Last week Brandon Newbill came closest to picking the winner & score for JMU’s game, so he won our prediction contest. As a result, he got to write a guest post. Here it is.
To keep with the recent guest post trends of being positive instead of highlighting our administration’s apparent apathy towards FBS, our struggling pass rush, or the fact that the Buffalo Bills look as horrible as ever, I’d like to share a story that melds together two great road trips; one to Chattanooga in 2004, and one to Chapel Hill in 2016.
I have always enjoyed road trips for JMU sports. From my junior year drive down to ‘Nooga for the National Championship to the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament (you may have seen me, I was the idiot who’s ex-girlfriend made him wear the yellow teletubby costume), I’ve always been ready and willing to hit the road to support the Dukes. This past weekend was no different.
Myself and a long-time friend and JMU alum hit the road from Richmond and went to visit another long-time friend and JMU alum (and his wife, who went to UMASS but proudly rocked her JMU attire) in his newly purchased Durham home. It certainly made attending the UNC game much easier having a friend within uber distance of UNC’s campus! While taking the tour of my buddy’s new home, something oh so sweet captured my eyes on the wall in one of the extra bedrooms. Behold, the most beautiful lump of dirt these eyes have ever seen!
For those who can’t figure it out, that’s one of the hundreds of giant lumps of turf from the field in ‘Nooga back in ’04. Instantly, my mind started racing with flashbacks of just how awesome that trip was. Tailgating with some very pleasant and moonshine-bearing Montana fans, seeing a giant church van pull up next to our tailgate spot and have about ten of my buddies drunkenly spill out of the back, watching Rascati become a JMU legend, storming the field after the win, and champagne in the parking lot!
The truth is, as sweet as that memory was, it could have been so much sweeter if more of my friends and fellow alums would have made the trip. The point I want to get across is quite simple: Make the trip Dukes!!! It’s easy as we get older to find excuses not to go. “My kid has a soccer game”. “I need to cut the grass”. “I have to work”. “Obama”. But I promise you, even on the bad trips, you come home with memories that are well worth it. It was so cold in Boone, NC in 2007, I had to chisel the beers out of my frozen cooler, all just to watch JMU fumble away its national championship hopes on quite possibly the worst offensive play call in JMU history. You know what I remember most from that trip? That was one of the last trips I got to make two friends of mine that are now too busy adulting to do much of anything.
Make the trip Dukes, it’s worth it!
Brandon Newbill, Class of 2006
The Good
That first quarter – Wow! Now THAT was fun. We know the heat, the depth, a few Dukes’ mistakes, the inability to run with UNC-CH’s receiving corps or stop Hood eventually caught up with JMU, but as FBS games against P5 teams go, it’s hard to ask for much more than the excitement of a start like that. The utter shock of the home fans, the frustrated unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, and the chance to stand and cheer and throw streamers and run our mouths a bit made the whole day. Look, we’re not saying we didn’t want the Dukes to keep it up, but having a coach that finally goes for it all-out in these games made the whole endeavor so much fun.
Wheel route – How does every team not try this once a game every game? Does anyone ever stop this play when its set up right the way the Dukes’ had it on a platter for Schor-to-Johnson?
JMU’s offense – What can we even say? In the first half the Dukes scored three TD’s, missed a FG, and had some coaching brain farts deep in UNC territory before the half. But that’s basically five successful drives against an ACC team. And we will take that all day.
The outlook for this season! – Not to excuse the beatdown late but let’s be clear, JMU will not face a single player anything like the Heels’ backs and receivers the rest of the year. The Dukes made their own mistakes that let this get away, and we still have no idea whether the Defense has actually improved after facing three straight teams where there is nothing to trust about what we’re seeing based on the difference in level of competition, but we were pleasantly stunned with how toe-to-toe the Dukes were able to go athletically with UNC and that HAS to bode well for the rest of the season. To put it simply, despite the 56-28 final, we are absolutely more excited and confident about the season after this one than we were going on. JMU can really play this year.
Carson finally got his yesterday!
Dukes Fans – Great turnout! And having the MRD’s at the game made that explosive start so much more fun.
The Bad
The JMU pass rush – Through three games, there is no such thing. The secondary faced a tough enough task against a whole batch of potential pros yesterday, but when you have to cover for five or six seconds, it’s even more impossible. We’re still hoping the first two weeks were just vanilla from a schematic standpoint and that maybe yesterday the front seven was simply overmatched by a bigger, stronger O-Line, but we’re getting awfully skeptical that the Dukes’ defensive front isn’t the biggest concern on this squad.
Trip to Maine next week – Never sleep on a trip to Maine for a noon kick. As Rob said Saturday night, it’s not Maine that scares us, it’s the trip to Maine that always scares us. We’ve just seen this movie too many times through the years, but hopefully Coach H and co. will have them ready. And it’s on tv which is great for the rest of us!
The Ugly
The heat on the visitor’s side at Kenan Stadium is something that simply cannot be described. The place is a hole in the ground with zero breeze and it feels like an oven. For fans, and certainly for players, it’s atrocious. For players on teams with 22 less scholarships, it’s gotta be downright brutal. In fact, I’m gonna say the whole place is basically garbage as big stadiums go. Yes, it’s in the trees. Yes, the tailgate lots are tucked away. And yes, that shade of light blue makes for decent uniforms. But the place is a 1970’s leftover with horrendous video boards with substandard information for actually following the game, some its best seating placed – almost as an afterthought – in the end zone like a rich man’s ODU, concession bottlenecks, and worst of all, a bunch of sycophant fans who act like it’s a gift from above when it has to be one of the worst stadiums in all of the P5.
The Heels running a flea flicker against an FCS foe. The great, old-school UNC fan in front of us actually turned around and said, “we should apologize for that, but it’s pretty clear the coaches thing JMU is a big problem right now.”
Alright folks, this is it. The Dukes go on the road to face their toughest test of this season as they look to win against an FBS team for the second year in a row. The game kicks off in just about 2.5 hours from now. If you’re not fortunate enough to be down in Chapel Hill to root in person, you can tune in via ESPN3 or watch the game on Comcast Sportsnet. Consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
After two blowout wins against over-matched opponents, things get a lot tougher for JMU football this weekend. The Dukes travel down to Chapel Hill to face the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC of course, is one of the big boys of college athletics, with a proud basketball team that plays in the shadow of its rival down Tobacco Road, and a football team that in turn plays in the shadow of that basketball team. Anyway, let’s get started.
The Basics
Match-up: #8 JMU Dukes (2-0, 0-0 CAA) vs. UNC Tar Heels (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
Kick-off: 3:30 PM on Saturday, September 17 in Kenan Stadium – Chapel Hill, NC
Weather: 85 degrees and partly cloud
Broadcast: Comcast Sportsnet
Friday Night JMU Party: Top of the Hill at 7:00. Join your fellow Dukes fans for some adult beverages if you’re in town the night before the game.
DC MetroDukes Watch Party Location: A-Town in Ballston
Tailgate on Friday: Todd will be there and set up in the Manning Drive lot accessed off of Rt. 15/501 by about 1:00-1:30. Look for the JMUSB Start Wearing Purple banner and swing by to say hello. He’ll even give you beers.
Let’s Talk About UNC
Unfortunately, we’re not up on the ins and outs of UNC or its football team. We reached out to some folks associated with a UNC blog for a Q&A, but they never got back to us. Maybe they don’t take the Dukes seriously. Or maybe it wasn’t a real blog at all, but just some sort of phony website where folks get credit for blogging without actually doing anything. Nah, surely nothing like that would happen at UNC.
Anyway, we planned to provide an in depth look at the Tar Heels through the eyes of some knowledgeable fans. We struck out though. After a bit of research however, we believe we can sum up UNC in a nutshell. Picture the general pretentiousness of UVA, the relatively underwhelming return on football investment of Virginia Tech, and WVU like throngs of die hard fans unaffiliated with the university who have cars on blocks in their front yards. Now combine that all together and you’ve got UNC.
2003Duke won last week’s prediction contest and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his story about Just Another Bronx JMU Tale. It’s a good one.
I left New York in the summer of 1998 and made my way down to Harrisonburg for my freshman year. As my parents got ready to leave me behind that August day, my father gave me awful advice, and then made a point to scream about how many rooms in my boyhood home he was going to defile my mother now that I was out of the house. The guy standing there next to me seemed sympathetic, and offered me a drink. Funny thing about that guy, it turned out he lived in the room next to me. 18 years later, I was his best man, he’s my daughter’s Godfather, and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. JMU gave me that. read more…
Things are about to get a whole lot tougher for JMU football. After being heavy favorites the first two weeks of the season, the Dukes will be decided underdogs this Saturday when they venture down to Chapel Hill to play the UNC Tarheels. But there’s always a chance.
We’d like to know how you think the game will turn out. Leave a comment with your prediction for Saturday’s game. The person who comes closest to nailing it (winner & score) will get to write a guest post. That’s it. So let us know who you think is going to win and Go Dukes!
Reader jmuparent came closest to predicting the winner and score week 1 and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his take on the season thus far.
The year was 1957. At the family dinner table, a 150-pound ninth-grader announced to his Mom that he was planning to try out for his High School’s Football Team. After choking on her slice of homemade meatloaf, his Mom replied: “ I will not, and your Father will not, sign a permission slip for you to play football … that sport is much too dangerous! “
In an instant, my athletic future was relegated to soccer (in the Fall), recreational basketball (in the Winter), and baseball (in the Spring). Nevertheless, my interest in all things Football never wavered. In my college days, I would walk a few blocks from my dorm room to watch Johnny Unitas lead the Colts to victory.
Since our daughter matriculated in 2013, this is our 4th season of JMU Football. Although we live some 6-hours away from Harrisonburg, we have managed to attend an average of 3 home games per season… and we watch as many of the others as possible. We also enjoy reading the Blogs and following the various ranking websites.
With all the changes in the coaching staff, the controversy about FCS vs. FBS, the COA matter, and the discussion about our outstanding facilities, the fact remains that JMU Football is exciting and a joy to watch. Luckily, this year’s program appears to have ‘found its way’.
Coach Houston does not appear to be obsessed with his own future. He seems at ease with, and genuinely concerned about, the press and his players. He is working hard to implant the idea of ‘giving it your all’ on every down and in every situation. While the final score of the MSU game was lopsided and huge, it clearly represents a reflection of this philosophy. Today’s game against CCSU also, in spite of all the second-half penalties, solidified his vision.
The ‘real season’ has yet to begin and, barring any key injuries, should be a good one. The roster is full of solid, quality players. If they continue to work together, they can achieve great things. I, for one, can not wait for the ‘real season’ to begin …
GO DUUUKKKKEEEEESSSSSSS !!
That was easy. If there was a Staples button for the firs two weeks, it would pretty much sum things up. While this week’s performance was not nearly as crisp or consistent as the opener, the Dukes still blew out CCSU 56-21 and flashed their considerable potential on numerous occasions.
The Good
John Miller and Terrance Alls getting involved early. There are a ton of weapons on O and our hope is that kids don’t get frustrated when there just aren’t enough balls to go around some weeks. But we appreciated the coaches getting to Miller and Alls, the Duke transfer, early in the game after neither of them scratched the stat sheet last week.
Student turnout and overall embrace of the Whiteout – we can’t blame anyone for leaving at the half of this one, especially after last week and in this week’s heat, but the student turnout and their embrace of the theme was outstanding. The end zone was full in the first half, and we haven’t seen much of that even the last two years. Keep up the good work!
Uni swag – On a similar note, the Whiteout unis were outstanding and it was pretty obvious on Twitter that players and recruits love ’em. And now we can put away the “white helmets were bad luck” talk I hope.
#49 Brandon Hereford – Even we have to admit the junior linebacker from Glen Allen is not as player that’s really been on our radar all that much. But man did he take the opportunity presented by Gage Steele’s absence and knock it out of the park. Had to be the leading tackler and was in on seemingly every play defensively during the competitive portion of the blowout. Great to see the depth built up in this program!
He’s #37 these days, but still making plays whenever he gets a chance.
Special Teams! – Two punt return TD’s after one in the opener?! Obviously, this mean’s the Dukes are gonna have three this week in Chapel Hill! Of special note, gotta say our man Jimmy effin Moreland is out there hustling his butt off whenever he gets a chance. He’s been running out front blocking on at least two of the three returns, even in garbage time, and has been all over the place on coverage teams. Needless to say, the way he appears to be handling sitting out a year and losing his starting spot is a magnificent example a few other players – at least through the body language they display on the sideline – in similar frustrating spots could learn from.
Abdullah joined the 2000 yard club and Ravenel keeps moving up the receiving lists. Hope they keep it up. Schor also would’ve made the good for another great performance, but ewww, that pick. Hope he got it outta his system before this week.
The Bad
MadiZone outages. This service has been huge for fans like us and we’re not willing to needlessly whine and complain when the generous Alumni Association has made it so wonderfully easy (and free!) for all of us to follow along, but THAT was bad, really bad. Hasn’t really happened before though and we’re hopeful it will not again, especially in games more worth watching.
The Ugly
The sloppiness after halftime. Look, we’ve made our point about the schedule itself’s ugliness, and it stands to reason that after an entire offseason, a full fall camp, and two game week’s worth of practice, it’s a bit of a letdown to have zero competition when you actually get to hit someone at game speed, but both offense and defense were a slovenly mess after halftime in this one. The defense was particularly lazy it seemed, but even the O threw a horrendous pick six and the offense fumbled in the red zone.
Gage Steele missing this one with injury. Hereford was great, but this team could really use a healthy Gage.
It’s a picture perfect day hot in the ‘burg and the Dukes will clash with the Blue Devils from Central Connecticut State. Kickoff is set for 4:00. For any of you who aren’t lucky enough to be watching in Bridgeforth, you can tune in via Madizone and chat with fellow Dukes fans right here. Consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter.
Go Dukes!
Keep Rootin!
When it comes to the NCAA, there are – without a doubt – a number of diehard fans. However, regardless of who you root for during the season, you have to admit that there is just something about SEC football that makes it exciting and worth watching. The fact is, the SEC is one of the most entertaining and successful conferences in all of college football. In fact, there are quite a few passionate fans that go all out to show support for their favorite teams. There are also a number of long-standing rivals within the SEC that are –honestly – worth keeping up with. If you are new to the world of SEC football, learn more about these exciting rivalries here. read more…
