The Dukes are 6-0. And as Coach Withers will inevitably say at his weekly press conference, “The best part about being 6-0, is the chance to go 7-0.” But before the Dukes get the chance to play Elon and keep the winning streak alive, we need to take a quick look back at Saturday’s road win over the Towson Tigers. The Dukes put up half a hundred again and managed to win by 3 touchdowns. Yet, the game was much closer than many of us expected in the first half. Thankfully, the Dukes made some adjustments at half time (more on that below) and stomped the Tigers after the break. 6-0 and on to Elon.
The Good
Vad Lee – Gracious, this guy is good. He calmly tossed another 5 TDs in the win. He connected on 22 of 29 attempts for 223 yards and chipped in 32 yards rushing. Do you realize how good a guy needs to be for fans to just sort of gloss over a day like that? It’s really sort of crazy how effective the Dukes offense is with Lee at the helm. He’s got weapons that virtually any quarterback at this level would kill for, but what he’s able to do with them in nothing short of amazing.
Halftime Adjustments – We tweeted this during the break on Saturday, but if there is one major difference between the Withers regime and the final years of the Matthews era, it’s the ability to make great halftime adjustments. JMU managed to rattle off a rather pedestrian (for them at least) 219 yards of offense in the opening half. Perhaps more concerning, they failed to slow down Towson’s offense. After a late Rashard Davis touchdown, JMU even let the Tigers march down the field and kick a FG to go into the half down only 7. Towson converted 60% of their third down attempts in the first half and was moving the ball. It wasn’t encouraging. And then halftime happened. The Dukes clamped down, started tackling better, and pretty much shut the door on the Tigers. Towson was able to grind out only 90 yards of offense in the second half. JMU on the other hand, turned things up to another level, and racked up 264 yards. Game. Set. Match.
Domo Taylor – The receivers are sort of the unsung heroes of this year’s team. Week in and week out, JMU puts up impressive numbers passing the ball. Yet, while Vad Lee gets some much deserved credit, I feel like we overlook how well his receivers are playing. The entire unit played well again Saturday, but let’s single out Taylor for catching 2 early TDs that got JMU out to a quick lead.
Andrew Ankrah’s Shoestring Tackle – Ankrah continues to get better every week, but he made on particularly play that really stood out on Saturday. In the closing seconds of the first half, Towson’s Connor Frazier was forced out of the pocket and scrambling down the field. Ankarah managed to grab hold of his leg and take him down. Had he not made the play, Frazier would have gotten the first down and maybe more. Instead, the Dukes held Towson to a field goal and went into the break with a 7 point lead.
Charles “King” Tutt – The freshman picked a heck of a time to score his first collegiate touchdown. Tutt took a kickoff 92 yards back to the house in the 3rd quarter. From that point, the route was pretty much on.
Kyrie Hawkins – 11 tackles, including 1.5 sacks. Heck of a game from the sophomore linebacker. The Dukes are going to need he and his teammates to consistently get pressure against the better teams on the schedule.
The Bad
Specials – Other than the kickoff return mentioned above, special teams play was pretty bad on Saturday. JMU let Towson execute a fake punt for a TD, had a punt blocked, missed a FG, and did a pretty poor job covering kicks in the first half. It didn’t kill them against a team like Towson, but it needs to improve.
First Half Defense? – Look, it’s tough to complain about anything when the Dukes win by 3 scores. JMU’s defense was so strong in the second half, that the unit had a good game overall. Additionally, it’s hard to underestimate how difficult it must be to play defense with virtually no rest, thanks to Vad Lee and the offense routinely putting together sub-2 minutes scoring drives. However, we’re going to nitpick and throw the first half defense in the bad section. Because Towson had a couple drives in the first half, where they just marched down the field too easily.
The Ugly
Chase Utley – Yeah, he had nothing to do with this game. JMU won in landslide on the road and scored 51 points. It’s not really fair to put anything in the ugly section. But I’m a long suffering Mets fan, and I still haven’t tired of ranting about Utley’s bush league slide. So screw that guy. He gets the ugly section all to himself this week.
It’s a beautiful day for college football. Thankfully, Vad Lee and the Dukes’ beautiful offense will be playing on the road against Towson State. Kickoff is set for 3:00. You can tune in and watch on CSN or catch the stream via CAA.tv. The Dukes are rolling and undefeated. Of course as Coach Withers like to say, the best part about being 5-0, is the chance to go 6-0. Consider this your official open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Go Dukes. Keep rootin!
The Basics
#5 James Madison Dukes (5-0, 2-0 CAA) at Towson St. Tigers (2-2, and a ghastly 0-1 in CAA), 3:00 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.
Coverage: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and other affiliates around the country found here. Also on a good note, the announcing team will be the usually solid Brent Harris and the B’more homer Qadry Ismail, so if nothing else it should be a HUGE step up from last week’s shitshow.
Why Towson St. Should Scare Us More Than We Realize
They have a strong QB in Connor Frazier and a strong RB in Darius Victor (who may or may not play). That combo was strong enough to make it to #5 on this list from Hero Sports (who’s doing a nice job with FCS coverage), which clearly knows what they’re talking about based on #1! They’ve also got a Head Coach in Rob Ambrose who, while also taking TSU all the way to the title game (on Terrance West’s back mostly) a couple of years ago has also staked the best claim to replacing former Blue Chickens HC KC Keeler as the CAA’s King Douchebag. Finally, Towson St. appears to be a team that is impossible to figure out how good they really are by looking at the start to their season. They had a very respectable 28-20 loss to ECU in Week 1, beat creampuff St. Francis in Week 2, then won a tough one against a Holy Cross team that destroyed Albany (a team JMU let hang around), and then somehow, someway, inexplicably LOST 17-13 TO ELON last week. There is simply no way to make any sense of that morass and we’re just hoping the team that, again, LOST TO ELON last week shows up instead of whatever unit played ECU tough.
Towson and former O-Lineman Gavin Class are also dealing with one of the most confusing, heart wrenching, no-right-answer stories you’ll ever read as the young man fights to play the game again after heat stroke, a coma, and a subsequent liver transplant last year.
What We’re Looking for from the Dukes
Just a few items we’d like to see the Dukes get back to this week. First, on offense we’d like to see Vad get back to distributing more and being a bit more discreet about when he chooses to run the ball. The SMU game proved he can do it and it was vital in that contest, but we’d like to see him save his legs as much as he can the next two weeks before the stretch run. Second, on defense, maybe a little wrapping up and tackling after a soggy second half last week. And not to be forgotten, on specials it’d be nice if the outside guys could keep contain on the edge when covering kicks after some overzealous efforts and getting trapped inside last week against Pebbly Creek.
A Note on Tailgating at TSU
The Tigers have one of the best, er, the only, tailgate scenes in the CAA outside of the ‘Burg. As you might imagine from a student body and alumni base made up almost exclusively of Preakness infield veterans and the most obnoxious of the “O’s, Strohs, and Natty Bohs” Orioles/Ravens crowd, they are generally and enthusiastically pro-tailgate. They also usually let visiting fans park in the lot right at the entrance to top of the visiting side (Lot 14 if I remember correctly). So load up on the BOTW and join what is usually a large DC contingent of Dukes fans in some Rootin’ for the Dukes’ Death Star this week.
Beer of The Week
Devil’s Backbone Turbo Cougar Blond Bock. I’ll be joining some fellow Dukes at The Festy at Devil’s Backbone’s incredible Basecamp near Wintergreen this weekend (where we’re arranging to have the Dukes game on TV right in the heart of the festival of course!) so DB only seemed natural. Turbo Cougar just sounds incredibly Towson to me, I mean, have you ever been to a weeknight show at the Recher?
The Station is now fully operational, no doubt about it.
Prediction
Look, this game feels a bit trappish, but we’re starting to truly believe in the Dukes’ Death Star’s ability to just hammer through such things. Towson has shown themselves to be a possibly respectable, but unlikely to be special, unit through the early season. The Dukes look every bit the part of a true contender and this is just another opportunity to show the difference between the two.
Dukes 45, Tigers 20
The Dukes go on the road to face the Towson Tigers this Saturday. That means it’s time for our prediction contest. Most of you probably get it by now, but here’s an explanation for the newbies. 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. Let us know who you think will win this weekend and keep rootin!
Yes. Yes, the Dukes do.
The Dukes are rolling. JMU defeated Stony Brook by the score of 38-20 in a rain soaked Bridgeforth Stadium. The win moved JMU to 5-0 (2-0 CAA) for the first time in program history. The Seawolves fell to 2-2 (1-2 CAA). Khalid Abdullah lead the way with 114 yards rushing on just 17 carries. He also scored 2 TDs, to push his season total to an FCS best 8. His backfield mate Cardon Johnson, chipped in 87 yards and a TD, while Vad Lee ran for 91 and a score, in addition to throwing for 225 and a TD. Not a bad effort in the rain. Here are a few quick thoughts on the win.
500 Yards of Offense, Again
The weather was pretty ugly yesterday and at times, so was the play. Yet, JMU still produced 519 yards of total offense and scored 38 points. And it could have been more, had a late Vad Lee touchdown not been called back by a penalty. This was probably the most pedestrian performance of the season by the offense, yet it still averaged over 6 yards a play. It says a lot when as fans, we’re sort of underwhelmed by a 38 point effort. Behind a couple of great runs by Abdullah, the Dukes got out to an early lead. Then they just sort of went into autopilot and played out the string. It was never in doubt.
No Letdown, No Trap Game
Was I the only one worried that all of the hype surrounding this team last week was going to result in a letdown? Thankfully, it did not. In fact, JMU came out and pretty much stepped on Stony Brook’s throat in the first half. The team was intense from the get go and put the game out of reach in the first half. With the weather, ESPN being on campus, and the growing bandwagon, it would be easy to understand if the Dukes came out flat. Credit to all the coaches and players for making sure that didn’t happen.
Gage is Back and Reynolds Never Left
Gage Steele had a monster freshman season playing alongside Dukes all-timer Stephon Robertson. Last year he faced a number of injuries and never seemed to find his stride. He’s back to playing at the level we all expected him to now. Yesterday, he lead the Dukes with 18 tackles.
Taylor Reynolds on the other hand, had a more typical freshman season. After converting to corner, he show glimpses of real talent, but also struggled at times. He elevated his game last year and has been even better this season. Reynolds picked off one pass yesterday and batted down five more. He’s become one of the top cover corners in the CAA.
Big Uglies
While the skill position players often get the glory, the interior line play on both sides often are the difference between winning and losing. The Dukes big guys have been carrying the load thus far. Yesterday, the offensive lineman opened up huge holes for Abdullah and Johnson. They also prevented the opposition from getting a single sack for the second week in a row and gave Vad Lee plenty of time to link up with his receivers.
On the other side of the ball, the Dukes defensive line had 3 sacks and helped hold the Seawolves to a modest 2.5 yards per rush. After a relatively slow start to the season, the line is now consistently pressuring QBs. And they’re doing it without Simeyon Robinson. Once he returns from suspension, the line should be even better.
It’s family weekend at JMU and Stony Brook is in town to play the Dukes. It’s a classic match-up of a top offense (good guys) against a stout defense (bad guys). A little rain never hurt anyone, so make yourself a Bloody Mary, grab your parents, put on a poncho and get ready to root. If you’re unable to make it to Bridgeforth, the game will be broadcast on Comcast Sportsnet and streamed via Madizone. Consider this your official open thread for all of your pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Go Dukes! Keep Rootin’!
The Weather
Let’s get this out of the way first. So now it looks like Joaquin was nothing more than a bunch of fear-mongering (and of course a ratings booster) and things will be just regular nasty rather than ark-worthy. Somewhere Jim Cantore’s blueballs must be aching him something awful on this one. In fact, Saturday in the ‘Burg is down to just “Occasional light rain. High 52. Winds NNE 10-20 MPH. Chance of rain 90%.” Bottom line is that Friday’s rain and potential for flooding given the saturation of the last week is the only real issue now. If BFS doesn’t look like this from a few years back by late-night tomorrow, Saturday may turn out to be no worse than a normal November game from a tailgating perspective. Good news for what’s usually a healthy crowd on Family Weekend. Dress warm, bring your raincoat, everything should be fine.
The Basic
Stony Brook Seawolves (Receiving Votes) at #6 James Madison Dukes, Noon – Bridgeforth Stadium
TV coverage available via Comcast Sports Net (and it looks like MadiZone online too)
Not a real animal, and not a real CAA team.
Not to Be Taken Lightly
Now that the weather seems unlikely to be a major factor on the field, our hopes are going up for a normal Dukes Death Star performance. But this is absolutely no time to get arrogant. Stony Brook, despite the general lack of name recognition, is a very solid team, possibly the second-toughest opponent left on the schedule. They are fourth in FCS in total defense, and while that’s a little slanted because their opening game against FBS and MAC-favorite Toledo was cancelled due to weather early in the 2nd quarter with them already trailing 16-7, one thing we know for sure is that the Seawolves (not a real animal) actually did do a fantastic job disrupting a lot of what the Dukes do in last year’s matchup on Strong Island. The Dukes trailed most of the day before pulling out a tight 27-24 win (not to mention the Dukes fell 41-38 in the true nail-in-the-coffin game for the Mickey era in ’13). Plus Madison oddly struggled a bit with Stony Brook’s big lumbering QB Conor Bednarski.
One tough thing for the Seawolves will be missing their best offensive player in RB (and one-time JMU commit) Stacey Bedell who is out this week with an injury.
Avoiding a Letdown
Despite their strong previous performances against JMU, coming off a 21-0 beatdown at the hands of William & Mary last week, the biggest concern for the Dukes may be in their own heads instead of anything Stony Brook will do. The Dukes have GOT to avoid resting on all the laurels they received this week after the big win in Dallas last week. Put simply, this game is a big one for setting up the rest of the season. The next two opponents (Towson and Elon) appear to be headed for the CAA cellar this year and if the Dukes can handle their business this week, they should have two more weeks to keep the bandwagon building among lost/apathetic alumni and rise into the top five before the Spatter stomping at Homecoming!
Beer of the Week
Otter Creek Backseat Berner IPA – It’s gonna feel like a cold, nasty New England day, so a fine Vermont beer seems in order. I just love this beer. Stanky (in a good way) with big tropical notes would be a good old-school way to describe this one. And the Vanagon cover art always makes me smile.
Prediction
Look, we’re nervous about a letdown, but we don’t think Coach Withers is. He seems to have an amazing ability to keep the players focus on what’s in front of them, not what’s already happened. Stony Brook can’t score and the Dukes are lightyears ahead of where they were at this game last year. Also looks like the weather isn’t going to be bad enough to change anyone’s gameplan. Just keep that hammer down Dukes!
Dukes 45, Pebbly Creek 20
One Final Note
The DNR’s Matt Jones, who also blogs on JMU’s Rivals site, has been absolutely killing it the last couple of weeks. If you want more great Dukes content, check it out here.
Last week Jeremy came closest to predicting the winner & score of JMU’s win over SMU. As a result he earned the right to guest post. He’s a current student at JMU and he roots. Enjoy.
Alexa, can the Dukes win it all this year?
The answer didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Yes, we can win it all. This team is firing in almost every aspect of the game. We went down to Big D and brought home the W. The Worldwide Leader is featuring our man Vad this week on Sports Center. We have nationally ranked teams all over our great campus that are competing day-in day-out at such a high level. One thing still bothers this student, attendance.
As a freshman last year, I couldn’t wait until that first home game to see the stands filled with my fellow students. It did happen on home opener, but the shine began to fade rather quickly. My family decided to go all-in for the season. My parents quickly joined the Duke Club, season tickets the whole nine. I often wonder what could bring more students to games, not just football but all sporting events.
I attended so many events my freshman year of 2014-2015, Swimming, diving, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, etc. I have tried to maintain that commitment this year, it’s just frustrating to see so many people show up only to leave early. I’ve thought how could we engage and get more student participation at sporting events. Maybe one idea would be more night games. Who doesn’t love the bright lights of Bridgeforth Stadium with 24,000 strong rootin? More engagement with staff and events with athletes might enhance the awareness of how much the student-athletes appreciate the support from their peers. White Outs / Black Outs / Purple Outs / Merica Outs / Sons Out Guns Out / maybe could see a higher participation. I could clearly hear the proud DUKES in Texas over the weekend while streaming the game, why doesn’t it sound that loud here when we have home field advantage?
More in-state rivalries could help boost attendance as well. I fully understand in-state schools don’t necessarily want to put the Dukes on the schedule. Raffle off one of those un-used luxury suites for student’s use during the season. Anything is possible to make ALL athletic events more attended. I’m proud to be a DUKE, and wish more of my fellow DUKES felt the same.
What about a true student section that could help create an actual home field advantage? How about some temp bleachers right on top of opposing teams where we can be heard and seen? Put the students in one area that we can truly call our own, but before we do that WE MUST SHOW UP IN FORCE.
In closing, I do believe Alexa is right. I see a trip to Frisco, Texas in our future. And I sure plan on being there to support my DUKES!
The Dukes will attempt to move to 5-0 for the first time in program history this Saturday. JMU will play Stony Brook in the friendly (yet flooded) confines of Bridgeforth Stadium. Leave a comment below letting us know who you think will win and what the final score will be. The person who comes closes to nailing it (winner & score) will win the chance to guest post. That’s all. Keep rootin’!
