{"id":11347,"date":"2019-12-16T06:57:19","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T11:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11347"},"modified":"2021-02-18T10:12:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T15:12:16","slug":"three-thoughts-on-jmu-17-uni-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11347","title":{"rendered":"Three Thoughts on JMU 17 – UNI 0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Survive and advance. That’s exactly what the JMU Dukes did in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FCS Playoffs. JMU took advantage of a stellar defensive effort and defeated Northern Iowa by the score of 17-0. It was the Dukes first ever playoff shutout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JMU was much more dominant than the score might indicated. The Dukes out-gained the Panthers by 232 yards, limiting UNI to 114 yards while amassing 346 themselves. And JMU had an insane time of possession advantage, holding the ball for over 42 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final margin might have only been 17 points, but it was far greater overall. And that’s largely due to the JMU Defense, which had a performance for the ages. UNI was held to only 7 first downs for the entire game. The Panthers had zero net rushing yards and didn’t cross midfield until the final two minutes of the game. There was absolutely nothing they could do. Here are 3 quick thoughts on the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Was Just Mean<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You saw those stats above. They pretty much speak for themselves. Except they don’t, because they don’t allow you to see how physically dominant the JMU defense was. Well we have watched a lot of JMU football over the years, and can’t recall too many times where the Dukes have been able to manhandle another team like that. The Panthers could not move the ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve heard all of the talk about UNI’s offense being rather pedestrian. That’s true. But come on? JMU still prevented the #6 team in the country from passing the 50 until garbage time. That shouldn’t happen this deep in the playoffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Style Points in the Postseason<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love watching JMU light up the scoreboard as much as anyone else, but let’s not freak out because the Dukes only scored two touchdowns. They absolutely left some points on the board Friday night. We know that. It’s a fruitless exercise to play the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” game in an attempt to demonstrate that the game very easily could have been a 4-5 TD shutout. The reality is that JMU played a very conservative gameplan and made some mistakes that resulted in missed scoring opportunities. But they still won. In the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Against a Top 10 team. And they’re moving on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Christmas Present from JMU<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dukes reward for winning this game is a semi-final game at home this Saturday, 21 December against Weber State. And our fine friends at JMU Sports have a little Christmas present for our JMUSB community. Click on through to the ticket page using this link<\/a> and you can get special $8 tickets for the semi-final game in Bridgeforth. Just enter promo code “SPORTSBLOG” when you checkout. And spread the word. JMU is doing this not only because they love you (they do), but also because they want to see Bridgeforth packed on Saturday.<\/p>\n