Frank the Tank predicted that JMU would beat the Ticks 38-31. That’s exactly what happened so he gets to be this week’s guest blogger. Take it away Frank.
I had major writer’s block when the JMUSB offered me the opportunity to compose a guest post after winning last week’s prediction contest. No one could have predicted the way the richmond game unfolded (I cannot bring myself to capitalize JMU opponents) and I was NOT rootin for a tick touchdown in the 4th quarter, despite knowing I could win the prediction contest. First, I must say that I was pleased with what I saw from the team. We have significantly cleaned up our play (penalties, TOs, mental mistakes) and we finally played a great 3rd quarter. Many are wary of our secondary, which is a legitimate concern, but after my review of the game tape I do not think we will face another team with better timing routes than what we saw last Saturday. Additionally, we executed the bend/don’t break game plan and eliminated the back-breaking big play that we gave up in our first five games. I like the fact that this team started off a little raw and is forced to develop game by game. We are now entering the part of the season where it is time to bring it all together and execute. I saw the emotion that has been lacking the last few years, and who couldn’t help but go crazy when Dejor took one to the house! “De-Jor, De-Jor, De-Jor!” Dude was so fast; it didn’t even look like he was running fast. read more…
Prior to the big win over Richmond, Michael Birdsong took a stroll through campus with a camera crew in tow. The Student Ambassadors better watch out because the Ginga Ninja gives a hell of a tour. Provided you’re more interested in bluegrass at Taylor Down Under than finding true love at Kissing Rock of course.
The Dukes got the job done and defeated Richmond by the score of 38-31 on Saturday. After a hard fought first half, JMU was clinging to a 7-6 lead. Dejor Simmons provided a much needed spark with an electrifying 100 yard kickoff return for a TD to open the second half. Feeding off Simmons’ energy, the Dukes went on to play far and away they’re best third quarter of the season. Michael Birdsong and Brandon Ravenel connected on a 71 yard passing play that led to a Quintin Hunter TD. The Ginga Ninja followed that up with a 16 yard TD pass to Deane Cheatham that put JMU up 28-9. Things got dicey in the fourth quarter though and Richmond stormed all the way back to pull within a touchdown late. Luckily, JMU recovered a Spider onside kick and ran out the clock to seal the win. read more…
Alright folks, here we go. It’s gameday and the Dukes and Ticks kickoff in just a few hours. I’m heading down to Bridgeforth to watch the big game live. Anyone who is unable to attend in person, can tune in for the NBC Sportsnetwork coast to coast television broadcast. The game will also be streamed. And Madizone has free audio domestically and the full video for Dukes fans abroad.
Consider this your open thread for pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Enjoy the game and as always, root fer Dukes!
Well, it’s one of those weeks. One of the only weeks we’ll miss when the CAA is finally behind us – Tick Week! Thankfully for us fans, it’s heated already and we haven’t even reached the end of the week. Time to forget about conference realignment, forget about suspended hoops players, forget about the Carr Report, the UD collapse, coach resignations, and even forget about firing other coaches. The only thing that matters is the answer to a single question: You rootin’ fer Dukes, bud?!
The Bad Blood
First, we’re being referred to by the Philly/Villanova press as “hill people” in advance of this one. Not even entirely sure if they’re calling us bumpkins or trying to negatively reference our DC-centric alumni-base, but needless to say, we’ll be storing this bullshit up for an enormous Homecoming showdown, complete with a massive JMUSB tailgate in Godwin Lot, on November 2 against Villanofun.
More important to the matter at hand, Stephon Robertson correctly noted during a radio interview Tuesday that “Richmond, oh it’s just such bad blood. It’s such bad blood. They don’t like us. We don’t like them. And it’s going to be that way, probably, Saturday.” Going on to specifically discuss the Dukes ugly OT loss in Poormond in 2010, the nation’s best defensive player by a country mile said “I’ll just never forget that game specifically because their fans were really just obnoxious, and I just think it was the way they were, and then the players, the way they were. I didn’t like it.”
ItsyBitsyTick Wide Receiver #29 Stephen Barnette than started running his stupid maw by responding with “We don’t like their fans. Heck, I don’t like their professors. I don’t like anything about JMU, their gold or purple. So we’re just fired up, ready to go.” His stupid ass then took to Twitter (@Scooba_Steve29 – have fun everybody!) where he announced “Hahaha Stephon Robertson is wack!!!! I can’t wait to talk some (S) Saturday!!!”
Needless to say, we’ll be terrified for two reasons the first time this little kid goes over the middle this week for two reasons. First, we really need Steph to avoid anything that gets him a 15 yarder, but second, we’re also legitimately concerned for this young man’s safety. Good luck kid.
The Purple Wave
There’s a huge JMU fan out there (DP) many of you may know that used to post for years on the old CAA Zone message board as The Purple Wave and produce a weekly newsletter/preview of the same name during football season, often filled with solidly humorous hatred of the week’s opponent. But like so many of us, life got in the way and he was forced to hang it up. But thankfully for all of us, he resurfaced this week with a special edition of the Purple Wave just for Tick week that is so good that we feel like we have to share: https://sites.google.com/site/thepurplewave/ Enjoy! And please take his tailgating/rootin’ suggestions to heart.
The Basics
The Ticks have switched to an almost entirely pass-focused attack this year. Given the spotty play of our defensive backfield this could be trouble, but as we’ve seen before when a Dukes front seven knows they can pin their ears back and rush the passer, they can make it ugly in a hurry. Just ask “The Hoodie” himself Aaron Corp about the black-shirted JMU defense two years ago!
Ticks are coached by former Liberty HC Danny Rocco, who has always produced a decent gameplan for facing JMU. Of course, that was mostly during the MM/Durden/Thorpe days and it will be interesting to see if the O’Cain/Birdsong combo can orchestrate a little sumpin’ sumpin’ this weekend! After all, it was at Poormond last year that the legend of the Ginja Ninja began when he came off the bench, ran the hell over some Tick defender for a touchdown, and very nearly led the Dukes to a stunning comeback in his first collegiate action.
On the Line
There is no overstating the ramifications of this game for either team. It’s a true desperation situation for the Ticks as they’ve started 2-3, 0-1 with a home loss to CAA contender Maine and an out-of-conference loss to another likely bubble team out of conference in Gardner-Webb. For the Dukes this is very likely the make-or-break game in the season. Win and they move to 5-2 with the toughest part of the schedule to come after next week’s bye. That would mean a 3-2 record down the stretch would give them a great shot at a playoff berth. Lose, fall to 4-3 with ‘Nova and @ Towson yet to come, and it will be severely uphill all the way in.
Coverage
BFS is the place to be, but just in case, it’s pretty cool to know this is the NATIONAL game on NBC Sports Network this week. Production will be top-notch, but check your local listings for what channel to find NBCSN on as it’s moved around a bit lately on some providers.
Beer of the Week
Found this incredible surprise this summer and have been saving it for a worthy opponent and some actual fall weather (screw the rain by the way and don’t discount the Purple Wave’s suggestion of bourbon in case of inclement conditions). Seriously love everything about this balanced (i.e. perfect for fall and not even crazy hoppy as is my usual) offering from Indeed Brewing Co. in Minneapolis. My favorite “find” of the year is definitely their Midnight Ryder American Black Ale. The only place I’ve found it is at Red, White & Bleu in Falls Church, but if you see these rather artistic cans, do not hesitate and buy as much as possible.
Can the Dukes repeat what they did to Aaron Corp two years ago?! We think they’ll give it a good run!
Prediction
Pain for the Ticks. Also, Ticks are seriously the worst living organism on the planet (well, besides ODU “fans”). Not sure the Dukes can match the sacktastic domination of two years ago, but Robertson, Steele, and Marlowe are the type of game-changing players on the defensive side that the Ticks just haven’t seen this year. We think the Dukes ride a very balanced attack with contributions from DQS, Abdullah, Cheatam, Brown, Smith, and Hunter all helping the Ninja finally achieve a signature victory.
Dukes 30, Ticks 21
It’s time for the prediction contest everyone. The rules are simple, let us know in the comments who you think will win the JMU vs. Richmond game and what the final score will be. The person who comes closest to predicting it correctly (winner & score) gets to write a guest post.
JMU vs. Richmond. Dukes vs. Ticks. It’s a big game this year and ever year. Will the Dukes get it done and send Spider fans home crying in their sweater vests? Or will the Dukes poor third quarter ways hurt them again? Let us know in the comments and root fer Dukes.
M@ won our prediction contest last week and is this week’s guest blogger. Here’s a little walk down JMU football memory lane.
I did a post last season about some random thoughts I had on JMU football. I found the experience quite enjoyable in all and so I decided to keep making guesses. Low and behold my randomly selected score matched closely with reality and here I am again. This time I’ve decided to include a list of some of my most vivid memories of JMU football (I apologize for the number of losses). Whenever possible I will provide a link (or links) to the game in question, but some of these are pretty old. Now, without further ado, and in no particular order, my most memorable football moments: read more…
Well, the single most important piece of news is the Dukes bounced back from the Delaware debacle and picked up a “W,” thus keeping all of our hopes that they’ll go and have themselves a season alive for at least another week and setting up a make or break game at home against the hated Poormond Ticks next week. Beyond that, let’s just say it could’ve, and should’ve been easier and this one didn’t do much to clear up the lingering concerns.
The Good
The Dukes won by 27, and threw up the points and yardage expected against a terrible Albany team (could be wrong, but certainly looked like Albany was even worse than STFU or CCSU – they simply didn’t have a single player that was athletically capable of scaring the Dukes).
Kid is unstoppable right now!
Both Mike’s, Birdsong and O’Cain, have unlocked the secret that is Daniel Brown. Right now there’s simply no covering him at the FCS level and it’s nice to be running an offense that seems capable of exploiting the matchup nightmare he creates.
Freshman RB Khalid Abdullah is turning out to be a hell of a compliment to Dae’Quan Scott in the backfield. Speaking of DQS, he broke former PK David Rabil’s all-time JMU career scoring record and with good health could extend it out to untouchable heights throughout the rest of the season. By the way, tough to break a PK’s scoring record.
RFreshman LB Gage Steele is all over the field and combined with Stephon Robertson, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better LB duo anywhere in FCS.
Jeff Bourne’s halftime interview on MadiZone. The entire thing was about the Carr Report and to us it sure sounded like all systems go a little kabuki with the naysaying constituencies and of course, awaiting a desired invitation to an FBS conference. Another highlight of the interview, and the report (full Carr brief from us coming Tuesday) is that JMU apparently is in really great shape already from a Title IX standpoint and may not necessarily have to add as many scholarships as originally thought.
The Bad
Special Teams (and special teamsish things – e.g. 2-pt. conversions). One missed Extra Point. One missed Field Goal. Beaten for a first down on an Albany fake punt. Missed another 2 point conversion on a first quarter score. Allowed another 2 point conversion. Two good returns negated by holding penalties. Wow.
MM admitted (or covered for) after the game that PK Cameron Stark has been dealing with an injury. He’s a senior with a great track record, but we were glad to see the backup Graham Sharples in there on the last two extra points. Better to be reliable from a known, but shorter distance than to wonder every time you attempt a place kick.
On JMU’s missed 2-pt conversion try early, count me as one who supports the idea, but the problem we’ve seen all season is that it runs smack into JMU’s identity problem we discussed at length last week. If you’re an up-tempo team that’s never going to let off the gas, why not go for it, set a tone, and pressure the other team early. But if you’re going to clam up and go ultra-conservative after the half, then you’ll be the one missing that point as the game moves on.
JMU didn’t do a whole lot to inspire confidence in this one. In fact, Albany seemed to run the right plays for the most part to attack the Dukes, but simply didn’t have the athletes to execute.
The Ugly
“Halftime adjustments” and the 3rd quarter. This is taken straight from the CSN BBS Message Boards and full credit to “JMUSteeler” but this explains the point about in-game adjustments, identity, and coaching questions better than more drivel from us. Now you can add last week’s two-score halftime lead and three-point second half to the list. Just keep this in mind when hear someone say another JMU fan is reaching when they say the Dukes have more talent and don’t maximize it. You can read into this what you want, but this list is REALLY hard to ignore:
2009
6-5, 4-4
vs. teams > .500
2-4
Wins vs Liberty & UD (6-5)
vs. top of CAA
0-3
Key Loss: UR – led 17-14 at half, lost 21-17
2010
6-5, 3-5
vs. teams > .500
3-5
Wins – VT, Liberty, W&M
vs. top of CAA
1-5
Key losses:
UD – led 10-7 at half, lost 13-10
UNH – led 14-10 at half, lost 28-14
UMass – led 14-3 at half, lost 21-14
UR – led 10-7 at half, lost 13-10
2011
8-5, 5-3
vs. teams > .500
2-4
Wins: Liberty, Eastern Kentucky
vs top of CAA
0-3
Key loss: ODU – led 20-14 at half, lost 23-20
2012
7-4, 5-3
vs. teams > .500
1-3
Win: Towson
vs top of CAA
1-3
Key Loss: ODU – led 21-10 at half, lost 38-28
So, over that time we are a cumulative 30-21 to this point. In the CAA, we are 17-16. Through 2012, we are 8-16 vs teams with winning records (not counting this year yet, we don’t know how it will turn out). Of those 8 wins, 3 are against Liberty and 1 against Eastern Kentucky. Also, I didn’t count the 3 FBS losses against us (as teams with a winning record) but did count the VT win. We are 2-14 vs the top of the CAA during that time, not including UD this year. We have 8 losses where we led at halftime, and either failed to score in the 2nd half or scored only once.
I have no idea where CCSU, ST. Francis, Morehead St., etc finished during that time. We aren’t seriously going to count those as quality wins, I hope.
Here’s your open thread to discuss all things pre-game, in-game, and post-game as the Dukes host Albany for the first time in CAA play on a sold-out Family Weekend in Harrisonburg today. Game is available (and we use the term available loosely) for free on MadiZone HD thanks to the JMU Alumni Association. Hopefully with the great weather and big crowd, the volume will keep the feed running smoothly today. As always, join the Twitter fun @JMUsportsblog as well. Go Dukes!
Quick Note: While we’re sure Carr Report discussion will weave its way into today’s thread, we’ll delve deeper into that over the next couple of days in addition to the normal postgamer.
The Albany Great Danes come to Bridgeforth Stadium for Parent’s Weekend tomorrow. Hoo-boy, what a powerhouse CAA matchup this is, and aren’t we all lucky to be hosting the first of two matchups against SUNY schools! A matchup like this just screams tradition and up-and-coming and all that other complete and total bullshit Tom Yeager’s always selling! And on top of that, it’s Parent’s Weekend, the earliest kickoff time and quietest crowd of the year. Whoa, what the hell is wrong with us and all this message-board style complaining?! Between the collapse at UD, all the Carr Report overreaction, and the fact one of us is out of work right now and the other is headed that way, I guess it’s safe to say we may need to make a large correction on the old bitterness scale this week.
The Basics
Albany is in its first year in the CAA after previously playing in the limited-schollie NEC (think CCSU!), where they were a minor bit of a big deal. Despite that recent success, they’re just moving up from a backwater, dirt-floor hut of a conference to one of the nicer shacks on the polluted cesspool of a river. They’re still adding scholarships to get to the full FCS level so the Great Danes simply do not appear ready to compete at this level just yet (losing to Rhode Island doesn’t do you any favors in the respect department).
But….they are coached by the legendary Bob Ford, one of the few coaches to get the field named after him while still active. Ford’s been there forever and is taking a farewell tour this season as he’ll retire after the season. According to the writers that cover him, he’s also a great quote. In that regard he did not disappoint this week, saying that “We’ve seen them play up against Akron, and we’ve seen them play down against Central Connecticut and Saint Francis. When they have to, they play very well. When they don’t have to, they don’t seem to play quite as hard.”
Needless to say, he ain’t wrong. Though this probably isn’t the best quote to throw up on your opponent’s bulletin board when your team is overmatched, it still doesn’t mean we have any reason to think the Dukes won’t make this harder than it has to be.
Beer of the Week
Last week’s second-half fiasco means it’s really liquor time (gin) already with this team, but it’s Family Weekend so we’ll stick with the plan and act like things are normal. Sounds like it’s going to be a great weather weekend and plenty warm enough not to make the switch to fall and winter beers just yet, so this week we’re going with Deviant Dale’s Imperial IPA. Great brewery, best delivery vessel (tall boy cans), and a very solid example of the Double IPA.
Prediction
JMU 31, Albany 13. We’d feel a whole lot better if the Dukes could throw up 40+ and dominate this one, but can’t say we’re really hoping for much more than a competent rebound off of the Delaware game. Also of note, JMU LB Stephon Robertson is leading the nation in tackles and hopefully building a Buck Buchanon worthy resume!
Also, the Carr Report
As most of you know, the report prepared by a sports consulting outfit regarding the future of JMU athletics, in particular the costs and benefits of moving to FBS, will be presented to the Board of Visitors tomorrow and then publicly released following their meeting. Yes, we are excited to see what’s in there, and yes, we’re very hopeful this is simply the next logical step in a move out of the CAA, and yes, we hope that move comes much sooner than later, but please join us in tamping down your expectations for anything earth-shattering tomorrow. And assuming there’s nothing beyond the report itself being released to celebrate, let’s all do ourselves the favor of actually reading the report before we renew sparring with each other over the issue. For all of your meltdown needs, please troll your way over to http://csnbbs.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=685 tomorrow.
