[polldaddy poll=8359924]After losing to Delaware and seeing fan confidence drop to a season low, the Dukes got a big road win at Albany. Will it be enough to boost confidence back up? Or has the fan base come to realize that this season might be more about establishing a foundation for the future and less about making a deep run in the playoffs? JMU has a margin of effort of at most one loss. There is not an unbeatable team left on the schedule. There is also not a single team who we couldn’t see knocking off JMU. Vote in the poll and let us know your thoughts below.
For a guy who makes pretty good decisions on the basketball court, Andre Nation seems to make some bad ones off it. Nation was suspended indefinitely from the JMU basketball team today. Because of course he was. Along with Nation, sophomore forward Tom Vodanovich was also suspended indefinitely. The two players reportedly got into a fight at Vodanovich’s residence Saturday night. The police were called, Vodanovich was hospitalized with facial injuries, and Nation was arrested. The DNR’s Nick Sunderland is reporting that Nation was charged with public swearing/intoxication, disorderly conduct, and assault. Vodanovich was charged with public swearing/intoxication, disorderly conduct, and underage possession. To be clear, this was a dumb move by both guys. Nation’s suspension will draw way more attention though. That’s the price he pays for being the star of the team and for this not being his first off the court issue during his time at JMU.
Depending on whether you count last season’s voluntary leave of absence (or however JMU phrased it), this is either Nation’s third or fourth suspension. Regardless, it puts him one strike closer to the apparently infinite number required to be permanently kicked off the team. Go ahead and assume all the normal caveats apply here; “this doesn’t mean he’s a bad person”, “college kids do dumb stuff”, “we don’t know the whole story”, etc. The fact is that this is more than a trend. It’s a pattern. As a JMU hoops fan, hearing the news that Nation was suspended, is sort of like a football player take his first hit in training camp. It’s really just a sign that the season is almost upon us.
We wish Andre well and hope this is the last time we’re discussing his off the court issues, but we’d be lying if we said we’re confident it will be. If history is any indicator, it’s really more a question of “when”, not “if” when discussing Nation doing something to jeopardize his status with the basketball team. And that’s incredibly sad because he’s a heck of a basketball player, who we love to cheer for. Again, we’re not saying he’s a bad guy. But he’s certainly not dependable, and has caused a number of distractions for the program. The only real question now, is how much rope is Brady going to give him?
Ryan Maglio picked a hell of a time to make his first collegiate field goal. The redshirt-junior kicker calmly nailed a 34 yard kick with 4 seconds left to secure the Dukes’ 31-28 victory over the Albany Great Danes. Inserted into the lineup after Connor Arnonne was benched, he might not have been given the opportunity to be a hero if not for a heads up play by Blaine Stewart. Everett Withers had the Dukes line up for the kick on second down, giving them a redo in case any thing went wrong. Something did go wrong as the snap was bobbled. Stewart, who was holding for Maglio, wisely spiked the ball to give JMU another chance. After the mulligan, the Dukes lined up again and executed perfectly. The ball split the uprights and JMU won.
The Dukes will play their first game at Bob Ford Field against the Albany Great Danes tonight. JMU is looking for its first CAA road win in nearly two years. The Dukes last defeated a conference opponent on the road all the way back on November 3, 2012 when they knocked off Maine 31-7. They need this one. They need it very badly if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. Tune into the stream here for $4.95. And consider this your open thread for all of your pre-game, in-game, and post-game chatter. Go Dukes.
Hahhahahhaahahhah. Seriously, this is what it’s come to. We have to title our preview thusly.
The Basics
Match-up: unranked JMU Dukes (2-3, 0-2 last place CAA) vs #23 SUNY Albany Great Danes (4-0, 1-0 CAA against an Ivy, two NEC’s, and URI)
Kick-off: 6:00 PM Saturday, October 4 at Bob Ford (Bob Ford!) Field in Albany, New York
Weather: High of 63, but going down during the game, 60% chance of showers, breezy
Broadcast: Might have to steal this one on Wiziwig or First Row Sports. Legally, it appears the only option is to purchase Albany’s stream here, though it is only $4.95 and they’re still with NeuLion, which has to be better than this Stretch Media crap we’ve gotten from JMU this year.
Woo boy, that Delaware put a bit of a dent in fan confidence. Only 19.1% of poll respondents this week thought that the Dukes will make the playoffs. Considering JMU now has 3 losses, it probably means they need to go 6-1 down the stretch to get a bid. So it’s not exactly pessimistic to believe that the Dukes won’t go on that sort of a run. But it’s still a little bit depressing that nearly 4 out of every 5 poll voters think the Dukes are playing for next season already.
Deacon Danny won our prediction contest last week and earned the right to guest post. Here’s his take on the current state of JMU football and raising the bar to get it back on the right track. Take it away Danny.
First of all I want to say that it is bitter sweet that I receive the opportunity to write this guest article by predicting a JMU loss this past weekend. I would gladly trade this privilege for a JMU win last Saturday afternoon!
I know there is often a fair amount of disagreement on what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ in the world of JMU FOOTBALL. I also know that everyone who frequents this site cares deeply about JMU and JMU Football. Otherwise, none of us would be hanging out on this website reading the stories, commenting on games, predicting scores, etc.
I attended JMU from 1983-1987. During that time I seldom missed a home JMU Football game. And during that time, there was not any great expectations of success for the Football team. I think during my Freshman year, JMU was 3-8 and the next year they were 6-5 and probably somewhere in between 3-8 and 6-5 my Junior and Senior years. I very seldom sat in the stadium but rather on the train tracks on the hill outside of the stadium with a cooler of my favorite beverage along with hundreds of other students and alumni. Now that I think about it that was a pretty good deal – we got to tailgate and watch the game at the same time! But my point is, we all had a good time watching and cheering on the football team but at the end of the day nobody was overly disappointed if JMU lost the game. read more…
Everett Withers and the Dukes hit the road this weekend for a game at Albany, against the 23rd ranked Great Danes. JMU is obviously coming off a tough loss, in which they came back to force OT before falling to Delaware. We have no idea what to expect on Saturday. But we’d like to hear your predictions. Leave a comment indicating 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. Simple. Go Dukes!
[polldaddy poll=8341482]Another week and another CAA loss for the Dukes. Last week barely over 50% of voters thought postseason play was in the cards for JMU. After letting one get away against Delaware, is the sky falling or are the Dukes just a few plays away from getting things right? Vote in the poll and give us your thoughts on the state of the program and JMU’s playoff chances.
The Dukes dropped a heartbreaker to the Delaware Blue Hens yesterday, falling 30-23 in overtime. It’s been over 24 hours and I’m still at a loss for words. Or at least I’m at a loss for words or thoughts that make any sense at all. Maybe I’m still in shock. The fact is that JMU lost to what appears to be a middle of the CAA pack Delaware team at home. Vad Lee and the Dukes showed some real toughness to rally twice to tie late in the fourth quarter to force overtime. They had to rally because they basically sleepwalked through the first three and half quarters. And then they had to rally again, because after they tied it at 16-16, the defense surrendered an 86 yard TD pass three plays later. This 86 yard TD pass is not be confused with the 75 yard TD pass Delaware had on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Did I mention that I might still be in shock?
On paper, this was a game that JMU should have clearly won. Save a couple boneheaded penalties, dumb mistakes, missed extra points, dropped TD passes, completely blown defensive assignments and missed tackles on long TDs, backward punts, and questionable playcalling, they probably would have won. Or maybe I just typed a list of things losing teams do over the course of a football game. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from JMU’s loss. read more…
