{"id":3086,"date":"2011-10-17T00:22:51","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T04:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3086"},"modified":"2011-10-23T20:42:07","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T00:42:07","slug":"dukes-start-slow-but-blow-out-villanova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3086","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Start Slow, but Blow Out Villanova"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, after all the panic following last week’s tough OT loss to Maine, a 7-6 halftime deficit to severely undermanned Villanova was not sitting well with the patrons yesterday.\u00a0 Thankfully, as they usually do, the offense found its rythm\u00a0in the second half, the D produced a turnover or two, and the Dukes steamrolled the Wildcats on the strength of 28 unanswered points to close out the game.\u00a0 Full game story from JMU Sports<\/a>.\u00a0 Here’s a quick rundown of the best and worst from Saturday:<\/p>\n

The Good<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parent’s Weekend Crowd – No they weren’t the loudest or most intimidating, but then again, the Dukes offense didn’t give them much reason to get in the game for a long time.\u00a0 And more than that, the stadium was packed and the crowd stuck around throughout the game.\u00a0 For all the whining we all do about Parent’s Weekend, hard to argue with a full stadium midway through the fourth.\u00a0 And even better, for all the bitching I do about folks not standing up or asking for people to sit down, the old folks behind us actually said, “Where were you boys, we needed you,” in reference to the Maine game the minute we walked in.\u00a0\u00a0 Amazing how much leeway in the rowdy-slightly boozy-fan behavior a little friendly networking can buy you.<\/p>\n

C-4 Tailgating.\u00a0 Hillside Lot was a ton of fun.\u00a0 Nice to see at least a dozen RV’s lining up across the way at the old baseball stadium and tailgating on the grass\u00a0along the railroad tracks is actually a nice setup (plus you have Mr. Chips easy access if you forgot anything – like Solo cups).<\/p>\n

Streamers – Ok, they may have contributed to the missed extra point in the first half by Cam Starke by blowing right into him, but they were outstanding for the first time in new BFS.\u00a0 It was a sea of purple and gold and with the wind swirling, they stuck around and added to a festive second half atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Brian Barlow – Seriously, how the hell do we not throw to this guy more?!<\/p>\n

The Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I "think" this passing play actually happened at some point.<\/p><\/div>\n

First-down play calling.\u00a0 Look, I have a laughing, grudging, Les Miles-esque respect for the fact Mickey Matthews basically gives all the people in the #passmore crowd a big fat middle finger game after game and year after year.\u00a0 I also think this team is the FCS version of Oregon – basically an all running team with better athletes than almost anyone who just takes a while, usually a half, to rev up their game and find their groove both on the field and in the playcalling department.\u00a0 The cumulative effect of wearing down another team\u00a0is why this team sometimes hits the supercharge button late (see UR, Nova).\u00a0 But it’s just an incredible disservice being done to our QB’s this year, especially the extremely promising Jace Edwards, to never give them a chance to throw in a non-throwing, low-pressure, first down situation.\u00a0 In case you didn’t notice, the only time the Dukes threw on first down in the first two and a half quarters was the long pass interference to Barlow.\u00a0 It’s also killing our own running game in that you never force the defense out of their stack-the-box mentality.<\/p>\n

Nova’s indecision on moving up.\u00a0 Their hedging last year on their Big East invite opened the door for Pitt and WVU to bigfoot them and shut it down.\u00a0 Now you have to wonder if they’re screwing Jay Wright and the basketball program by messing around and missing a huge opportunity.\u00a0 Needless to say, I hope and expect better if and when JMU ever gets a similar chance.<\/p>\n

The Ugly<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s now officially ODUh week!\u00a0All ugliness is now welcome and encouraged.\u00a0 Come on JMU, let it fly and get ready to invade Nawf*ck!\u00a0 Even better, we get to make a full fortnight out of it and mock them if they struggle at Nova next week.\u00a0 They got a gutwrenching reminder from Towson of just how tough life in the CAA can be this weekend, and hopefully the Dukes can hand them the type of soul-crushing defeat from which the playoff committee will never let them recover.<\/p>\n

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