{"id":10649,"date":"2018-11-18T15:39:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T20:39:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10649"},"modified":"2018-11-18T18:48:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T23:48:21","slug":"jmu-drops-towson-but-misses-out-on-playoff-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10649","title":{"rendered":"JMU Drops Towson, But Misses Out on Playoff Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Well, there’s pretty much nothing that could dampen fans’ enthusiasm after JMU’s outstanding win over Towson yesterday. What’s that? The playoff bracket came out. And JMU wasn’t seeded? Oh.<\/p>\n

More on the playoff situation later, but let’s take a moment to appreciate the Dukes’ awesome performance on the road to close out the regular season. Nooch and his teammates put together their most impressive game of the season, defeating Towson by the score of 38 to 17. After a quick start by both teams, it looked like were headed for a “defense optional” type shootout. That wasn’t to be however. JMU’s offense kept scoring, but the defense made adjustments and put the clamps on QB Tom Flacco and the Tigers. Townson managed a garbage time TD, but were otherwise kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final 3 quarters.<\/p>\n

On offense, the JMU running game we all hoped to see this season, finally showed up. Better late than never. We all know how talented JMU’s running back corps is. Yesterday, the world saw it. Cardon Johnson had a vintage performance, breaking off a 76 yard TD run in the first quarter, on his way to a 162 yard day. Trai Sharp and Nooch eclipsed the century mark as well, running for 107 and 104 yards respectively. The o-line, not to mention the receivers, did a great job blocking and opening up holes all day. It was an impressive effort all around. For the first time in weeks, maybe all season, the Dukes actually played up to their potential. There’s no comparing this performance against Towson, with some of the earlier efforts. JMU looked like a team on a mission to put its troubles behind it, and earn a playoff seed.<\/p>\n

And then the bracket<\/a> was released. It’s evident the committee probably wasn’t as impressed with yesterday’s win as we were. At the very least, the committee didn’t think it made up for the Dukes’ earlier missteps. Objectively speaking, it’s not outrageous that JMU isn’t seeded (ducking for cover). Had JMU beaten New Hampshire, the Dukes would probably be looking at a top 4 seed, maybe even the 2nd overall. But they lost. They lost pretty handily, turning the ball over 7 times.<\/p>\n

Coach Houston went on tv and said he felt disrespected by the committee. His logic was that JMU lost to a healthy New Hampshire team, a team that was completely different than the Trevor Knight-less team that other squads managed to beat. That’s true, but let Trevor Knight didn’t force 7 turnovers against JMU. And Rhode Island, a team JMU stomped, defeated Trevor Knight and the Wildcats in their season finale.<\/p>\n

Sign me up for a disrespected and extra-motivated JMU team though. Instead of having a seed and the bye that comes along with it, the Dukes will play host to fellow CAA team Delaware next Saturday. That’s a pretty tough draw (especially considering Towson gets to host Dusquesne…thanks regionalization), but not impossible. The winner gets to go on the road to Hamilton, NY to face Colgate and its lights out defense. From there, the path would likely go through Fargo. And well, that’s not terrible. In fact, I think I prefer a chip on its shoulder, people are doubting us, let’s crush everyone, sort of JMU team to a seeded JMU team anyway. We’ve seen what JMU can do with its back against the wall the past few weeks. And that was just with some buzz from the fanbase questioning the team. Now the committee doesn’t think the Dukes are a contender and put as much in writing. Seems like some serious motivation to us.<\/p>\n