In case you missed it, The Sports Network published its FCS Top 25 poll for the 2012 preseason. And just like in the Athlon preseason poll, the JMU Dukes find themselves ranked fifth. Not be outdone, Phil Steele released his FCS Preseason Top 40 (yes 40!) and he has our beloved Dukes ranked second. Last season’s national championship runner-up, Sam Houston State is ranked at the top of each poll.
We’ve never put much stock in preseason polls, but seeing the respect the Dukes are garnering in the polls definitely has us looking forward to the season. And the Dukes are just one of three CAA teams in The Sports Network’s top 10, with Towson and ODU in seventh and eighth respectively. Plus Delaware, New Hampshire, and Maine also are ranked giving the CAA 6 teams in the top 25. Phil Steele only has 5 CAA teams in his top 25, but we like his rankings better since JMU is second and ODU barely cracks the top 20.
Personally, I think the only real takeaway from these polls is that the CAA race should be another dogfight. Respect for the Dukes in the preseason polls is great, but I’d trade all the preseason accolades in the world for a CAA Championship and one of the coveted top four playoff seeds come November. And based on the respect shown to the conference in these polls, whichever team emerges from the CAA regular season on top, could have a decent shot of getting one of those seeds (not to mention securing the home field advantage that automatically comes with it regardless of bidding “strategy”).
One of JMU Sports Blog’s very own readers, Drew Savage, had the chance to go to London for the 2012 Olympic Games. We linked up with him before he left and were hoping he’d be able to catch one of the three JMU Olympians in action and report back to us. Unfortunately, he was unable to see any of the Dukes compete, but he did snap this cool photo of himself in front of the Olympic Rings sporting his brand new JMUSB Start Wearing Purple t-shirt (get yours here). And while I’m sure he would have loved to have seen Jacob Wukie earn a silver medal in archery, settling for seeing a couple Phelps vs Lochte races probably made up for it. Who are we kidding? We’re full on JMU dorks and short of the Duke Dog himself was competing in the 10 meter platform dive, we can’t think of too many Olympic events we’d skip for Phelps vs Lochte. And Drew wasn’t the only Duke there. He ran into another alum at the Tower of London. Small world.
Well, we’re happy to report that after the thoroughly underwhelming news that the Great Danes and a school confused for a yogurt-maker are being added to the conference for football only earlier this week, at least we’ve had actual news to follow this week. Huge credit to the Daily News Record’s Matthew Stoss this week (@MatthewStoss). We’ve given him a rough time since he took over the JMU football beat before last season, but he’s been all over training camp with consistent photos and updates on twitter. The very short version of first week highlights:
Justin Thorpe is the clear QB1. Vandy transfer Lafante Thoroughgood is alleged to be a step slow picking things up, but still ahead of the promising freshmen. Remember, Jace Edwards is no longer with the team.
No word from the NCAA yet on a sixth year of eligibility for Thorpe, though the program remains hopeful.
WR/QB/Slash guy Andre Coble has been ruled academically ineligible and will miss the season. He will get to redshirt and gain an extra year if he chooses to work on the old matriculation portion of his time in the ‘Burg. Although the team will miss his trick-play ability and versatility, the scarier thing here is what to do if JT and Thoroughgood are both injured at some point. Would’ve been nice to roll with Coble at QB if it was just for a quarter or a half instead of pulling a redshirt off one of the prize frosh. Needless to say, we’ve seen that movie a few times the last couple of seasons. Have to hope this is the only major “injury” of camp.
Lots of running the ball.
Defense is ahead of the offense.
GREAT, FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLY GOOD NEWS from on the media front as JMU announced that ALL MadiZone broadcasts (audio and video) will be 100% free of charge for this athletic year. I seriously cannot even tell you how much more JMU sports action we’ll be watching and I don’t think we’re alone on this. Especially men’s hoops. We were always willing to pay for any football we couldn’t get on television, but some of the other pay content was a tougher proposition, particularly on random winter Tuesdays when you really just want to follow along, but not so much that your wife and kids hate you and you can’t act like your also paying attention to them.
Women’s soccer has already played an actual scrimmage, losing 1-0 to VT. Seriously getting excited!
Former Duke CJ Sapong and Sporting Kansas City won the US Open Cup by defeating the Seattle Sounders this week.
Former Dukes LB Arthur Moats appears to have the inside track on a starting spot for an improving Buffalo Bills defense. Would certainly be a great opportunity to play behind someone like Mario Williams.
And oh yeah, former women’s soccer player Christina “Corky” Julien earned a bronze medal as an alternate for the Canadian women’s soccer team. That means out of three Dukes athletes in London, they picked up a silver and a bronze. We like those odds!
Yes, Stony Brook is on Long Island.
After months of speculations, the CAA finally officially announced that Stony Brook and Albany will be joining the conference as football only members beginning in 2013. A teleconference is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10:30. Both schools are currently members of the America East Conference, which doesn’t sponsor football. Albany plays football in the North East Conference and Stony Brook plays in the Big South. Both schools won their respective league titles last year and actually faced each other in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Stony Brook won the match-up 31-28 before bowing out to championship runner-up Sam Houston State in the second round.
Glass Half Full
The CAA is losing 3 football teams after this season in ODU, Georgia State, and Rhode Island (a program that the league might yet convince to stick around). Albany and Stony Brook are clear upgrades over the latter two. Stony Brook has won 3 straight Big South conference titles and is favored to repeat this year. The Seawolves also had the highest scoring offense in FCS last year. Albany has won 2 NEC conference titles in the past 4 years. They had a rather prolific offense as well, averaging 33 points a game. Sure, they weren’t facing CAA caliber defenses week in and week out, but these are winning FCS programs with the commitment to get even better.
In addition to improving the overall strength of the league, these additions will give the CAA 10 teams for the 2013 season. That’s makes for an easy 8 game conference schedule. And since both schools are in the Northeast, it makes travel easier for Maine and New Hampshire. The CAA will no longer be a strictly southern based league. That’s good if for no other reason than it might keep New Hampshire’s eyes from wandering.
Glass Half Full
I told my wife about the news and she immediately asked me 1.) if Stony Brook was in Vermont and 2.) if they made that yogurt. Household names these schools are not. And those positives I mentioned about the schools being from the Northeast? Yeah, there are some negatives to balance them out. First of all, Stony Brook is on Long Island and Albany is in, well, Albany. Those aren’t exactly college football hotbeds. Both schools has a solid product on the field last year, but it didn’t really resonate at the box office. Stony Brook was 83rd in FCS attendance with an average of 5,573 fans a game. Albany was even worse with only 3,928 fans a game. And things might change, but at first glance neither school will be as fun to hate as ODU. It’s going to tough to make up for the loss of an in-state rival with the addition of two schools from New York.
And yes, Stony Brook has won 3 straight Big South titles. They actually shared the title in 2009 and 2010 though. And the Big South wasn’t even strong enough to garner a single playoff bid in either year. And the Seawolves went 1-4 out of conference both season. But, I assume they got a banner or something.
JMU had its first football practice of the 2012 season today. Before we get to anything else, let me be the first to say “Thank God.” Coming up with things to write about during the football season is pretty easy. And it’s fun. Coming up with things to write about in the dead of summer isn’t easy. It’s actually kind of hard. Not quite like trying to break 1,000 receiving yards in a season as a JMU wide-receiver hard, but it isn’t a cake-walk. So we’re very glad that that real JMU football is write around the corner. And we’re thrilled that for what seems like the first time in forever, JMU heads into the season with a clear cut number 1 QB.
Justin Thorpe is obviously going to be the starter for the Dukes. And why shouldn’t he considering he’s been on the roster for about 8 years now? Thorpe has never had an extended run as a starter because of injuries and his “sabbatical”. He’s always had the size and athleticism to succeed in the JMU offense. And he showed maturity as a passer when he was on the field last season. For some reason, there still seem to be a least of the portion of the fanbase that doesn’t fully buy-in to Thorpe being “the guy”. It’s sort of crazy when you consider that he’s 11-1 in his last 12 starts against FCS competition. Maybe it’s the curse of expectations. Thorpe was billed as the next Rodney Landers. Those are some big shoes to fill. He might not be Landers, but he’s a pretty good QB in his own right. And the team wins a lot of games when he lines up at QB.
JMU does have a healthy competition for the back-up QB job though. With a slew of talented freshman, plus the much-heralded dual-threat Vanderbilt transfer Lafonte Thorougood, and returning wildcat QB Andre Coble, JMU has some good depth behind center. The freshman each bring a little something different to the table. Michael Birdsong and Ian Fisher are both big guys, with big arms. They measure at 6’4″ 220 lbs 6’6″ and 245 lbs respectively. The speculation is that with size like that, each player could potentially be moved to another position if they don’t shine at QB. Both guys seemed intent on playing QB in college though and Mickey Matthews is going to give them a shot to do it. Taylor Reynolds, the third QB from JMU’s much heralded recruiting class, doesn’t have the size of Birdsong or Fisher, but he displayed the sort running ability in high school that Coach Matthews loves.
While the back-up job is officially up for grabs, the smart money is on Thorougood to emerge and secure the spot. He already used his redshirt year while at Vanderbilt, so he’s going to be on the active roster. The 3 freshman on the other hand, can each be redshirted so they can mature a bit more before seeing the field. And one practice into the 2012 season, I’m betting that’s how it will play out.
The wedding pages of major newspapers are goldmines for self-important mockery. Like most young middle-aged men, I was indifferently and happily unaware of their existence or the unintentional comedy involved until I got married myself and my wife started pointing these things out. Basically, the wedding-page announcement is the old-school, more haughty version of Facebook. In small-town papers,or even low-rent outfits like the RTD, a wedding announcement is often an earnest and informative piece. But in a paper with a circulation large enough that there’s absolutely no way you know 98% of the readership, you can always be sure of some Judge Smails quality snobbery, or what we think of as bloggable gold! It can go either generationally important Louis Winthorp III style or new-money ridiculousness. If you’re bored at work, Katie Baker’s NYT Wedding Scorecard is always a hilarious time-killer. And the quotes, oh the quotes. Anyhow, when my pop-culture expert co-worker pointed out that yesterday’s Washington Post included a former JMU football player, needless to say I was thrilled to get through the final week of dog-days before JMU sports actually pick up in earnest for the fall seasons. Anyhow, looking forward to St. Francis previews and WVU hype next week.
Lastly (warning, you’re about to feel VERY old), a big JMUSB welcome to the Dukes of the Class of ’16!
…so JMUSB is in dangerous hands this week. But thankfully I at least get to begin with really cool news. Former Dukes Archer Jacob Wukie was part of the USA Men’s Team that took a surprising and thrilling silver medal earlier this week for the very first medal earned by Team USA in any sport in London! Seriously, say that again. A JMU Duke athlete won a silver medal at the Olympics! Yes, yes, we know we’ve never covered Archery or it’s untimely budget and Title IX -related demise in the ‘Burg, but there’s no way everyone can’t be happy for the guy. We know nothing about the sport, but they damn near won the whole shootin’ match, losing by a single point to Italy in the final. Congrats to Jake and hopefully this starts a new Olympic trend for the purple and gold.
Also on the Olympic front, JMU Head Field Hockey Coach (and awesome friend of JMUSB) Antoinette Lucas is a former Olympian herself and still does a lot of coaching and consulting for USA Field Hockey. We know she’s super-proud that the team, never a shoe-in to even make the games, followed up their historic Pan-Am games upset of world power Argentina that got them into London with another massive upset yesterday of that same squad! Another sport we claim zero knowledge of, but we do know the upset at Pan-Am (the entry tourney for London from our region) is considered to be in contention for GOAT status of field hockey upsets. We can only imagine what yesterday’s victory means.
Lastly, Lawless, the movie based on the adaptation of JMU alum Matt Bondurant’s book Wettest County in the World, comes out later this month with premieres in various cities throughout the month so keep your eyes peeled.
Be back Friday with actual football coverage! Less than five weeks till opening day!
USA (and former Duke!) Archer Jacob Wukie
Well, it’s that wonderful time of the year when NBC ceaselessly promotes athletic programming throughout it’s morning lineup for the evening to come while pretending that programming is not actually taking place LIVE right over Matt Lauer’s shoulder. Gotta love the Olympics and a media format hanging on the mid-90’s as best they can. But the good news is there are three former Dukes heading to London! (it’s possible there are more JMU connections, so please let us know in the comments if you know of others) And also good news is that the events they’ll be competing in are not likely to force you to wait for west-coast primetime on the peacock flagship to catch them!
Corky Julien – Canada, Women’s Soccer – One of the best Olympics twitter follows you’ll find former Dukes womens soccer superstar @juliencm21. In case you didn’t know, and of course NBC wouldn’t want you to know anything actually takes place prior to their big advertising bonanza at the Opening Ceremonies, the Women’s Soccer tourney actually started already. Bad news is Canada dropped their opener 2-1, but good news is that was against the current holders of the World Cup Japan (yeah, that Japan that beat Team USA in a thrilling OT match in the final), so there’s no shame in that result and it certainly doesn’t destroy Canada’s shot at coming second in the group and advancing to the elimination tournament.
Eva Hannesdottir – Iceland, Swimming – Look, we may be wrong on this, but she’s not likely to make it out the heats to any televised portion of the swimming competition. But that doesn’t mean you can’t cheer for her at Opening/Closing Ceremonies and tune into some online early heats if you’re bored at work.
Jakob Wukie – USA, Archery (Amurica! Eff yeah!) – The Men’s Team competition actually takes place Saturday as one of the first events out of the gate so don’t sleep. Literally, the early rounds are at 4 a.m. our time and the advancing and medal rounds appear to take place at 10 a.m. The men’s individual competition takes place throughout the week with the medal rounds on Friday at 9 a.m. All of the archery can be livestreamed through NBC since, needless to say, they won’t be re-airing it in primetime unless someone wins something. That said, Jakob is a very serious contender so we encourage you to track him througout the week and keep an eye on the medal count come Friday!
Towson's Terrance West was named 2012 CAA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
The 2012 CAA Football Media Day doesn’t even start for a few hours, but someone had an itchy trigger finger and already posted the highlights last night. The league’s media directors and coaches have picked JMU to finish 3rd in the annual preseason poll. The Dukes were right behind Towson and ODU, which finished in first and second respectively. Now I’m sure the JMUSB fans from the ODU message boards who think we’re the most bitter and pathetic bloggers on Earth (love you guys) will be shocked to hear this, but I have no argument whatsoever with JMU’s place in the rankings. In fact I would have voted Towson and ODU ahead of them to. Although it’s worth pointing out that last year’s consensus preseason champ, William & Mary, finished in 7th place. And the team picked to finish just behind them, JMU, only finished 6th, so…er, never-mind.
The 2012 CAA Football Media Day takes place Wednesday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. CAA commissioner Tom Yeager can read the tea leaves and clearly understands that the one topic on everyone’s mind will be conference expansion. So he went ahead and issued the following statement.
As we turn our focus to the 2012 season and the upcoming CAA Football Media Day, I wanted to provide an advance statement regarding conference expansion to minimize distractions from the more important activities of Media Day.
Even prior to the announced departures this spring, we had been quietly exploring possible membership realignments. To the extent that we can maintain the confidentiality of the discussions, we have endeavored to do so to protect the interests of all parties involved. We will continue to maintain our confidentiality and will not comment about particular institutions. In the end, we are confident that the league will continue to grow its legacy as the preeminent FCS conference in the country.
We are excited about the 2012 season and the record coverage our new national television partner the NBC Sports Network and our syndicated regional partners, the Comcast SportsNets will provide our fans, teams and student-athletes.
In short, don’t hold your breath folks. Yeager and the rest of the CAA powers that be will not be using Media Day to issue conference invitations. They won’t even be dropping any hints about potential invitees. Instead they’re relying on the old Judge Smalls technique of “you’ll get nothing and like it!”
While we (and loads of others) are poking fun at Yeager for this, it’s actually a pretty smart move on his part. While fans are anxious to hear about potential new conference schools, the CAA has nothing to gain from leaking anything at this point. Conference re-alignment is a tricky thing and it would only make things tougher for Yeager is he showed his hand now. We’re as anxious as everyone else to hear what teams will get invitations to join the league. But Yeager is right that the focus of tomorrow’s Media Day should be on the 2013 football season. It should be. We just have our doubts any official statement is going to keep folks from asking the expansion questions.
