JMU Sports Blog

I can’t wait for JMU football season. We’re talking full on counting the days, watching old Youtube highlights, and pouring over stats excited. But there is one particular player who I am most excited about. To be clear, there are lots of players I’m looking forward to seeing suit up on on Saturdays this Fall. The offensive line is young, but experienced. And I am pretty stoked to see Liam Fornadel after he earned valuable reps as a true freshmen last year. I’m tempted to say he’s the guy because it would probably make me seem more knowledgeable and like a real football guy. It’s not him though.

Likewise, I could choose any of the talented guys in the trenches on either sides of the ball, like Tyree Chavious on offense, or Darrious Carter or Ron’Dell Carter on the defense. And goodness, even football fans who don’t root for Dukes must be anxious to watch the Dukes’ loaded secondary. Jimmy Effin Moreland, Rashad Robinson, and OSU transfer Wayne Davis? Yes, please. The running back position is similarly stacked, with so many studs that I can’t possibly single one out. It’s an embarrassment of riches for JMU fans, with talent all over the field. But there’s one player who has me more excited than any other. That player is Riley Stapleton. read more…

In case you missed it, Coach Houston and the Dukes are crushing it on the recruiting trail lately. Yes, it’s only June. And yes, we’re talking about verbal commits. But we’re still 67 days out from footballs season with nothing else to talk about, so let us be excited about this people.

Yesterday, the Dukes picked up a commitment from AJ Woods. He’s a 3 star defensive back from Northwest High School in Germantown, MD. The rising senior turned down offers from FBS programs including UVA, Temple, Navy, Army, and Air Force, in addition to FCS programs such as Furman, Towson, and New Hampshire. All told, Woods had 19 total offers to choose from. He narrowed it down to UVA, Temple, and JMU before committing to the Dukes.

According to Greg Madia, one of the things that attracted him to JMU was the fact that he’d “have the possibility to play early.” That’s great to hear, but it also makes us hope that he doesn’t watch UVA play this fall, or listen to Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s assessment of the roster.

Another stud, Dorian Davis, also committed to the Dukes recently. Davis is a 2 star cornerback out of Shelby, NC. He’s also class of 2019, so along with Woods, he’ll be trying to become a key piece of the next shut down defensive backfield for JMU. He had offers from Army and Western Carolina amongst others. And the 3rd big recruit landed by Houston and the assistants is CJ Jackson, a running back out of Hermitage High in Richmond. Jackson is another 2 star who’s turning down offers from Purdue, Richmond, ODU, Marshall, Army, and Air Force to play at JMU.

Look, we don’t know squat about recruiting. Thankfully, our buddy Michael has that locked down for us here on the blog. And we don’t get too excited about Rivals stars. But if Coach Houston is excited about these guys, then we’re excited. And based on what Houston and his assistants have been pushing on Twitter lately, they are really, really stoked for these recruits. Plus, like we mentioned, it’s June and we ain’t got crap else to discuss right now.

Sure, the NCAA is generally a corrupt and incompetent organization, but it finally got something right this week. The NCAA Division 1 Council passed a proposal allowing players to play in up to 4 games in a season and still use a redshirt year. It’s a good rule that will allow developing players to get some game action, without exhausting a year of eligibility. And it also gives those players thrust into only a few games another year to complete their degrees, which is supposed to be an important part of the student athlete experience.

This is a rule that benefits both players and coaches. Coaches gain the ability to give players some playing time to test the waters or fill in to back up injured players. And the players themselves gain a chance to have a more phased transition to the college game. Transitioning from high school to college is a big deal for many college students, but especially for football players. They go through al the same struggles are regular students, plus they need to adjust to the difference between taking the field against teenagers to competing against bigger, faster, and stronger grown men. This A redshirt year makes that adjustment much easier for many players. Now they can still take it, but have the experience to play a few games.

While this is a positive change for FBS programs, it’s absolutely huge for FCS teams. And that is of course due to the smaller roster size. With fewer scholarships, FCS coaches have had to be extra careful about pulling a players redshirt and exhausting his eligibility. Fill in for a game because the starter gets injured in the past and it would cost you a year. That’s no longer the case. The obvious example for JMU here is Cole Johnson. He came off the bench as a true freshmen when Bryan Schor got hurt against Villanova. Then he started against a completely overmatched Elon team the following week, before returning the the bench for the playoffs. As a result of playing fewer than 2 total games, he used an entire year of eligibility. Under the NCAA’s new rule, he could have counted that season as a redshirt year. The experience of being thrown into game action probably accelerated Johnson’s development at some level. He got a chance to perform under pressure and delivered. But should that limited game action have cost him a full season of eligibility? The NCAA seems to think it shouldn’t have. So from now on, it won’t.

The first FCS Preseason Poll is out and JMU is ranked #2. Yes, the Athlon FCS Preseason Poll has arrived. It uses the default setting, so NDSU landed in the top spot. A total of 6 teams from the CAA made the top 25. That’s more than any other conference. New Hampshire was right on the Dukes’ heels in third, and Elon snagged the final spot in the top 10. Villanova, Delaware, and Stony Brook were 11th, 13th, and 25th respectively.

Obviously, it’s nice that JMU is well regarded. And terrific that folks think the CAA will be a strong (the strongest?) conference this season. But should we even care at all about these polls? On one hand, it’s standard blog policy to blow anything that shows JMU in a positive light, completely out of proportion. If JMU lands near to the top of virtually any list, we’ll post about it. Especially in the summer. On the other hand, it’s June! We appreciate Athlon’s efforts to cover FCS football and recognize that they know their stuff. But according to Craig Haley, this thing was put together all the way back in March in order to hit publishing deadlines. It’s really nothing more than glancing at rosters to see who the top teams bring back, and then making some wild ass guesses.

The truth is, we’re probably somewhere in the middle. We know it’s WAY to early to accurately predict how the upcoming season will play out. But also, Dukes rule and we can point to this poll as evidence of that. The other influencing factor is that we’re downright spoiled as JMU fans. The program is 28-2 the past two seasons under Head Coach Mike Houston. So we’re really not too concerned with early polls or how others view the program.

The reality is that JMU is an FCS heavyweight and a threat to go to Frisco again. We know. Everyone who follows or covers FCS knows. And they know, that we know, that they know. The Dukes aren’t sneaking up on anybody. And as a fanbase, we’ve kind of passed the point of looking for validation from others. The Dukes should be national championship contenders again in the 2018 season. And thankfully, the season kicks off in 87 days so we can start talking real football, instead of relatively meaningless stuff like this.