{"id":6081,"date":"2013-10-14T07:50:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T11:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6081"},"modified":"2013-10-14T07:50:51","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T11:50:51","slug":"quick-thoughts-on-jmu-over-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6081","title":{"rendered":"Quick Thoughts on JMU Over Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mickey<\/a>The Dukes got the job done and defeated Richmond by the score of 38-31 on Saturday. After a hard fought first half, JMU was clinging to a 7-6 lead. Dejor Simmons provided a much needed spark with an electrifying 100 yard kickoff return for a TD to open the second half. Feeding off Simmons’ energy, the Dukes went on to play far and away they’re best third quarter of the season. Michael Birdsong and Brandon Ravenel connected on a 71 yard passing play that led to a Quintin Hunter TD. The Ginga Ninja followed that up with a 16 yard TD pass to Deane Cheatham that put JMU up 28-9. Things got dicey in the fourth quarter though and Richmond stormed all the way back to pull within a touchdown late. Luckily, JMU recovered a Spider onside kick and ran out the clock to seal the win.<\/p>\n

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

The third quarter has been the Dukes’ nemesis all season. In each of JMU’s losses, they carried leads into halftime only to let their opponents back into the game after the break. There were probably more than a few JMU fans bracing themselves for a disappointing quarter after halftime. Instead we were treated to an amazing kick-off return, quick strike scoring drives, and inspired defense. But just to keep things interesting, the Dukes went ahead and had their third quarter letdown in the fourth.<\/p>\n

Richmond scored 22 points in the final period. The Spiders were a recovery of an onside kick away from being in position to drive for a game tying TD late. The game should have been a laugher, instead it was more than a little dicey down the stretch. It’s tough to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. The first few scores seemed to be a case of the entire program (players, coaches, fans) taking its foot off the gas. Only Richmond didn’t stop playing. JMU hung on for the win, but they almost gave one away.<\/p>\n

Weapons<\/strong><\/p>\n

After years of the entire fanbase begging for the Dukes to pass more, this year’s team is finally airing it out. The Dukes were held under 100 yards rushing, but still scored 38 points. That’s not something we would have seen in years past. But this year’s offense can move the chains by throwing the ball. Much of the credit rightly goes to Michael Birdsong. He’s still learning and has some things to improve upon, but he can make throws that recent JMU QBs could not make.<\/p>\n

It’s not all Birdsong though. The Dukes have some seriously talented receivers. Quintin Hunter, Brandon Ravenel, and Rashard Davis are all solid route runners with good hands. And Daniel Brown just adds a dimension that the Dukes haven’t had in years. He has serious big play ability. The receiving core is so deep that DeAndre Smith, a very talented receiver, could be moved to the defense to play corner (he played pretty well by the way).<\/p>\n

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

The defense played vintage Mickey Matthews style for the first three quarters. They virtually eliminated the run, gave the QB the short throws, and then tightened up in the red zone. It was bend, but don’t break at its finest. The corners have fallen victim to a number of big plays all season, but they showed some slight improvement yesterday. Richmond did complete a few long passes, but on most of them it was more a case of the receiver making a play to come down with the ball, then the corners just getting left in the dust.<\/p>\n

The Dukes still gave up 400+ passing yards. Even if many of them came after JMU took its foot off the gas, that’s a lot. Watching in person though, I thought there was improvement. For much of the game the corners were matched up in man with no help over the top. The big cushions might drive fans crazy at time, but it’s better than letting the receiver run past everyone into open space. This isn’t a dominating defense by any stretch, but it has the potential to get a lot better.<\/p>\n

Odds and Ends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beating Richmond is fun. There was plenty of trash talk between the players in the week leading up to the game. The potential was there for both teams to play with a lack of discipline. The Dukes didn’t. The Spiders did. After seeing dumb penalties and mistakes cost the Dukes against Delaware, it was kind of nice to see their opponents shoot themselves in the foot on several occasions. For instance, Cameron Starke’s field goal in the fourth quarter came immediately after a Richmond offsides put the Dukes in FG range. And there were several other costly penalties for Richmond. The squirrel was pretty cool too.<\/p>\n

Finally, there has been a lot of talk lately about the attendance (or lack thereof). It’s frustrating that the stadium isn’t packed week in and week out. I actually think listening to people bitch about it (or attempt to lecture the students via Twitter, blog comments, etc) is even more frustrating though. Life gets in the way sometimes. Despite the forecast, I made the trip back to the ‘burg with my 2 favorite little Dukes fans for the game. The weather held and we had a great time. Some weeks I just can’t make it though. It happens.<\/p>\n

We don’t know what the solution is, but it probably involves a little more patience and a lot less whining. Personally, we’d rather be invited to go to a game and shown a good time, than lectured. For the past few years, Todd and I have tried to encourage a few friends to join us going back for games. And some of them actually get the bug and want to go back again. Some of them even take the plunge and buy season tickets. And that makes it more fun for us.<\/p>\n

With that being said, we’re bringing some friends down for the ‘Nova game on November 2. We’ll be putting together a big tailgate. We’ll provide details closer to gameday, but we’d obviously love to have as many readers as possible stop by. And if you bring a friend who’s relatively new to JMU football, that’d be great too. We’ll do our best to minimize our complete JMU sports geekiness and help you show them a good time.<\/p>\n

Pic courtesy of our favorite site for JMU photos, epicsnapshots.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n