{"id":6946,"date":"2014-09-08T06:43:43","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T10:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6946"},"modified":"2014-09-08T06:43:43","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T10:43:43","slug":"dukes-comeback-to-beat-lehigh-31-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6946","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Comeback to Beat Lehigh 31-28"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sp6O5G33k5c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>Everett Withers got his first win as head coach of JMU yesterday. After finding themselves down 21-10 at the half, the Dukes stormed back to beat the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 31-28. Lehigh drove down the field and had a chance to tie it with a 27 yard field goal attempt with 51 seconds remaining. Freshman cornerback Jimmy Moreland blocked the kick though and the Dukes ran out the clock. At the risk of over-simplifying things, the first half was not fun to watch and the second half was a lot of fun to watch.<\/p>\n<p>JMU&#8217;s first half featured a whopping 296 yards of offense. Unfortunately, it also featured a overthrown pass to a wide open receiver in the end zone, a dropped pass that could have been six, a missed FG, and several untimely penalties. Despite moving up and down the field, the mistakes resulted in JMU only scoring 10 points. Lehigh&#8217;s offense was also moving, equaling the Dukes&#8217; 296 yards. Fewer mistakes for the Mountain Hawks enabled them to convert that production into 21 points and an 11 point halftime lead however.<\/p>\n<p>After an extended halftime break due to a lightning delay, JMU stormed back (pun intended). Pulling himself together after a\u00a0rough first half throwing the ball, Vad Lee looked more comfortable and passed much more effectively. The Dukes put together scoring drives of 66, 99, and 98 yards. With their backs against the wall, the offense delivered. And the defense played a quintessential bend but don&#8217;t break final two quarters. The Mountain Hawks moved the ball, but the Dukes managed to limit them to only 7 points in the second half. Jimmy Moreland saved the day with a huge blocked FG to prevent Lehigh from tying it and seal the Dukes&#8217; win. Below are a few quick thoughts on the game.<\/p>\n<p><strong>606, 322, 284<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Those numbers equate to JMU&#8217;s yards of total offense, rushing yards, and passing yards respectively. While the mistakes that limited the Dukes to only 10 points in the first half were frustrating, they&#8217;re also correctable. And it&#8217;s very encouraging that the offense was able to move the ball so well. Lee looked completely out of sorts in the first half, completing only 9 of 22 passes. He calmed down and managed to go 11 for 15 after the break. It would be nice to see him and Daniel Brown connect more, but his second half play was impressive. He took command of the offense and the Dukes scored in bunches. Good stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Rushing wise, the Dukes were overpowering. Khalid Abdullah got dinged up and didn&#8217;t play in the second half, but he cruised to 86 yards in limited action. Freshman John Miller carried the load in Abdullah&#8217;s absence and finished with 107 yards on 16 carries. JMU has a ton of talent at running back and an offensive line that was clearing huge holes all day against Lehigh. If yesterday&#8217;s effort is a sign of things to come, we could see some great running performances down the line.<\/p>\n<p><strong>98, 287<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s the average number of yards rushing JMU allowed per game last season, followed by the number of yards rushing the Dukes gave up yesterday. Credit to Lehigh QB Nick Shafnisky and his teammates who played very well, but JMU simply cannot expect to win if they let teams move the ball like Lehigh did. Lehigh had 504 yards of total offense. They ran the ball between the tackles and they ran around the edges. JMU really struggled playing contain and gave Lehigh a lot of space. Hopefully the D is just experiencing growing pains as it adjusts to the 3-4, but there is work to do. Lehigh is a pretty good team with a good QB. The CAA has some better than good QBs who will pick JMU apart if they don&#8217;t fix some of these issues though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>22<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s the number of months since JMU beat Maine in Orono for their last road win prior to yesterday&#8217;s victory in Bethlehem. That puts things in perspective. It&#8217;s only one game, and it doesn&#8217;t mean JMU is going to roll through the CAA, but it was a gutsy win. Obviously, there were plenty of mistakes early and we were as frustrated as anyone in the heat of the moment. The team hung in there and battled in the second half, outscoring Lehigh 21-7. While it would have been great to see JMU take control from the start, the team showed a lot of resolve turning things around. There are things that have to be fixed, and fixed quickly before CAA play starts. There is a whole lot of talent on JMU&#8217;s roster though. And the win was a nice step forward after a disappointing outing at Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D6946&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everett Withers got his first win as head coach of JMU yesterday. After finding themselves down 21-10 at the half, the Dukes stormed back to beat the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 31-28. Lehigh drove down the field and had a chance to tie it with a 27 yard field goal attempt with 51 seconds remaining. Freshman [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7955,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7955","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":0},"title":"JMU Welcomes Lehigh to Bridgeforth","date":"September 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For the second year in a row, JMU football will face off against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Last year the Dukes went on the road and narrowly escaped with a 31-28 come from behind win. We wouldn't argue with you if you said the Dukes stole the game. JMU went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"cardon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/55ebbd5d070cd.image_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6961,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6961","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: A House Divided","date":"September 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"First of all, I would like to preface this story by thanking Rob & Todd for giving me this opportunity to tell, what I believe, is a unique story about the game against Lehigh this past weekend. Also, I am a freshman at this fine institution of higher education, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/duke-dog-godman2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6928,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6928","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":2},"title":"Game Preview: JMU vs. Lehigh","date":"September 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After further consideration the New Era will start this week. At least we hope it will. Coming off a disappointing loss to Maryland, JMU travels 271 miles north to take on Lehigh from the Patriot League this Saturday. It's a chance to right the ship and get to .500 for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"527681ccc709a.image","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/527681ccc709a.image_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10006,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10006","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":3},"title":"JMUSB 2017 Playoff Preview #1: JMU vs. Stony Brook","date":"November 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here we go. The regular season is behind us and it's time for the real fun to begin. This is where the rubber meats the road. It's where the men are separated from the boys. Where legends are made. And we're running out of cliches and trite ways to describe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/59bf09b46b241.image_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11051,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11051","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":4},"title":"Dukes Fall To WVU 20-13","date":"September 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Good Adeeb Atariwa - Monster. WVU fans all around us were screaming about \"who the hell is 95 and why can't we block him?\" by halftime as he was on a one-man tour of destruction from a DT position where it's hard to even be noticed, much less look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WVU-JMU-Schedule-Graphic.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6921,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=6921","url_meta":{"origin":6946,"position":5},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs. Lehigh","date":"September 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the Dukes' loss to Maryland was disappointing. Terribly disappointing even. But JMU has a chance to get back on track with a road game at Lehigh Saturday. And we'd like to hear your prediction for the game. Let us know who you think will win and what the final\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"goodman-Stadium-5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/goodman-Stadium-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6946"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6954,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions\/6954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}