for most people), we’ll be setting up and a good ole’ fashioned JMUSB official tailgate, and we’ve even got Godwin Field parking for what we hope will be the most central location we’ve ever had for getting a lot of us together! We’ll have the Start Wearing Purple JMUSB Banner up on the tent nice and early this weekend and we even have a real crew of our own this year (10 deep including two little ones!) so stop by, say hi, and share in some rootin’ fer Dukes! On that note, if you park in a satellite lot like we sometimes do, feel free to bring a cooler and a chair and come set up with us. [We’d especially like to extend an invitation to those great Hanson Field gentlemen with the ‘shine we met last year!]
For the next five days, we’re calling for a moratorium on ALL negativity surrounding JMU Athletics. Here’s a quick, but certainly not all inclusive list of things we as a community can surely agree for this short period of time not to bitch, whine, or get angry about: Mickey, Realignment, Bourne, King, O-Line penalties, JT, Nation, MadiZone, playcalling, realignment, mickey, realignment, and mickey. If the Dukes lose and fall entirely out of the playoff picture, they’ll be all the time in the world for hashing, rehashing, and thrashing about what JMU needs to do from here on out, but again, it’s freakin’ Homecoming! In case you’ve forgotten (and we certainly have at times), Homecoming’s about way more than the run/pass ratio. Dukes have lost games through the years, but we’ve never lost a party! The Elias Sports Bureau is very clear that JMU has never lost a tailgate! And this week we’re even playing the ultimate anti-tailgate opponent: Vanillanofun. We know you’ve got one more great one in you for old times’ sake!
In fact, here’s a quick, but certainly not all inclusive list of things we as a community can surely agree to get fired up about: Tailgating in the ‘Burg on a beautiful fall day (and if you graduated pre-05 you know how much that means!), morning parties, Four Roses Bourbon, MRD’s!, Start Wearing Purple, Brighten the Lights, Plymouth Gin, P-Lot rootin’, streamers, purple Solo cups, reheating bbq in a crockpot hooked to the car’s lighter, walking to the stadium with a full purple solo cup and taking pics on the DukeDog statue, afterparties in what was just named “Best Beer Town” by Blue Ridge Outdoors (we recommend Clementine’s but plenty of options abound), overspending at the bookstore (and telling yourself your just knocking out all the holiday shopping), making a weekend of it and attending either Friday or Sunday’s field hockey game, a Three Bros. Brewing tour, mountain biking at Flagpole, a Route 11 chip tour, and of course crashing a college party only be chanted back out to the sweet stylings of an “Old Guys Leave!” chant.
Feel free to add to the “fired up” list in the comments and leave your Debbie Downer jeans at home! Let’s Go Dukes!
Mickey said on the CAA conference call that Dae’Quan Scott has an ankle injury. May not play vs. Villanova.
— Matthew Stoss (@MatthewStoss) October 28, 2013
The hits just keep on coming, don’t they? After a particularly disheartening loss over the weekend, today we found out that Dukes tailback Dae’Quan Scott might miss the game against Villanova. In case you haven’t been paying attention, the coaches seem to consider Dae’Quan one of the focal points of the offense. He’s the Dukes all time scoring leader and he was responsible for one of the only offensive highlights for JMU last Saturday, when he took a screen pass 40 yards to the house. He’s very good (duh) and will likely be a key part of Mickey and O’Cain’s gameplan if he plays (duh again).
Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t be the end of the world. Because as good as Dae’Quan is, some folks might make the argument that at times his talent causes the coaches to put blinders on and restrict the offense a bit. Actually, I have no idea if there are folks out there who’d make that argument, but I certainly would. I love Dae’Quan’s game. He’s great. But sometimes, it certainly appears as if the coaches dial everything back and rely on him a little too much. Maybe the simple threat of him missing the game, will force Mickey and his staff to get a little more creative with the gameplan. And Khalid Abdullah looks ready to step up if called upon anyway. In fact, I could probably write thousands of words about how the coaches failure to consistently involve Abdullah and some of the other talented weapons at its disposal has lead JMU down this path to mediocrity, but I’ll save them for another day.
Yes, at face value this isn’t great news. But it might not be terrible. It’s clear this team needs a spark or something to rally around. Besides, there are two things everyone loves, an underdog and a party. As JMU fans, we’ll be treated to both on Saturday. Keep rootin.
Really getting tired of running this pic.
JMU lost 17-7 in an incredibly disappointing, frustrating, ugly game at William & Mary yesterday. Pathetic is really the only word to describe nearly everything about this one. We really would rather not rehash much of this anger-inducing game and would love to get on to Homecoming but here’s the usual thoughts.
The Good
???
Most people hated them, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed the Griffins’ wonderfully incompetent and gloriously homerish announcing tandem. Hard to believe that’s the only thing I can come up with, but the truth is the truth.
Some might argue the defense was “alright” and created turnovers but that “alright” came against a second and third string QB and wasn’t there when it had to be.
The Bad
O-Line just refuses to play a clean game. We don’t call student-athletes out by name often, but let’s just say that the supposed leader of this group has gotten to the point that we were betting the over/under on his number of penalties yesterday with a group of fans before the game even started.
Daniel Brown – One catch unless I missed something. W&M’s defense is legit and I’m sure they were rolling a double-team to him even if we couldn’t see much on W&M’s poor-man’s version of MadiZone (and that’s a really poor man). How JMU couldn’t find a way to get him involved is pathetic.
3 turnovers by W&M in their own territory led to a whopping grand total of ZERO points for the Dukes.
Obviously the GinjaNinja’s dreadful overthrow for the INT late gets the headlines, but that’s just a bad throw. What’s annoying lately is his consistent lack of situational awareness on things like when to throw it away instead of taking a sack once he’s already out of the pocket, and confusion over where the first-down marker is. Obviuosly he can improve, but those kind of things can be coached. A lotta regressive Logan Thomas in this one right now, not that there’s any coaching connection between the two or anything.
Kicking game. Not sure if that was on Starke for the line-drive or the line for the blocking, but special teams errors are also reflective of sloppy coaching if you’re seeing a theme develop.
The Ugly
The utter lack of an identity continues to plague this team. It’s almost like once the Dukes get any kind of scant lead at any point in the game, we get only the really bad part of old Mickey and none of the good. It’s very confusing and is killing this team. The thing that scares us the most is that Mickey appears to have lost his nerve and/or is coaching like a guy on a really hot seat, always deflecting criticism to his players and failing to explain why he’s completely abandoned his old gunslinger mentality. If nothing else, the old Mickey didn’t give a shit about “the percentage play,” especially on 4th down decisions. We all painfully remember the results of taking this to its extreme in the playoff game in Boone, but it also earned JMU bonus points, stretched leads, continually put pressure on opponents, and maybe best of all instilled a sense of confidence and belief in the players on the field. Yesterday the Dukes, having already had a FG blocked, were faced with a 4th and a foot (and another 4th and 5 later) solidly in W&M territory down 10-7. Anyone who came to love JMU football between 04-09 knows that would have been a no-brainer no matter what the hell all of us armchair QB’s thought. This bullshit, fraidy-cat version of MM just orders another cutesy pooch punt by a field-goal kicker or Birdsong, inevitably ending up in the end zone and gaining a whole 14 yards of field position in the process while broadcasting the “we’re playing not to lose and I don’t believe in you” message to the players.
This team also plays great at home and/or with a lead, but is a shell of its potential on the road or when facing adversity. Might even invoke the “soft” moniker.
The Big Picture
Before this game, we thought that 8-4 would give JMU a great shot at the playoffs. Not anymore. Because they now will finish behind both UD and W&M even if they “tie” them by virtue of awful head-to-head losses, that really means 8-4 will be unlikely to get them any higher than 5th or 6th place in the CAA and leave them on the outside looking in no matter how much MM protests. That means only 9-3 will do it and that, in turn, means they have to run the table to make the playoffs and potentially save MM’s job. Obviously this is unlikely, but we’ll all be rootin’ next week against an equally desperate, three-loss Villanova team at Homecoming. And hey, cynics and the pitchfork crowd can celebrate even in defeat as one more almost certainly signals the end of the MM era.
It’s a beautiful fall day in the Commonwealth, perfect for a football game between the Dukes and their old rivals the William & Mary Tribe Pantsless Griffins. Kick-off is at 3:30 and you can purchase the stream of the game here. DC Metro Dukes can join the official viewing party at Penn Social at 801 E St. NW in DC. Consider this your open thread for pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Enjoy the game everyone. And root fer Dukes!
NEEERRRRDDDDS!
It’s one of our favorite games of the year this week as the Dukes travel to the land of butter churns and chastity belts to take on the Tribe in what always seems to be a very tight matchup.
The Basics
William & Mary is a really stout defensive team that has struggled on the other side of the ball this season. They’re probably better than their record (three losses were all close and came against @ WVU, @ Villanova, and @ Maine) and always well-coached by Jimmye (the e is silent and ridiculous) Laycock and company. Defensively, the Pantless Griffins lead the conference in Points Per Game [allowed] and have been solid all around. If JMU can continue developing O’Cain’s offense into scoring big points again this week, it will make a huge statement. But on offense, they’ve had all kinds of trouble at QB (though as usual, Jimmye is doing the W&M thing and sticking with his injured, inconsistent senior no matter what) and really haven’t been able to do anything consistent in the passing game. That “should” be a favorable setup given the Dukes’ D’s relative strengths and weaknesses!
Seriously, where are my pants?
Hopefully we’ll continue learning good things about the Dukes again this week and they don’t overlook this with Homecoming on the horizon.
Coverage
Strangely, this in-state rivalry game is the last of JMU’s games that won’t have broadcast tv this year and the only one not available on MadiZone (audio is available through Madizone). But it is available through W&M’s version of Madizone which can be accessed here. It’s $10.95 for a monthly subscription which you can cancel after the game. Grab a few buds, split the small fee and don’t miss this big one. Or better yet, if you’re in the DMV, join the MetroDukes at Penn Social to watch the game. Or even better yet, do your rootin’ at the game in Williamsburg.
The other good news is that beginning next week, the Dukes last four games all are available through NBC (National twice and Comcast regional twice)!
Beer of the Week
Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company’s Stringduster. Made specially for the incomparable Infamous Stringduster’s great festival, The Festy Experience, two weeks ago at the DB Basecamp near Wintergreen, you can still get this malty bit of fall goodness on tap in growlers down there thanks to the rains that kept the crowd down this year. DB is rapidly becoming one of the lead dogs in Virginia’s beer renaissance and took home a slew of medals at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver last week. Their signature beer that’s widely available is probably the crisp Vienna Lager, but the harder to find Stringduster and the Blue Ridge Hop Revival (wet-hopped) are worth the trip!
JMUSB Prediction
This game has all the makings of one that should be scary. The Vegas line actually has the Dukes as four-point underdogs. It’s a rivalry against another team like JMU that’s probably played better than their record and it’s tough to tell exactly how good they are based on either who they’ve beaten or who they’ve lost to. But we’re still big believers in the Dukes talent level and development and we think they’ll continue to grow off the bye week into the squad we all think they can be.
Dukes 27, Tribe 23, Rootin’
The bye week is over and it’s time for the Dukes to get back at it. On Saturday, JMU will travel to Williamsburg to take on its old rival, the William & Mary Tribe (or Pantsless Griffins if you’d prefer). Of course that means its also time for our contest to see who can predict the winner. Here’s a quick refresher on how the contest works. Leave a comment indicating who you think will win the game and what the final score will be. The person who comes closest to predicting the outcome correctly (winner and score) will get to write a guest post next week on anything his or her heart desires. Well, that’s not exactly true. You can’t write anything offensive (porn, praise for Richmond, etc) but you get the idea.
So where were we? Ah yes, the game. It’s William & Mary’s homecoming on Saturday, which means the stands should be filled with alums anxious to see their Pantsless Griffins avenge last year’s double-overtime loss to the Dukes in Harrisonburg. We will have our full preview tomorrow, but if you haven’t been paying attention here’s a little info to help you make your picks.
William & Mary is in a situation that might be eerily familiar to Dukes fans. The Tribes defense ranks number one in the CAA, but the offense hasn’t exactly been keeping pace. And according to most fans, the offensive shortcomings are largely attributable to inconsistent QB play. In fact, one of the hot topics this week for William and Mary fans seems to focus on debating which QB should get the start. We’ve been there Tribe fans. It gets better. At least it did for us, because JMU has the Ginga Ninja.
In any case, expect this to be another tough game for the Dukes. Whether you’re going to the game in the other ‘burg, spending the day checking out William Hill horse racing, or tuning in via the Tribe’s stream, we know you’ll be rootin fer Dukes.
Yesterday was CAA Basketball Media Day in Baltimore, Maryland. Just like every year, it was a chance for all of the league’s coaches to drop meaningless quotes, dole out plenty of over the top praise for their peers, and attempt to convince the audience (and themselves) that their guys outworked the rest of the league all summer and are poised to make a big leap forward. And since the event took place in Baltimore, there were plenty of throwaway lines about crab cakes.
The highlight of media day was the release of the preseason poll. The poll was voted on by the league’s coaches, media relations directors, and media members. The results have been known for weeks, but yesterday they were officially released. To no surprise, the Towson Tigers were picked to finish first. JMU, the defending CAA champs, was picked to finish seventh in the nine team league. The full results of the poll can be seen here.
The preseason All CAA teams were also officially released. The league’s coaches and media members selected Towson’s Jerrelle Benimon as the preseason CAA Player of the Year. Benimon won the award last year after averaging 17.1 points per game and leading Towson to 18 wins. Joining Benimon is joined on the preseason All CAA first team by DAmion Lee and Frantz Massenat of Drexel, Devon Saddler of Delaware, and Marcus Thornton of William & Mary. The Dukes’ Andre Nation was selected to the second team.
Preseason polls aren’t worth much, but yesterday’s results show how difficult most people think it will be for JMU to replace Gene Swindle. Or more precisely, how difficult it will be to replace Gene Swindle’s graduating class, a group that included Devon Moore, A.J. Davis, Rayshawn Goins, and Alioune Diouf. The group of graduates helped lead JMU to its first CAA Tournament Championship since 1994 last season. They’ll undoubtedly be tough to replace. JMU is undoubtedly young, but last year’s freshmen class earned valuable minutes in big games. Collectively, they might have more talent than last year’s graduates. They’ll be growing pains, and not having Andre Nation until January will hurt, but I wouldn’t count this Dukes team out. Most of the coaches rightfully praised Towson, but also indicated they thought the league was up for grabs. They’re probably right.
The league’s television schedule was also released, and the Dukes will have the second most appearances, highlighted by a nationally televised game on NBC Sportsnetwork against William & Mary from the Convo on Superbowl Sunday. If the game is anything like last year’s contests against the Tribe, it’s sure to be a good one.
The Dukes had a bye this week so we’d thought we’d take a quick run around the CAA landscape as the football season heads for home and teams really start jockeying for playoff position. Although many of the early national predictions have the CAA as a three-bid league, our guess is 8-4 overall with a winning CAA record will do it if the fourth place team can achieve those marks. That means the Dukes need to go at least 3-2 in their last five. With games against Villanova and Towson on the schedule and a trip to UNH that’s never fun also out there, it shows just how critical this weekend’s game at struggling-but-dangerous William & Mary is.
Maine (6-1, 3-0) The Black Bears are the only team squarely in control of their fate as the only undefeated team in conference play. Their trip to Villanova this week may be the most crucial game left on the CAA schedule.
Towson (7-1, 3-1) At 7-1 overall, Towson is still in great shape with a bye and only four games remaining, including their home finale against the Dukes.
Villanova (4-3, 3-1) Nova is a strange team. Their comeback turned come-from-ahead upset loss at UNH really put them in a tough spot. The team that shredded a formidable Towson team is now in real danger. The ‘Cats host Maine this weekend and then travel to the ‘Burg for JMU homecoming. They probably need a least a split to keep their hopes alive, though the Fordham loss early doesn’t look so bad.
Delaware (5-2, 2-1) We’re reallllly not sure the Hens are any good, but that win over a shitshow Dukes squad that week may continue to serve them well in the race for 3rd/4th all season. They still have trips to Towson and Nova upcoming so 8-4 seems a likely result, and JMU may still need to finish ahead of that mark to earn 4th place and a playoff shot. Of course, Delaware could easily vomit against an odd URI team or W&M since they barely escaped Albany a couple weeks back.
JMU (5-2, 2-1) @ W&M, Nova, @UNH, Stony Brook, @ Towson. Very tough stretch and read Delaware’s section to understand why 8-4, 5-3 still may not be enough. But like Villanova and UD, any finish between 4-1 and 1-4 wouldn’t be a complete shocker.
New Hampshire (3-3, 2-2) The bold decision to go for two in the last minute and complete the 29-28 upset of Nova this week did two things: Save UNH’s season for the moment and remind Dukes fans how completely unfun trips to Durham can be like the one JMU has in three weeks. UNH has a manageable schedule the rest of the way but will still need to at least split two home games against JMU and Maine to get to avoid a fifth loss.
Rhode Island (3-5, 2-3) Probably out of it already, but they’ve been oddly competitive at times and the win over UR this weekend was a stunning result. Not sure whether UR just quit after the trip to JMU or injuries caught up with them, but that’s not pretty.
William & Mary (4-3, 1-2) Very much still alive despite inconsistent play. Needless to say, Homecoming against the Dukes means as much or more to them. Brutal schedule with JMU, UNH, UD, Towson, and UR to close though and it’s tough to see them avoiding a fourth CAA loss which would also mean a fifth loss overall.
Stony Brook (3-3, 1-2) Stony Brook’s losses have been to FBS Buffalo, Nova, and Towson, so not much to go on to know what they’re about but JMU fans certainly shouldn’t dismiss them yet based on the deceiving 3-3 overall record. Tough trips to JMU, Maine and UNH still remain.
Richmond (2-5, 0-3) Ewwwww. Just awful and that “big” win for the Dukes last week may not mean squat when the Ticks finish bottoming out.
Albany (1-7, 0-4) Nothing to see here. Tough first go-round in the CAA for Bob Ford’s group.
