Just the Facts: The Black Bears are coached by Jack Cosgrove. He played QB for the school and is heading into his 17th season as head coach. His team is coming off of a 5-6 campaign in 2009. They actually did quite well against their CAA North divisional opponents, racking up a 4-1 record. Unfortunately, they still had to play schools from the South which resulted in 3 more losses (including one to the Dukes) and a .500 conference record. The Black Bears have had some success in the past, making the playoffs 3 times since 2000 and finishing with a winning record 5 times in that same span. In short, Maine has a pretty decent football program…for a hockey school.
FCS Nugget to Drop at Your Next Tailgate : Maine has produced more current NFL players than any other FCS school in the country. It’s true. Technically. A total of 7 former Black Bears were on active NFL rosters in 2009. Of course this includes Lofa Tatupu, who played at Maine for one year before transferring to USC. Still, that’s pretty impressive. And absolutely shocking.
The Real Skinny: Maine’s Morse Field at Harold Alfond Sports Stadium might only hold 10,000 fans, but it is in Orono, Maine. Ever been there? No, right? Well, neither have I but I assure you it can be cold and nasty. The Black Bears might not have the most intimidating crowds (2009 avg attendance 4,630) but it can be one of the worst places to play late in the season. The weather can be brutal and the lights in the stadium suck. Any team that finds itself playing in Orono after mid-October, needs to prepare for a very tough game. For instance, let’s say a school traditionally closed the season with it’s final game at Towson every other year. Then for some reason that same school was instead playing at Maine on November 20, 2010 that probably wouldn’t be a great thing. And yes, I am talking about JMU here. Towson for Orono straight up was a bad trade for the Dukes.
What They Lose: Maine is losing 3 starters on each side of the ball. This season’s receiving corps will have to make do without last season’s All CAA first team WR Landis Williams and standout WR Mike Brusko, who also saw action at QB. The duo combined for 123 catches, 12 TDs, and over 1,200 yards. The loss of All CAA offensive lineman Tyler Eastman will also be felt. Defensively, the Black Bears will struggle to replace All CAA third teamer Jordan Stevens, who had 10 sacks.
What They Bring Back: The Black Bears have a pair of returning QB’s who both saw considerable action last year. Chris Treister and Warren Smith were both starters at different points last year. Treister closed the season with 7 TDs in the final two games. Whoever gets the call as QB 1 will rely heavily on WR Tyrell Jones. The Junior from Good Counsel High School in Olney, MD (terrible school btw) has 79 catches and 10 TDs as a Black Bear. On Defense Maine will look to a pair of 2009 All CAA third team selections, LB Donte Dennis and DB Steven Barker, to lead the squad. The team is also anxious for the return of ultra talented LB Mark Masterson. He received a medical redshirt after injuries kept him out of all but 2 games last season.
2010 Prediction: 5-6, 4-4 CAA: Like I explained above, Maine has had a pretty decent football program for the past decade or so. Never great, but usually competitive. I see no reason why this team will deviate from that norm. Coach Cosgrove showed a willingness to air it out late last season, throwing it a ridiculous 232 times in the last 5 weeks. Of course, passing was a necessity with the feeble rushing attack at his disposal. The rushing attack doesn’t look to be much better this year and as JMU fans learned last season, sometimes having 2 QB’s isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If the passing game clicks though, this team could surprise some folks.
Nothing much to add here. Just 93 days until football season and from the looks of things, the Dukes’ new and improved “half-stadium” should be ready by then!
The Diamond Dukes took the CAA regular season crown by winning every conference series it played in. Unfortunately for the Dukes, their bats went cold and they lost 2 straight to be eliminated from the conference tourney. After a thrilling victory over UNCW to open the tournament, the top seeded Dukes fell to VCU in their next game. In the 6-3 loss to the Rams, JMU had opportunities for big innings, but couldn’t come up with the hits when it mattered. They twice left the bases loaded and failed to take control of the game.
After the loss to VCU, JMU moved on to rematch against UNCW. Each team entered the game with one loss. The winner would move to play VCU in the CAA Championship Game and the loser would find its season finished. Again, the Dukes struggled at the plate managing only 4 hits in the 3-1 loss to the Seahawks. Despite the few number hits, JMU had chances to score, leaving runners in scoring position multiple times in the early innings. After failing to take advantage of those chances, the JMU bats went ice cold and only one batter reaching base after the 6th inning.
VCU went on to defeat UNCW in the tournament final and secured the automatic bid in the process. Even with the regular season CAA crown, JMU isn’t going to have the resume to secure an at large bid. A better start to the season coupled with wins against some of the stronger opponents the Dukes played, particularly UVA and Coastal Carolina, would have really helped. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. The Diamond Dukes season is now we need to wait to see if Kevin Munson and Trevor Knight get drafted, or if they come back to make another run. It also means that this blog is officially out of spring sports to write about. Bring on the speculative football posts!
JMU defeated UNCW 8-7 in the opening round of the 2010 CAA baseball tournament last night. It was a back and forth game that had the Dukes forced to come from behind multiple times. The Seahawks jumped to an early 2-0 lead before JMU took advantage of an error to score 3 unearned runs and go on top 3-2. UNCW then staged an improbable rally off off of JMU pitching sensation Kevin Munson, who had come on in relief. After falling behind 7-4, the Dukes bats came alive to help them take the lead for good and hold on for the 8-7 victory.
Despite giving up the lead in the 6th, Munson hung around to close out the game and was credited with the win. DH Brett Gardner and second baseman Mike Fabiaschi each picked up 2 hits and knocked in 2. The Dukes now move on to face VCU in a winner’s bracket game, while UNCW and Georgia State will play in an elimination game. The championship game is tomorrow afternoon with the champ securing the coveted NCAA tournament bid.
First of all, we must issue our first official correction. CAA football is currently down to 10 schools, not 12 as previously reported, due to Hofstra and Northeastern’s decisions to drop football this past summer. This year the conference will be one superdivision instead of the previous North/South alignment. That is all the actual journalism (and informed piece of news presented with integrity) you’ll get today from JMUSB. Now on to the rampant speculation.
(holes)
The Basics: First up is former North Division member UMass, a team that we think may be considerably stronger in person than they appear on paper. The Minutemen finished a disappointing 5-6, 3-5 CAA last year after a strong 4-2 start that included a win over New Hampshire and a tight loss at FBS Kansas St. in the opener. A dreadful 0-5 road record doomed this team, though it was their only home loss, to the Dukes on Senior Night, that sealed their fate and crushed their playoff chances. UMass has been a consistently strong CAA program the last decade. This will be Head Coach Kevin Morris’ second year.
What you don’t know: UMass landed one of the top prizes in the HU/NU transfer lottery in Running Back John Griffin. Griffin ran for over 1000 yards, was 1st Team All CAA last year, and NU’s MVP. Although there are other good backs in the Conference, Griffin unarguably did more with less than any skill position player in the CAA last year for the Huskies and should team up with Jonathan Hernandez to form one of the strongest backfields in 2010.
JMU Question: Returning 2nd Team all CAA LB Tyler Holmes is from Blacksburg HS in Blacksburg, VA. How is he not playing for the Dukes?!
2010 Outlook: UMass returns only four starters on each side of the ball, but those low numbers are deceiving, at least on offense. They return QB Kyle Havens and three linemen to protect him. Although they lost badass OL Ducasse to the NFL Draft, with Griffin in the mix at RB, if they can find anyone to catch a few balls, they could be dangerous on offense. The question marks with this team are 1) defense, where they have to replace their entire line, and 2) leadership. That 0-5 road record and disastrous finish to the season (including an ugly home loss to the Dukes on Senior Night in Amherst and an uglier loss on the road in the finale in what turned out to be the last game for the Flying Dutchmen) seem to suggest a lack of leadership, and Coach Morris will have to hope a few guys step up in that regard.
Long-term Outlook: UMass is a big state school (27,016) with decent history, a decent home following (never had less than 12k until the finale against JMU on Thanksgiving week when they were falling apart), and proud tradition in other sports (think Marcus Camby). The Minutemen play in the A-10 in other sports, but if the dominoes start falling in College Football the next few years, you’d have to think they’d have some serious decisions to make about the direction of their football program. Falling back into a lower-level FCS conference in the Northeast, trying to go back to a reformed A-10, and considering a jump to the next level would all seem to be realistic options for this program.
Prediction: 6-5, 4-4 CAA. This is a team that could really surprise someone (think W&M in the opener at home on Labor Day Weekend) and could easily lose to someone traditionally beneath them (think at RhodeI to close the season in what could also be the Rams last game ever), but if they can survive a tough start to the season (home for W&M and always tough Holy Cross, then at the Big House to play the Wolverines), they could hang around all season.
The 2010 JMU football season is just around the corner and Todd and I have decided it’s time to get down to business. This week we’ll be kicking off the first Official JMUSB CAA Football Preview Extravaganza. I know, I know, it’s still 101 days until the season opener against Morehead State. That seems like a long way off, but it’s not. It actually equates to about 14 weeks and the CAA is a 12 team league, so we’ll preview one team a week, sprinkle in a few extra special posts, and before you know it, we’ll be tailgating and getting ready to open the new half-stadium.
Although the coverage has improved tremendously in recent years, it’s still tough for most fans to get good info on the FCS landscape in the preseason. That’s where the Official JMUSB CAA Football Preview comes in. We’re going to hit the road and visit teams, tap into our extensive network of inside-sources and scouts, and spend countless hours at JMUSB Headquarters breaking down game film. Either that or we’re going to summarize what we find on each program’s website and make the rest up.
We’re not sure what form the previews will take, but we will hit every team in the CAA. The series might not make you an expert on CAA football, but it should have you prepared to hold your own breaking the conference down at tailgate parties in the Fall. And if you already happen to be a legit expert on all things CAA football, then send us your thoughts and we’ll plagiarize the hell out of them. Check back later this week for the first team preview.
The JMU women’s lacrosse team entered the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the country, riding a ten game winning streak. Unfortunately, both the winning steak and the season came to end on Saturday. The Dukes lost a hard fought battle to Syracuse 7-3 in a NCAA Quarterfinal match-up in Harrisonburg.
Falling one win short of the Final Four (for any of you that didn’t know what Quarterfinals meant) is brutal, but it doesn’t diminish the team’s accomplishments. They won the CAA regular season and tournament championships, were ranked as high as #5 in the nation, beat cross-state rival UVA, and finished 17-3. The program appears to be in a solid enough state that the woman will have plenty of chances in the future to make runs at a championship.
read more…
This is the gateway screenshot when you try to enter www.jmusports.com right now. In my opinion, I think this alone qualifies as a solid Friday post. Relevant information conveyed and outstanding, if unintentional, humor achieved. As we learned last weekend, SportsTap doesn’t seem to pick up these scores and the CAA Tracker is a disaster, but JMU’s very own MadiZone (yes, this university needs some major help with naming things) is carrying the audio. Or just check back here for the Final Four pairings and our plans to ride the bandwagon to that game; after all, with the Goins signing in MBB it must not be the blog jinxing things.
JMU signee, Rayshawn Goins.
We told you not to panic. Just when things appeared to be getting dicey, Coach Brady comes through and signs 6’6″ 250 lbs power forward Rayshawn Goins. The Goins recruitment has been a bit of a never-ending saga, but I’m thrilled that he’s going to joining the Dukes. He’s coming to JMU from junior college Cincinnati State, where he put up 22 and 14 a game.
Goins’ Cincinnatti State teammate, James Millen, has already signed with JMU. Rayshawn adds to the growing number of Ohio based recruits that will suit up for the Dukes. Goins played AAU ball with Devon Moore, Trevon Flores, and fellow recruit A.J. Davis and their team matched up against Julius Wells’.
Coach Brady projects that Goins will play down low in the 4 spot, giving the Dukes a pretty tough front line when he and Denzel play together. The DNR piece quotes Brady as saying Goins will be “one of the top seven or eight guys” in the Dukes’ rotation. That’s a pretty telling quote, considering that at times JMU only suited up nine guys last year. Next season JMU should have a healthy Devon Moore (I think that’s the biggest “get” of the offseason), a healthy Semenov, Wells, Bowles, and a pretty solid recruiting class. Plus a couple of great energy guys in Ben Louis and Trevon Flores. I really think JMU could be ready to challenge for the CAA title this season. We told you. Basketball is an unpredictable pirate game of give and take. No need to panic.
A health Devon Moore could be JMU's top "recruit".
Years ago I was on an airplane when some old guy behind me started wheezing. Badly. It got ugly, they did the whole “Is there a doctor on the plane?” thing, one thing led to another, and before I knew it I had a doctor squeezed into the row behind me, feeling around the old guy’s throat while yelling at the flight attendant to find him a ball point pen immediately. That was the exact moment it hit me that I was about to witness some bloody and disgusting ball point pen tracheotomy at 35,000 feet by Dr. MacGyver behind me. So I did what anyone would do. I leaned WAY back in my seat to avoid the pending blood splatter and braced myself for the awful mess I was about to witness. I remember this next part like it was yesterday. The doctor took the pen from the flight attendant, slowly removed his other hand from the man’s neck, took a deep breath and…calmly wrote down some instructions for the flight attendant who strutted to the back of the plane and returned with a first aid kit and some medicine. True story.
read more…
