Matchup: #3 Weber St. Wildcats (11-3, 7-1 Big Sky) at #2 JMU Dukes (13-1, 8-0 CAA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m., Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weather: Mostly clear, 35 at kickoff. Pretty perfect for December in the Valley with afternoon highs around 40 with plenty of sunshine for the tailgate and should stay above freezing till just about the end of the game. Best of all, it’s supposed to be dry and uncharacteristically almost zero wind so should be just fine, especially with a little something for a hot chocolate or coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broadcast: ESPNU<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boys in the Desert: JMU -16.5, ML -900, O\/U 47<\/p>\n\n\n
What We Know About Weber<\/b><\/p>\n
JMU fans certainly know and respect the Wildcats, having survived a game the Dukes maybe should\u2019ve lost at home in the Quarter-final in 2017. That\u2019s the one that ended 31-28 on the infamous Field Goal from Ethan Ratke.<\/p>\n
This year Weber and JMU have shared one common opponent in Northern Iowa. Weber also beat a notably then-healthier UNI team 29-17 back in late September. Two of their three losses were tight games on the road against FBS teams (San Diego St. and Nevada) early in the year. Their other loss was a blowout at the hands of Montana \u2013 a loss they avenged last week.<\/p>\n
With the new home-and-home series the two programs have announced for 2021 and 2022 to follow the second playoff meeting in three years, this has very cool potential to turn into a rare intersectional rivalry at the FCS level.<\/p>\n
A Couple More Non-Football Notes on Weber St.<\/b><\/p>\n
Dame Lillard went to Weber St. and they\u2019ve been a frisky mid-major in hoops for decades.<\/p>\n
One thing we learned on the Hero Sports Podcast with Weber\u2019s President this week is that the university is truly an open enrollment institution. And we\u2019re not here to pick on that at all. It\u2019s actually pretty amazing that in the era of Aunt Becky and resume-building middle schoolers there are still public institutions that are truly providing \u201caccess\u201d to higher education in a way that long, long ago left our own beloved JMU. We\u2019re not nostalgic for those days and we\u2019re incredibly proud that the JMU of today would never accept two morons like us, but it’s good to see there are still schools out there preparing the population, all of it, to go to work.<\/p>\n
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How the Wildcats Can Win<\/strong><\/p>\n Feels like a broken record, but turning the Dukes over, making a play or two on specials, and turning this into lower-scoring, grinding affair has to be the plan. Weber appears to be a better, more skilled version of the UNI team that, for all its offensive ineptitude, did a good job in slowing the Dukes and at least playing a game at a pace to their liking last week. If JMU gets untracked early, it\u2019s harder to see Weber keeping up for four quarters if it\u2019s a true shootout.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How the Dukes Can Win<\/strong><\/p>\n Don’t get suckered on trick plays and win the special teams battle. If there were no trick plays and no kicking game, we think JMU wins this 9 out of 10 times. But there are, and those are two areas that Weber excels and in which the Dukes have shown themselves vulnerable over the course of the season. The uber-aggressive defense has been suckered before on flea-flickers and halfback passes and we fully expect to see their ilk from the Wildcats. Plus, while the Dukes ultimately had a great day results-wise punting last week, they were a whisker away from UNI blocking multiple kicks. Conversely, Weber won their game over Montana with a blocked punt for a TD. And that’s before we ever mention JMU’s difficulty covering kicks and lack of anyone to go full kamikaze on the coverage teams since Sam Kidd went down mid-season – see for example the Monmouth runback.<\/p>\n But if JMU can hold up in those areas, and Ben can be wise with the football (we admit to having some fear here against the Weber pass rush, but believe in Ben’s growth), the Dukes are simply deeper, more talented, and have the ability to eventually hit a few plays that we’re not sure the Cats can keep up with.<\/p>\n Record Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n This time of year is all about winning the game, surviving and advancing, etc., and that’s as it should be. Individual records won’t mean much on Sunday if we’re not all scrambling for flights. But there are a few records within reach this week (and notably quite a few more if the Dukes get another game) including:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n JMUSB Beer of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. One of the OG\u2019s for craft beer and this year\u2019s batch is particularly tasty. And really, having a semi-final at home in BFS for only the third time ever is very much worthy of celebration. Hopefully we\u2019ll be celebrating at the end as well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Official JMUSB Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\n The Dukes finally get loose! Maybe we’re just full-blown optimists, but Weber is finally a team that even Cignetti seems unlikely to hold anything back against. And while the Wildcats seem capable of a few things themselves, we think this is the week we see a fully operational battle station in action from the Dukes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JMU 38, Weber St. 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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