{"id":3182,"date":"2011-11-06T21:40:25","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T02:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3182"},"modified":"2011-11-07T20:26:43","modified_gmt":"2011-11-08T01:26:43","slug":"jmu-suffers-devastating-loss-to-unh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3182","title":{"rendered":"JMU Suffers Devastating Loss to UNH"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>After JMU’s 28-10 loss to UNH, the Dukes’ playoff dreams are hanging by a thread. I’m obliged to point out that the Dukes can still win their final 2 games and get a bid. Personally, I don’t find that to be a tremendously exciting proposition though, and I doubt many of you do either. Plus, I’m not sure they’d have the resume to get a bid even if they got to 7 wins. Regardless, it’s the situation they are in. And now some brief thoughts on yesterday’s loss.<\/p>\n

Football Games are 60 Minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The JMU defense was lights out for much of the second half. They were dialed in and put the clamps on the Wildcats high powered attack. Unfortunately, that same defense came out of the gates slow and let UNH build up a lead they never surrendered. Yes, UNH benefited from some great field position, but the defense was still atrocious in most of the first half. It’s tough to make the playoffs when you let your opposition race out to 25 points before the game was 20 minutes old.<\/p>\n

Unlike the defense, JMU’s offense showed a lot of life early in the game. Dae’Quan Scott had a huge run in the Dukes first drive and UNH didn’t appear to have any answer for him. JMU came away with 10 points after it’s first 2 possessions. Then, the magic seemed to disappear. Even with the benefit of amazing field position consistently in the second half, JMU couldn’t punch it in the endzone.<\/p>\n

The Not Very Special Teams<\/strong><\/p>\n

To win football games, teams need to win at all 3 phases of the game, offense, defense, and special team. Or something like that. I’m not exactly sure what the cliche is, but the Dukes’ special teams were anything but. They were terrible. This entire short and high kick-off strategy needs to stop. It does not work. And if it’s not a strategy, then JMU needs a new kicker. And nobody returning kicks is going to be confused for Scott McGee or Cortez Thompson anytime soon.<\/p>\n

There Are Two Sides to Every Story…At Least<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, there are different ways we could look at this game. Or any game for that matter. UNH did march all over JMU’s defense early, but you could point to the great starting field position they had. Or you could talk about how well the D played for most of the second half. Or about how much they miss Nick Evans.\u00a0You could blame this loss on the offense’s inability to punch it in after the break. With short field after short field, JMU couldn’t cross the goal line. But you could easily chalk that up to the depleted offensive line or Thorpe’s suspension. Or you point out that JMU scored early, but UNH was just spotted too big a lead. And some other folks will lay the loss on Mickey and the staff. Rolling Jace (a righty) to the left 3 plays in a row before the half was odd. And turning down a penalty that would have given the Dukes 3rd and 6 from inside the ten for 4th and 1, was dicey. But maybe Mickey knew something we don’t. The point is there are a million ways to look at this. Right now, none of that matters. The Dukes are not short on excuses (legitimate or otherwise). They are short are wins. That’s really all that matters.<\/p>\n

What It Means<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t. JMU came really close to beating Maine and ODU. Had those games turned out differently, the Dukes would be battling for the CAA crown these next 2 weeks. They didn’t beat them though. They lost. And while we can argue all day about how things would have turned out differently if they were at full strength, they weren’t. It is what it is. JMU is a pretty decent team in the middle of the CAA pack. We can bitch about how disappointing that is, or we can hope they get hot, sneak into the playoffs, and turn in a Cinderalla run for the ages.<\/p>\n