Photo courtesy of our guest blogger (@JMUTrippster on Instagram)
Tripp won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his thoughts on the finest marching band in Virginia, and all other 49 states.
First, let me start by giving my thanks to Rob and Todd for running this awesome blog; keep up the great work guys!
It was no surprise JMU beat URI last weekend, but who would have thought that our boys in purple & gold would dish out such an utter butt-whooping? Despite the Dukes’ staggering win by 77 points, even the biggest JMU fan likely found the last quarter of the game tiresome to watch… but I can tell you there was one group of fans that enjoyed every last minute. This group is part of the reason I am such a HUGE JMU fan, and I’m sure you guessed who: “Virginia’s Finest” THE MARCHING ROYAL DUKES!
The MRDs are an integral part of the football program and campus in general. What other student organization at JMU (or on any other campus for that matter) has marched across the U.S. and Europe playing in the streets of London, Ireland, Monaco, and performing for the Pope in Rome? Or represented our alma mater in the biggest parade in the country – the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Sure, the finished show is always outstanding, but few Dukes fans realize the hard work and commitment that go in to making the show look and sound so great.
Recently the Daily Duke published an article titled “An Inside Look at the MRDs”. I highly recommend taking a minute to read it to appreciate the day-to-day of a Marching Royal Duke. Band members devote hours to practice every day regardless of weather conditions ( the mantra goes: “What happens when it rains?” “We get wet!”), hop on a bus at 5am the weekend of an away game for various off-campus performances, and are up in the wee hours of a Saturday morning for game day practice while many others are sleeping in and nursing hangovers from the night before. But you know what? These musicians, from practically every major on campus, thrive on rootin’ for the Dukes. Director Scott Rikkers and his assistants have created an excellent program that fosters leadership, encourages students to better themselves on and off the field, and of course, bleeds purple with the best of them. Scott and his staff focus not just on making better musicians, but on making better individuals by supporting each other as well as the community. (Shameless plug: this fall, the MRDs are “Drumming Up Support” for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in the fight against childhood cancer. If you are so able, please consider supporting the MRDs in their endeavor here.)
I was blessed to be a member of this incredible organization during my four years at JMU (not to mention meeting my wife, who was a fellow MRD) and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world – no, not even those 5am bus rides. I was fortunate to march in Ireland for New Years and down the streets of New York in the Macy’s Parade. As a member of the band, I witnessed JMU’s crushing defeat at App. State, their hard-won redemption the following year, and Scotty’s punt return against the hated Spiders in Richmond that was nothing short of magical. The MRDs are there through it all, so it’s no surprise they’re some of the biggest, and loudest, fans in the stadium. I don’t think I’m alone when I say the games wouldn’t be the same without them. (That being said, they’ll be missed in Bridgeforth East this weekend, but I have no doubt our fans will make up for it – SQUASH THE SPIDERS!)
THANK YOU to the MRDs for all you do for the JMU Community – keep bleeding (and wearing) purple, and playing loud and proud in support of our Dukes! I want to encourage everyone reading this to get in the stands BEFORE kickoff to see the amazing pre-game show, and stay after the game for the post-game show to support this hardworking band!
P.S. – If you’re hungry to read more about the MRDs, here’s another article.
P.P.S – Join me in giving to JMU!! Less than 7% of Alumni give back – every little bit helps! jmu.edu/give
What do you do after a big win? Sing the fight song with your teammates! #GoDukes #JMUHomecoming pic.twitter.com/TH4GFSVOX2
— JMU Football (@JMUFootball) October 30, 2016
We’re not messing around any more. This is the first of two huge games in a row for JMU. Coach Houston and the boys make the trip to Bridgeforth East to play RU on Saturday. It’s a clash of two top 10 teams and the winner will have the inside track to the CAA title and an FCS playoff seed. It’s a huge game in every sense of the word. Also, we hate RU. But we want to know what you think. Leave a comment letting us know who you think will win Saturday. The person who comes closest to nailing it (winner & score) will get to write a guest post. That’s it.
Go Dukes!
Beat RU!
Keep Rootin!
The Good
Dan freakin’ Schiele – This kid is every single thing college athletics are all about and we should all be delighted for the young man who scored a record-breaking three touchdowns from the tight end position this weekend. One of the last Mickey recruits, who came to the ‘Burg as a QB, Schiele has worked his tail off, bulked up and found his way onto the field this year at long last as a holder and reserve tight end. Earlier this year, he appeared to have scored a TD that absolutely delighted the entire team who respected his perseverance only to have it called back by an unfortunate penalty. Needless to say, he more than made up for that disappointment yesterday.
The Wide Receiver corps – This group is so, so deep it’s kind of unfair to the rest of FCS. Ravenel, Taylor, Davis, Miller, Hyman, etc. All made great plays and it’s so fun to see what Coach Houston’s staff is doing to spread it around and prep for down the road.
Everything else – What can you really say about 84-7? If you were watching closely, you know JMU was trying everything in their power NOT to run up the score, but the disadvantage that the inept combination of Rhode Island’s administration and the CAA have put the Rams at makes this whole endeavor pathetic.
Women’s Soccer and Field Hockey – Soccer is on to the CAA semis after a win over College of Charleston and Field Hockey came up with a regular season-capping win to lock down their spot in the postseason. Keep it up ladies!
Our boy JTP! – Our true OG fan had quite the weekend and we couldn’t be happier for the man.
RhodeI uniform detail – those anchors on the shoulders are fantastic.
It’s that time of year!
It’s Tick Week! – No better week of the year. Time to fire up the hate and see what this season really holds the next two weeks. 3:30 p.m. Saturday on Comcast SportsNet from Bridgeforth East. Also hoping there might be a SpiderFather appearance on the RU message boards this week.
The Bad
The spice level on our boil – We did a low-country boil and it was so much fun, but our D-Lot neighbors and new friends Andy and Bob put us to shame. We learned our lessons well though and will have the spice cranked up where it belongs next time. Also, please send us an email/comment with some contact info so we can properly organize this oyster roast in the event of a home playoff game!
The Ugly
That ridiculous penalty on Lobster – The whole thing’s such a beautiful gimmick that we saw at least two Halloween-costume imitation lobsters in the stands, but you can’t let the crafty crustacean win and then pull the bait n’ switch with some phantom call.
The sun is shining, the tailgate lots are filling up, and kickoff is just a few hours away. The Dukes face off against a mighty and powerful opponent football team from Rhode Island. JMU is coming off a bye and looking to gain momentum heading into the stretch run. The Rams are hoping to shock the world and pull off the biggest upset in not only the CAA, but all of FCS this year. We’ll both be setting up shop in D-Lot, so swing by and say hello if you’re in the ‘burg. Tune in via Madizone if you can’t make it to campus. And consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
After a much welcomed bye week, JMU football is back in action this weekend. The fine gentlemen known as the University of Rhode Island Rams come to town for a Homecoming clash with our boys in purple. The Dukes will be looking to get out to a perfect 5-0 in CAA play before facing its two toughest road games of the season. Rhode Island on the other hand, will be hoping to shock the world and make its first CAA win of the season a big one. Let’s jump right in.
The Basics
Match-up: #8 JMU Dukes (6-1, 4-0 CAA) vs. Rhode Island Rams (1-7, 0-5 CAA)
Kick-off: 3:30 PM on Saturday, October 29 in Bridgeforth Stadium
Weather: Sunny with a high of 79
Broadcast: Streaming via Madizone
A Brief Look Into Rhode Island Football History
Rhode Island has been playing football for longer than JMU has existed. And I’m counting that full State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg history dating back to 1908. Yes, Rhode Island played its first football game all the way back on October 24, 1895. Rhode Island won the game, defeating Pawtucket High School 6-0, and cruelly setting fans up to think that the program had a bright future. It did not.
In the 121 years since that first game, URI has struggled to establish itself as a winning football program. Things peaked under head coach Bob Griffin, who put together back to back 10 win seasons in 1984 and 1985. Rhode Island has only 3 winning seasons since.
The Dukes are ready to break out of the bye week and so are we. As you can tell from the lack of posts lately, we took full advantage of the break to rest up and get ready for the stretch run. Or something like that. Anyway, JMU welcomes the Rhode Island Rams to Bridgeforth on Saturday for a Homecoming clash. It’s a match-up of two teams going in complete opposite directions. JMU is 6-1 and looking to build momentum before a couple tough games against fellow CAA contenders. URI is 1-6 and looking to break the seal for its first CAA win of the year. The Rams are currently 31 point underdogs (FEPO). A win would be an upset along the lines of SMU over Houston. Even a moral victory seems unlikely.
But enough about that. We want to know your prediction for the game. Leave a comment letting 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. Easy as pie. So give us your prediction below and then get back to planning your Homecoming tailgate.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
Drake won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. Here are some of thought on the state of the problem under Coach Houston.
For the first time this season, and the 3rd time in the past 2 season, I won the prediction contest. I tied with a fellow reader a few weeks ago, but he/she picked the JMU score correct, so he/she technically won. This past week, I was the first comment and was only 1 point off with a 42-38 score. Leading off with all of this is just to say, I’m kind of a big deal. Wait, who am I kidding. I just basically go with a decent looking score. There’s no talent involved. Of course, I love bragging to my wife about this, but it just adds to her time spent making the “I don’t give a shit” look. And for some reason, these wonderful people who take their precious time, let us write incoherent ramblings. For this, I’d like to say thanks. Like many of you, I look forward to each post and count on it to get hyped for gameday. They give us a place to celebrate, bitch, and come together with fellow JMU fans (and the occasional troll). So while we may not all agree on where JMU is headed this season or in the future, we can all agree that this is one fantastic blog/community. Now, on to the in depth analysis.
We’re smack in the middle of the Dukes’ bye week, so we thought it would be a good time to take the pulse of the fanbase. JMU currently sits atop the CAA Football standings with a perfect 4-0 record in league play. The Dukes are 6-1 overall, with a loss on the road to the ACC’s North Carolina Tarheels. The offense, behind QB Bryan Schor, has been very impressive. It’s a balanced attack thanks to some outstanding offensive line play. The run game features the downright dangerous duo of Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson. And Schor has a number of talented receivers catching the ball including Brandon Ravenel and Terrance Alls. The unit is averaging over 500 yards and 44.2 points per game, both league bests.
[polldaddy poll=9556732]And then we have the defense. Its per play averages are nearly the same as last year’s disappointing unit. At times, the defense has looked vastly improved. Other times, it looks like a repeat of 2015. One positive sign is that this year’s D can get off the field. Under Everett Withers the JMU defense let opponents convert 45.7% of 3rd downs. That was the worst in the league. This year, JMU is only letting opponents convert 37.5% of 3rd downs. As a unit, the D has managed to put the clamps on the opponent for stretches, but not a full 60 minutes most weeks. It really seems to have developed the absolutely ugly habit of going to sleep once the offense gets out to a lead. Whether or not its simply a case of losing focus, or a sign of major problems is still to be determined.
In short, the offense has been better than most fans expected. The defense has show flashes, but its disappearing act has many concerned. 6-1 and 4-0 in CAA play with two very tough games at Richmond and at Nova remaining. Barring some sort of catastrophe against Rhode Island or Elon and it’s safe to say the Dukes are playoff bound. In fact, if they win out, they’ll be in the running for a top 4 seed.
We think things are looking up. But we’re curious how you feel. Vote in our poll to let us know how confident you are in the Dukes’ chances going forward. It’s a scale from 1 – utter disaster to 10 – championship.
Phew! Everyone exhale a bit after that near debacle in the last ten minutes. But once we all take a step back and look at the big picture, no matter how you look at the mistakes down the stretch, the end result is the same: a HUGE win for the Dukes in a really tough place to play that sets them up for the bye week, the midseason scrimmage against URI for Homecoming, and then the two major tests of the season at Richmond and Villanova.
The Good
On the big picture side first, the Dukes snapped UNH’s 17-game home winning streak. Kind of speaks for itself in terms of the Wildcat’s quality of play and the way those constant noon kickoffs affect teams that have endured pretty ridiculous travel itineraries by modern college football standards to make their way to Durham, NH. But even more than that, the Dukes now sit at 6-1 with home games remaining against URI and Elon. Taking nothing away from the allegedly improved Fightin’ Christians – strike that – taking everything away, this means the floor for the Dukes now likely sits at 8-3. Enormous road tests at RU and Nova make up the rest of the slate but even a split of those games could have the Dukes in great position for a seed again as only JMU and Stony Brook are still undefeated in conference play.
When we all assumed it was over, and clearly the players did too.
Ready to play – The noon kick at Maine earlier this year showed how tough it is to play these games beyond the wall. The Dukes were sluggish then. They clearly had learned their lesson as they were ready to go in the first half of this one despite an opening drive three-and-out for what seems like the first time in forever.
Just better – Before the-quarter-that-shall-not-be-named this was really our big takeaway from this game. At halftime I jotted a note to myself that said “just better.” What I meant was that both of these teams were clearly prepared and well-coached with gameplans they meant to stick to. But whereas in years past under both Mickey and Withers, the Dukes may have squandered their considerable talent advantage against a disciplined team sticking to its plan like UNH, this year, JMU was also a disciplined team sticking to its plan and the talent could make the difference. The Dukes don’t turn the ball over or commit the penalties at horrendous times the way we’ve seen before and that puts them into position for things like their elite-for-FCS talent to make plays like the Terrance Alls TD grab or the Simeyon Robinson XP block. It’s such a pleasure and truly gives us hope that JMU can really compete in the postseason this year.
Simeyon Robinson – D-Line was the biggest concern coming into the season and the Dukes failure to generate pressure on QB’s for huge swaths of games – like the entire first half of this one – is still the one glaring weakness (kicking is a concern right now too) of this squad, but Mr. Robinson is capable of taking over for a series or a quarter in a way we haven’t seen since D.J. Bryant. To us, he might be the most irreplaceable player on the team right now.
O-Line – What can you say? Well, you can probably say something more intelligible than color commentator Brian Baldinger’s CTE-induced, incoherent rambling about the road graders up front. But we agree with his enthusiasm about the way Kirsch, Rigney, Frank, Stinnie, etc. are playing right now.
Passing Game – Schor was great and has deservedly picked up the CAA Offensive player of the week, but the most important thing is the Dukes showed just how complete they are on offense this week. UNH threw everything at slowing down the run game and it worked. Last year after Vad went down, the Dukes couldn’t really prove they could win the game in the air. This week they showed how great they can be and it’s unlikely anyone will be able to solely focus on any one thing going forward. Huge step for the team.
Rush Defense – On the other side of the ball, while we all get frustrated with how many short passes in open space the Dukes give up, we should keep in mind the gameplay. UNH’s best player was RB Dalton Crosson. UNH had 57 yards rushing. 57. The Dukes forced UNH to try and win with the passing game and they couldn’t do what Schor and co. did.
The Bad
UNH’s “crowd” – New stadium. Good team. 17-game winning streak and one of the CAA heavies in town on a perfect fall afternoon in New England. Some things never change.
The Ugly
ASN – Basically everything about this telecast was some high-school A/V Club level nonsense. The whole first half the sound wasn’t synced with the picture. They lost the feed entirely to start the second half. And lots of folks were actually having better luck with the YouTube feed than the cable broadcast. #CAA4lyfe!
The last ten minutes – Look, there are a million things we could say about this, but we’re not going to waste our time. When Charles Tutt ran in the fumbled kickoff to put the Dukes up 42-12 with a backup QB in the game, the ENTIRE team thought it was over and turned their motors to “Off.” Honestly, so did we as fans. I took the dog out, lit the grill, and casually watched out of one eye till the second UNH score when I paid full attention again. And this wasn’t just the defense. The offense did nothing to keep the ball. Bottom line is the 42-12 score didn’t do justice to how good the Wildcats actually were. The Dukes had to play mistake-free football to obtain that lead, it wasn’t just that they were worlds better. And when they stopped doing that, the wheels came off. Thankfully they had already done enough.
Alright folks, it’s gameday. And it’s a big one. The first true test of the CAA slate for the Dukes actually. New Hampshire is probably the most consistent program in the league, having made to the playoffs for about 173 straight years (true story, look it up). Kickoff is set for 12:00 noon in Durham, NH. Tune into the game on tv and chat with your fellow JMU fans here. Consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
