The JMU Dukes went on the road and defeated a tough Villanova Wildcats squad 20-7 yesterday. The win moved JMU to 9-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the CAA. The Wildcats dropped to 7-3, 5-2. It was a hard fought victory, not only because Nova’s defense made JMU earn every yard, but because the Dukes lost QB Bryan Schor to injury in the second quarter. Coach Houston pulled the redshirt off of true freshman QB Cole Johnson, who came in relief. It was a less than ideal spot for the young player, but the entire team stepped up and made enough plays to secure the win. A win that clinched the 2016 CAA Championship for JMU.
Here’s the good, bad, and ugly from the win.
The Good
The Defense – Yes, the much maligned JMU Defense is the first up in the “Good” section this week. It’s hard to understate just how great a game the defense had. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. With Bryan Schor out, points were at a premium for the Dukes. The defense put the clamps down on the Wildcats and shut them out in the second half. The Dukes picked Nova QB Zach Bednarczyk 4 times and limited him to 71 yards passing. They also came up with a couple of huge 4th down stops inside their own 25. It was a spectacular effort all around.
Bryan Schor – He had limited impact, due to the fact that he left with what appeared to be a broken collarbone in the 2nd quarter. Up until that point however, he completed 10 of 11 passes for 108 yards and led the Dukes on a TD drive. All that was on the road against the CAA’s top statistical defense. Not to pour salt in the wounds, but it was more evidence of the elite level Schor has played at all year.
Rashard Davis’s Hit – Man, that was one heck of a play. Davis was back to return a punt when Nova decided to go for the fake. He recognized what was going on and came flying out of nowhere to absolutely crush the poor Nova kid trying to catch a pass, dislodging the ball, and saving JMU from trouble. Just a great, great combination of smarts and pure physicality.
Tyler Gray’s second half – Gray had a very rough first 30 minutes, missing 2 field goals in a 7-7 contest. With Schor out, those misses gave away 6 critical points. They were enough to crush a lot of players’ confidence. Gray bounced back in a big way hitting both his attempts and an XP after the break. Maybe I’m a softie, but I was pretty impressed and very proud of the kid.
Grinding – Everything was set up to go against JMU yesterday. The Dukes were playing on the road, against a top 10 team in the home finale for its legendary coach. And then their star QB went down and a true freshman was thrown into action. Yet, they won. Sure, it wasn’t the typical high scoring excitement. It was the exact opposite really. Khalid Abdullah and the offensive line had to scrape and claw for every single yard on the ground. But it was the first time all season that JMU has had to win a game by doing something other than lighting up the scoreboard. Not very pretty, but extremely satisfying.
The Bad
277 – That’s the number of yards of total offense JMU had. That’s so far below the Dukes typical output that it’s almost hard to comprehend. Although, it might be more a case of Nova’s defense deserving a spot in the “Good” section above. Once Schor went out, Nova keyed in on the run and basically dared JMU to pass. Had Schor not gotten hurt, things would have been far different and it’s definitely nitpicking to even mention the offense here given his absence. It’s a completely different unit without him though. Cole Johnson has a tremendous amount of talent, so we expect the coaches to make adjustments going forward to simplify things for him next week. Yesterday showed that it’s just not the same with Bryan out.
The Ugly
Schor’s Injury – Did anyone even read the preceding paragraphs or did everyone jump straight down here to see if we had updates on Bryan’s status? Schor going down is so big that it’s practically all most fans can think about. Yes, it was a tremendous win and clinching the CAA Title is great. Schor going down was the story though. And it’s not a story that any JMU fan likes.
There still hasn’t been any official report from JMU on the injury. He was in a sling after returning from the locker room. We’ve heard many unofficial reports, each with varying levels of detail, and each with differing recovery times. Rumor has it that he broke his collarbone. We’ll see. The team got a great win yesterday against a tough Nova squad. Cole Johnson looked every bit like the true freshman he is however. He’s got the talent to develop into a great JMU QB. He’s not there yet though and the offense just isn’t the same with him under center. The coaches will adjust and change things up to account for his lack of experience. A home game against a bad Elon team could be just what he needs to gain some confidence. There’s no doubt however, that the team’s championship aspirations take a huge hit if Schor is done for the year. Don’t put the season on ice just yet though. There doesn’t seem to be much quit in this JMU team.
Big game. Really big game. The Dukes face off against a talented Villanova Wildcats squad at 1:00. Nova easily has the best defense of any team JMU has played. A win will keep Coach Houston and the boys in line for a top 4 playoff seed and outright CAA title. It’s probably the FCS game of the day. It’s not televised for some reason however. Shell out the $9.95 to stream it via Nova or listen via Madizone. Enjoy the game and consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
The Dukes have a shot at something real. A legit, outright CAA title, a chance to run the table in the conference if they can clean up next week at home vs. Elon, and absolutely great shot at a top 4 seed at the least are all on the line during this trip to Philly. A loss drops them into a split championship situation with at least Nova and maybe UNH and likely out of the top 4 seeds, a place they moved into with yesterday’s second release of the Selection Committee’s rankings.
The Basics: #4 JMU (8-1, 6-0 CAA) at #11 Villanova (7-2, 5-1 CAA) 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Villanova Stadium, Radnor, PA
Weather: Sunny, 49 degrees
Coverage: Nearly None. You can pay $9.99 for a monthly subscription to the Villanova stream here but don’t forget to call and cancel right after the game. We’ve done it before and will this time and it’s usually pretty easy. CAA Action – It’s Fantastic! (sorry, couldn’t resist)
Wait, we have football?!
A Special Ending for a Villanova Legend and a CAA All-Timer: Please allow us to put all snark aside for a moment and discuss Villanova Head Coach Andy Talley. Villanova’s revered leader will be coaching his last regular-season home game Saturday and there is simply no way to understate what he has meant to their program. He brought them back from not having a program, dealth with a complete lack of student and fan support throughout this tenure, and yet somehow has recruited and produced tons of truly great players (Brian Westbrook, Brian Finneran, Matt Szcur all come to mind in just the recent past), consistently had ‘Nova in contention both in the CAA and nationally, brought them a national championship ’09, and seemingly been a good guy doing it throughout his time on the Main Line. In fact, his efforts (with a big assist from Szcur when he was on campus) with his Bone Marrow Foundation have expanded throughout the CAA and turned into a real force for good in ways that go so far beyond the field. We encourage you to click that link, check it out, and see if there is something you can do to help. While we hope your team doesn’t go full Win One for the Gipper this week, and we won’t miss your crabby competitiveness on the field or the recruiting trail (all said with love), we sincerely congratulate you and Villanova and wish you the best in whatever comes next.
How Villanova Can Win:By doing their thing on defense and never missing opportunities on offense. There’s almost no doubt that the Wildcats will be the best defensive unit the Dukes have faced all year. Their tricky 3-3-5 scheme has given the Dukes fits for years and this year it’s stocked with talented, smart, and as always, well-coached players. It would not be surprising to see the Dukes have one of the their lowest outputs on offense this season. But the Dukes are getting to the 20’s no matter what and somehow Villanova’s got to find a way to scrape together enough points to keep up. That means never missing a chance to score or turning the ball over. The ‘Cats playaction game is strong and set up the type of short-pass, catch-and-run chances that have hurt the Dukes, but QB Bednarczyk and his receivers better not miss when it’s there.
How JMU Can Win: By not getting frustrated on offense, continuing to improve on defense, and being sound in the kicking game. The Dukes are simply too good on offense to be held down for 60 minutes, but they may experience some frustration they haven’t faced since at least the second half against UNC-CH earlier this year and they need to hand tough mentally and avoid turnovers. On defense, they’ve got to stay home and not overcommit, which has been an issue this year. Villanova is not going to out-athlete them, but they’re so well coached that they will find your weak spots and you’ve got to limit the damage. First downs will be found, but the Dukes can’t get out of position and allow those to be 30 yard chunks. And make some kicks wind or no wind.
JMUSB Beer of the Week: Can never go wrong in PA with a Victory Prima Pils. An old standby we’ve featured here before, but truly an exceptional version of the style. Great daydrinker too!
Official JMUSB Prediction: Dukes 27, Cats 23 in a wild one.
We had the privilege of doing a Q&A over on the excellent Villanova blog, VUhoops.com. In return, Brian Ewart was kind enough to answer some our questions about the Wildcats before Saturday’s big game.
We had a tie in last week’s prediction contest, so we offered all the top finishers a chance to guest post. First up is Andrea, a mother of two Dukes who definitely roots.
I grew up in the SEC. I sold Cracker Jacks in Knoxville at UT games when I was in seventh grade. I attended the University of Georgia and as a scared freshman, ran right into Herschel Walker spilling my textbooks all over the sidewalk. I have stepped foot on most SEC campuses during my lifetime. Then a funny thing happened…I fell in love with JMU.
Our oldest child is a proud member of the JMU Class of 2018 (majoring in athletic training) and when she decided JMU was the school for her, we went all in like most parents. Little did I know just how much JMU would come to mean to me. At the First Year send off picnic, we spoke with the Duke Club representative who attended Miss State. He said JMU might not have SEC crowds but JMU fans love the Dukes just like SEC fans love their team.
So we bought season football tickets in 2014. The weather was terrible for several of the games but we trekked over to The ‘Burg and enjoyed the games. I found this blog and quickly came to appreciate the wit here (and no, they didn’t pay me to say that). I started sharing the blog posts with rest of the family and everyone was amused.
Last year, our JMU football fever grew. I was just as happy as anyone when GameDay came to town. Our family came up with clever signs all week and were thrilled when we spotted our daughter on ESPN. We watched the FCS playoff selection show live just like we used to watch bowl bids come out. We attended our first football playoff game. We even went to a JMU basketball game.
Now our other daughter is a happy Duke in the Class of 2020 (engineering major) and we attend as many sporting events as we can including a great volleyball game earlier this fall. We watch the Dukes on TV if we cannot attend the game and the DVR is already set for the FCS playoff selection show. And guess what? I still love the SEC but the Duke Club rep was right–JMU fans love their Dukes just as much as any SEC fans I have ever known.
The game day atmosphere is amazing and the price cannot be beat. We play with the same intensity and enthusiasm as the Power 5 but I think JMU athletes seems a little more grateful and little more excited to be representing JMU. Go Dukes is our family’s new rallying cry and to me, it feels just as natural as Go Dawgs. I still have more red and black in my closet than purple and gold but with 4 more years at JMU, I suspect the purple will overtake the red soon. Go Dukes and this dawg now bleeds purple.
The Dukes are coming off a big win and in position to take the CAA crown. A road win at Villanova would just about lock it up. Beating Nova is never easy though. And this Saturday is legendary Villanova coach Andy Talley’s final home game, so expect dozens of fans to be packing the stands to support the Wildcats. Anyway, we want to know how you think the game will play out. Leave a comment with your prediction for the game. The person who comes closets to nailing it (winner & score) will get to write a guest post. That’s it. Go Dukes!
Beating RU 47-43 in thrilling fashion with purple-clad Dukes fans roaring throughout the Tick’s cute little stadium was just about the best thing JMU fans could’ve hoped for a year after the Gameday debacle. And what a win it was!
The Good
Bryan Schor – We’re about to go nuts about the wide receiver depth but the stats are starting to tell a story of a QB who’s become way, way more than a game manager taking advantage of great talent around him. The kid is flat-out ballin’. And he probably joins Simeyon Robinson on the other side of the ball as the Dukes most irreplaceable player at the moment.
WR Depth and Usage – We knew this was a strength all along, but the way the coaches and the QB are using this posse of talented players is stunning. Four different guys (Kloosterman, Ravenel, Alls, and Davis) caught at least five balls on Saturday and that’s partly because a fifth, Domo Taylor, draws so much attention. Also, we love that the segment called “Your ridiculous catch of the game by Mr. Alls” is becoming a weekly bit!
Improvements/Adjustments – We’re talking big-picture and small here. Year over year, the difference in mental toughness and physicality by the Dukes jumped out at you in the second half Saturday. Last year, the Vad show was forced to simply abandon the running game and keep pace with RU. This year, while it wasn’t a record-setting day like we’ve seen at times this year on the ground, JMU stuck with it and the O-Line eventually wore down the RU front and found tough, valuable yards when it mattered. And the ability to make adjustments on the defensive side of the ball at the half was the difference this week. The first half there were no punts with both teams scoring on all four drives to make it 24-24. And while yielding only 20 points in the second half isn’t something to go nuts over, seven of those were the garbage-time TD on the last play of the game and the Dukes generally found a way to make some plays on defense. Also, while it pains us to say it, RU is sort of good at football and unlike last year, after lighting up scoreboards against lesser competition on their way to this point in the season, the Withers era proved nothing if not that the Dukes could fold up like a lawn chair when the real season/opponents arrived. We’re starting to dream a bit this year now.
JMU Nation Roots! – Not that we expected anything different, but that beautifully obnoxious takeover of quaint Robins stadium woke up the echoes of the City Stadium days. Complete with moaning and whining from Spatter fans about the invasion and our colorful fans, it was exquisite. And when the visiting team crowd contributed to that false start penalty on RU’s most critical drive of the game, we could only smile.
The Bad
The kicking game – This is getting to be a real problem. JMU was the better team after halftime without much doubt, but a blocked FG and a missed XP kept them chasing the game till there were just a couple minutes remaining.
CAA refs – What can you say? Just leave this item here for two more weeks and quit stressing over it as it truly does go poorly for all teams involved.
The Ugly
That challenge call – Boy did that one hurt. After challenging a play that appeared to have no chance of being reversed, especially with the comically high-school camera/tv setup at RU, the Dukes had no way to challenge when the refs missed a fumble and obvious recovery by JMU a couple plays later. Haven’t had many replay issues or opportunities in tight games this year, but the staff will need to tighten up their protocol and discretion for the playoffs.
Spatters – Just ugly
Now onto an even bigger game on The Main Line against Villanofun next week! Hopefully the team is moving on faster than we are because squashing the Ticks is just too great not to enjoy for a bit. Dukes can take the outright CAA title by running the table and likely put themselves in position for a top four seed by winning again this week. Or they can drop into a tie for the title and a scramble to even hang onto a bye. Let’s Go Dukes!
Today is the day Dukes fans. JMU invades Bridgeforth East for a 3:30 contest with the Ticks, Spatters, or however else you can refer to the boys from RU. There’s no need to discuss the stakes. There’s a lot on the line in terms of the CAA and the postseason, but if there wasn’t, it’s Richmond. And there are few things better than the Dukes doing some spatter stomping. If you’re not at the game, tune in for the broadcast and follow along with your fellow Dukes fans here. Consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
At long last, we’re finally here. The real season takes place these next two weeks with trips to Bridgeforth East and Villanova on tap. But while Coach Houston is new, and he’ll say all the right things, there is zero doubt that THIS one is the game the Dukes players have had circled on the calendar since last year’s College Gameday faceplant and Vad Lee’s injury signaled loud and clear the beginning of the end of the short-lived Withers era. It’s Tick Week!
Basics
#5 JMU Dukes (7-1, 5-0 CAA) at #7 RU Spatters (7-1, 4-1 CAA), 3:30 p.m. East Bridgeforth High School Stadium, West End, Richmond, VA.
Coverage: Comcast SportsNet with a solid announcing group including Rob Carlin (check SNY or YES on Directv if you don’t get the CSN’s); also JMUSB South-afffiliated watch parties at Hoolihan’s in Charlotte following the Everton match and the unofficial Triad Dukes are having an official party at Gray’s Tavern in downtown Greensboro.
Weather: Sunny, 65 degrees. That’s perfect but really all weather is good for killing Ticks with fire.
Streamer Outlook: Shady. Ever since RU tried to steal JMU’s streamer idea and started promoting that silly red and blue action, the pubic safety officers at the little Spatter House have tried their best to confiscate purple and gold streamers despite the fact streamers are clearly allowed. It’s an elitist Yankee school so you can forgive ’em a bit, but really, pack extras and hide them well on the way in. Strollers/baby bags are particularly solid spots.
It’s that time of year!
How JMU Can Win
By getting after Lauletta’s ass. It could just be that simple. RU is down to their third-string tailback and while they’ve mostly maintained balance on offense against CAA lightweights (much the way the Dukes have btw), at some point this one is going to be on the obnoxious shoulders of their QB. We’re looking for a DJ Bryant vs. Aaron “The Hoodie” Corps type destruction to lead the Dukes from names like Robinson, Ankrah, and Hereford.
Making kicks when the opportunity is there would also help. A lot!
How RU Can Win
They can’t. Not this time. They just suck so so much and their ridiculously thin-skinned “fanbase,” such as it is, can’t even handle a little bad-natured trash talk.
JMUSB Beer of the Week
The Unknown Brewing Company’s Pregame Session Ale – These guys out of Raleigh do their own thing, or at least market themselves that way, but we certainly appreciate a solid, domestic-ish ABV tailgate/poolside/cookout beer and this one hits the spot. No need to talk fancy, this is just a better-tasting version of whatever cheap swill your still hanging onto from JMU days.
Official JMUSB Prediction
Dukes 45, Spatters 27 – Revenge, plain and simple. Yes, Trott’s knowledge of RU’s scheme may easily be cancelled out by RU’s knowledge of what Trott likes to do, but the Dukes are a whole different physical animal at the line of scrimmage under Houston compared to Withers and we’ve got a feeling the Ticks are going to be surprised in the worst kind of way.
Kevin McElroy is a JMU graduate from the Class of 2003. He is also the co-founder of a fantastic new brewery, Random Row Brewing in Charlottesville. And, because practically nothing pairs better with a good craft beer better than rootin’ for Dukes, Random Row is going to host JMU watch parties. The first one is for the big game against Richmond this Saturday. If you’re ticketless and anywhere near Charlottesville, we recommend you support your fellow Duke and Virginia’s craft beer scene by attending the watch party. Kevin will be offering a brewery tour at 3:00, followed by plenty of good brews and rootin’ at 3:30 as you watch the game on 65″ televisions. As fierce supporters of craft beer, particularly craft beer with JMU connections, we’d love to see a huge turnout for this event.
Y’all already know about what makes the Dukes so great, so let’s focus a little bit on Random Row. Kevin got his start as a homebrewer a few years back. After a podium finish in the 2013 Dominion Cup, he, not to mention friends and fans of his beer, started to wonder if he could turn his hobby into a career. In 2015 he decided to go for it and raised enough money to kickstart things through a fundraiser featuring 4 of his brews. He was off and running. Now Kevin, his co-founder, and fellow investors are the proud owner of a craft brewery on Preston Avenue.
For Saturday’s watch party, there will be 11 beers on tap, including Random Row’s top seller Method IPA. It’s a classic West Coast style brewed with falconers flight 7Cs hops. With a commitment to local businesses and a focus on producing excellent beers, Random Row is a great addition to the Commonwealth’s craft beer scene.
Definitely swing by for a beer if you’re in the area and be sure to check out the watch party on Saturday. There will be plenty of parking and the brewery is kid friendly. Todd and I are working on a plan to make the trip to Charlottesville to spend some time with Kevin tasting his beers. We can’t wait to get down there and are thrilled to have an another awesome watch party location for rootin!
Follow @RandomRowBeer to stay up to date on all new beers and events
