The Dukes went toe-to-toe with NC State yesterday but fell in the end 24-13. Sure there are nits to pick, but we feel absolutely confident saying we’re more sure of the sky-high potential from this year’s squad leaving Raleigh with a hard-fought loss against a team that could easily end the year in the top 10 than we were leaving Greenville last year after punishing a terrible ECU team last year.
As always, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
So, so much good in this game. We’re gonna put a few things in the other column, but if you think the Dukes don’t leave this game with tons to look forward to this year, the shade of purple in your glasses is simply too dark. Finley is the #1 QB on NFL Draft boards and a number of those receivers will be drafted ahead of Riley.
Crispness – There was a drive with back-to-back false starts in the second quarter, but overall, this was a very crisp, clean game from the Dukes for a season lid-lifter against a BCS team. In fact, it was State that committed most of the dumb penalties. Kicking game was on-point with two made FG’s and a couple of outstanding punts that pinned the Pack deep.
Reloading not rebuilding – We all hear this cliche every year from top programs at every level from high school to the NFL. The Patriots, Alabama, NDSU, etc. We’ve often tried to trot this phrase out in some of the salad days of JMU football. Late-aughts Mickey, year 2 of Withers come to mind, but it’s never really been true. Until now. Keshaun Moore, Mike Greene, Josh Sims, Mateo Jackson, Matt Terrell, The Nooch. We could go on and on, but JMU didn’t miss a beat yesterday and we feel better about this year leaving Raleigh than we did leaving Greenville last year.
Tackling – Other than NC State’s first TD, which was really well blocked, JMU’s tackling was really solid, especially for the first game of the year. We knew State was going to get their yards, but so many times, the Dukes managed to prevent gamebreaking plays with solid tackling. Even the desperation plays, like Amos’ tackle on the huge huge play late where JMU got caught, and of course Harry O’Kelly laying the lumber on that big punt return, continued to give JMU a chance.
Rush Defense – What can we even say?! The Dukes were missing expected contributors Darious Carter, Landan Word, and Byrce Maginley from the front seven. They simply plugged in players and basically punked the Wolfpack’s running game all day. If the Dukes can keep this up, that will go a loooong way towards easing the strain on a secondary that will need some time to adjust to the loss of Rashad Robinson along with graduating Brown and Greene.
Those helmets! – No need to stay on this too much but those unstriped whites with the Duke Dog logo were icey. Also, while we’re on the equipment beat, is that a small fan in Ron’dell Carter’s mouthpiece?!
The Bad
Missed chances – This could apply to the big picture chance to beat a P5 team or numerous plays throughout this game. The Dukes were inside the 10 four times (excluding the game’s final seconds). The scored a TD the first time, but had to (chose to?) settle for Field Goals twice and turned it over on DiNucci’s fumble the other time. DB’s had a couple shots at picks and they defense overall had multiple chances to get off the field on third down, particularly on NC State’s game-killing drive in the 4th. Again, not to take anything at all away from JMU’s effort, but that’s a lot of missed opportunities that have to be cashed in (or plays made) to get back to Frisco and dethrone the Bison.
Riley needs to eat – Look, we really can’t complain about a gameplan that just about pulled off the upset, and we love the commitment to the run in the second half, but as the former players sitting next to us said, “throw it to ‘Ridley,'” which appeared to be their loving name based off of rookie NFL player and former ‘Bama star Calvin Ridley. When Stapleton had chances, he made plays, and it’d be great to see him given more opportunities no matter who’s covering him.
The Ugly
Rashad Robinson out for the year – no sugarcoating this one, getting the news that JMU’s All-American CB and top NFL prospect was out for the year on Saturday morning was a tough pill to swallow. And mostly we feel bad for Rashad. That said, if you want to put a silver lining on it, imagine having Rashad back with all of this young talent next year to defend a crown!
The heat – One last item. I’m not sure I’ve ever been hotter than I was on Saturday. I’m absolutely sure I’ve never abandoned vanity and accepted a full sweat-through of all my clothing the way I did. Honestly, I considered heading home at halftime because I thought I might stroke out and I have a feeling I wasn’t alone. Of course, even though this is in “the ugly” I’ll end on a high note with a HUGE shoutout to JMU’s strength and conditioning staff and the hard work the players must’ve put in this year. The Dukes were clearly the fitter team as other than the cramps from two players who earned them the hard way (Ron’Dell Carter and the Nooch), JMU was the team that seemed to get better, or at least hang in there better, as the game progressed despite having 22 less scholarships.
We can’t speak for everyone, but we are ready for some football. Thankfully, our beloved JMU Dukes are set to hit the field this weekend. That’s right, the wait is over. The 2018 college football season is upon us. Coach Mike Houston and the Dukes are ranked #2 in the FCS and are ready to come out of the gate with a big FBS game in week one. There’s no cupcake game to work out the kinks this year. Instead, JMU will face a big test against a very talented NC State team from the ACC with its own high expectations for the season. So break out your tailgating supplies, warm up your streamer throwing arm, and buckle up. It’s time to Start Wearing Purple. Let’s dive in, shall we?
The Basics
Match-up: JMU Dukes 0-0 (0-0 CAA) vs. NC State Wolfpack 0-0 (0-0 ACC)
Kick-off: 12:00 noon Saturday, 1 September in Carter Finley Stadium in lovely Raleigh, NC
Weather: High of 88 with 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms
Broadcast: ESPNU
Getting Up to Speed on the Wolfpack
In the interest of full disclosure, like the rest of the natural world outside of the Raleigh metro area, I went back to not paying attention to NC State athletics roughly 15 minutes after Lorenzo Charles slammed it home against Phi Slamma Jamma. So bear with me while I fire up the Google machine and see what I missed. Huh. Apparently I missed, um, nothing. That night in March of 1983 was pretty much the peak. They managed to luck box their way into a ACC tourney title in 1987, but for the past few decades, it’s been a little bleak for NC State. And hoops is their good sport. The last ACC football title they won was in 1979. That was a long time ago. A gallon of gas cost 86 cents in 1979. The median price of a home in the U.S. was $71,800. It was 9 years before future Big 10 Championship winning QB Russell Wilson was even born. Long time ago folks.
We kid, but we’ve got nothing against NC State. From our vantage point, it seems like the fans are decent folks who support the Pack with plenty of passion. And they do so while surrounded by fans of the Triangle’s other ACC teams, Duke and UNC. That must be a treat. The Duke and UNC fanbases are sworn enemies bound not only by the way the snobby way they both look down on NC State, but by their complete ignorance of the fact that outsiders think they’re both insufferable. Being left out of that little douche picnic isn’t a bug State fans, it’s a feature. read more…
Here we go. The JMUSB Prediction Contest is back for another year. It really couldn’t be more simple. It works the same way each game week. Leave a comment below with your prediction for this weekend’s game. Let us know who you think will win and what the final score will be. The person who comes closest to nailing it (winner & score) will get to write a guest post. If there’s a tie, we’ll go with whomever submitted their comment first. Just trust us. The prize is a writing a guest post, not a million bucks. We’ve been doing this for years and it’s actually lead to some really terrific posts from lots of different readers (and writers too I guess). Got it? Great. So let us know who you think will win the JMU vs. NC State game below. And Go Dukes!
We made it. It’s game week and time to really talk football. That’s just what we did on the latest episode of the JMUSB Podcast. Give it a listen to hear us discuss our expectations for the season, our predictions for the season, and a bunch of rambling about why In-N-Out is overrated and Waffle House rules.
As always, the JMUSB Podcast is brought to you by Pale Fire Brewing. Let them know we sent you next time you’re at the tasting room and they’ll give you a free pint glass.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
There’s a JMU Football game on Saturday. THIS Saturday. It’s in Raleigh at a real stadium against a real team with a real fanbase. It’s on ESPNU at noon. Except for the playoffs, it’s probably the game that excites many JMU fans the most this season. So make that annual trip to Party City for bags of streamers and purple solo cups. And please listen the JMUSB podcast season preview after we record tonight. And get your work-purple ready for Friday.
And football isn’t the only thing going. In fact, it’ll be about the last JMU Fall Sport to kickoff. A few highlights of the past weekend included Field Hockey bouncing back from a frustrating opening night to pick up their first victory by shutting out Bucknell and the VolleyDukes taking two out of three, including a big statement with a victory over SEC foe Missouri.
So all we’re saying is it’s time to root and welcome back! Pod tonight, an attempt at real writing mid-week, and the first Beer of the Week and Preview coming on Friday. Can’t wait to join everyone on another ride this season.
The NCAA held it’s special presale for FCS National Championship tickets Thursday morning. You might not know because apparently the email with the special code wasn’t ever delivered to plenty of people who registered weeks ago to receive it. The sale kicked off promptly at 11:00 a.m. EST. The email I received announcing it was time-stamped 10:40 a.m. I’d complain about it being late, but I didn’t even register to receive it this year. So, yeah, terrific process NCAA.
I did receive the code though. So I decided to login and see if I could scoop up tickets now, instead of potentially relying on Duke Club Priority Points down the road. The experience was less than stellar. First of all, the website froze. Repeatedly. As a reminder, it’s 2018. And as much as we love FCS Football, the demand for tickets isn’t exactly Hamilton-esque. I studied CIS back when COBOL was a requirement, but even I know that Frisco ticket demand shouldn’t bring a server to its knees.
Anyway, the hits kept on coming even after the website un-froze (melted?). I was able to get all the way to the point where I had to select seats. Yes, you read that right. I had to select seats. Instead of providing a “best available” option like every other online ticketing outlet has done since about 1998, I had to select my seats like I was fighting for an exit row on Delta. read more…
We recorded a very special episode of the JMUSB Podcast last night. And not in the after school special sort of very special. Instead, it was our thrill to welcome JMU Football beat writer for the DNR Greg Madia back to the pod. Greg has been cranking out must-read coverage of the Dukes all off-season and he was kind enough to join us to get us up to speed on the preseason. Football fans should really enjoy this episode.
As always, the JMUSB Podcast is brought to you by Pale Fire Brewing. Let them know we sent you next time you’re at the tasting room and they’ll give you a free pint glass.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes or Spotify.
Tamera (or “Ty” as she prefers) Young was a beast back in the day for Dukes. As the star of former coach Kenny Brook’s early teams, she was All CAA multiple times, and the league’s player of the year as a senior when she averaged 20 and 10. She could, and still can, ball out. She is now playing on the Las Vegas Aces, the third WNBA teams she’s suited up for in her 11 year career. She’s a heck of a ballplayer. But she’s an out of this world sneaker head. And we’re not talking about the sort of person who loves to wear fresh Jordans. We’re talking about the sort of person who has a special closet built in her home to house her over 500 pairs of limited edition kicks given to her by the likes of Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade. Ty was recently fined by the WNBA for wearing Wade’s signature shoe, since players must wear only Jordans or Nikes. She probably won’t stop anytime soon though, since Wade himself agreed to pick up the fine.
We can’t recommend reading the feature on Ty and her sneakers enough. And after you do that, check out the touching tribute to her late father she penned for the Players Tribune.
Here are some more links and tidbits you might have missed:
Our pal Bennet Conlin put together a weekly newsletter to cover JMU football this season. He’s gathered an impressive group of contributors, and us. Check out the first edition and be sure to register to have them delivered straight to your inbox. read more…
Todd is back from vacation, so the entire band is back together for the latest episode of the JMUSB Podcast. In it, we chat about JMU Football’s spring game and start to see what we can glean from summer camp so far. Based on early reports, we’re starting to get pretty excited about a few young guys. We also take a spin around the NFL to update everyone on the status of the 9 Dukes in the league. Finally we go a little Off Topic and chat about some of our favorite cover songs. Hope y’all enjoy it.
As always, the JMUSB Podcast is brought to you by Pale Fire Brewing. Let them know we sent you next time you’re at the tasting room and they’ll give you a free pint glass.
Be sure to subscribe to the JMUSB Pod via iTunes or Spotify.
JMU Football padded up today for the first time this preseason. That means we’re getting closer to real football, and real football talk. But with only a few practices in the books, we’re still in prime hot take season. Ill informed bloggers, who are excited for the season, but still don’t have much in the way of real news or analysis to report (i.e. us), can still be confident that dumb predictions will be forgotten once the real games start. And if said random predictions actually come true, we can mercilessly remind everyone and pretend like we weren’t throwing early August darts at the wall.
Given the above, I was fully prepared to drop this searing hot take on you. I predict at least four different JMU running backs will have 100 yard rushing games this season. Sizzling, huh? We know JMU has a stable of terrific running backs heading into this season. Last year, the running game struggled at times when young guys were forced to step up and take a lot of reps on the o-line. That experience should pay dividends this year. And with guys like Gerren Butler and Tyree Chavious returning from injuries, the offensive line and rushing attack, might be more consistent in 2018. Still, I admit that saying four different guys would have 100 yard games was nothing more than a wild ass guess. Then I looked at the stats from last year. Maybe it’s not so wild. read more…
