{"id":7148,"date":"2014-10-11T18:37:17","date_gmt":"2014-10-11T22:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7148"},"modified":"2014-10-11T18:37:17","modified_gmt":"2014-10-11T22:37:17","slug":"dukes-dominate-towson-62-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7148","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Dominate Towson 62-7"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Making<\/a>

Making progress<\/p><\/div>\n

Hoo boy, what a day! For the first time in what feels like forever, the Dukes truly dominated a CAA opponent and gave us all a fun, easy-going afternoon to send us into the bye week and then the meat of the schedule with a 62-7 thrashing of Towson. As strange as it is to say, it really wasn’t even that close as the offense and special teams did leave quite a few points on the field, especially in the first half.<\/p>\n

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

Look, the Dukes won 62-7, so while we do have items for The Bad and The Ugly, it’s safe to say we’re picking nits and most all of this game could be listed here. But a few things really stood out in a great way today. First, Brandon Lee and Sage Harold pretty much could’ve won this thing by themselves. Their pass rush wreaked the kind of destruction we haven’t seen since DJ Bryant. They had the sacks, pressures, and forced fumbles that blew the lid off the game and allowed their buddies Rhakeem Stallings (directly) and Jimmy Moreland (indirectly) to be gifted a couple easy TD’s. Seriously, when offense was throwing away chances in the first half and a game that felt like JMU was controlling seemed stuck at 13-0, these guys just took things into their own hands, creating the next two TD’s and sending this to the half at 27-0.<\/p>\n

Jimmy ‘Effin Moreland – Seriously, we might have to rename The Good section of our gamers “The Jimmy Moreland.” What did he do today? Oh, just block another field goal early and then jump a route for a pick six. And both of those came when the game was, briefly, still a contest. If he can avoid injury and all types of Nationing, his ceiling seems as high as any Duke ever to play in Bridgeforth.<\/p>\n

Vad Lee – He continues to develop in the offense and put our worst fears to rest. His running is surer and you can almost see him thinking through the passing game as his understanding grows. There are times he escapes the pocket and appears to have running room but keeps his eyes downfield for the better play. It can look frustrating against an overmatched opponent like Towson, but that kind of work could very well pay off later in the season when that space doesn’t exist against UR and W&M.<\/p>\n

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

Still missing a ton of tackles on D. JMU’s defensive gameplan looked rock solid today and guys were almost always in the right place to make a big play, but the missed\/slipped tackles are still keeping opponent’s drives alive and costing the Dukes. Only Marlowe is reliable in that regard right now, though it should be noted we liked what we saw from a healthier Gage Steele and Jeremiah Wilson off the bench on the tackling front.<\/p>\n

In a closer game, we probably would’ve put the kicking game in The Ugly, but the answers just may not be on the roster. After hitting the game-winner late against Albany last week, new PK Ryan Maglio missed the first extra point and a short field goal later (he also missed a 50 yarder but that’s on the coaches, not him, for even attempting it). We’re definitely in favor of sticking with Maglio right now, but this remains a scary element of this year’s team.<\/p>\n

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

Targeting – For the second week in row, S Dean Marlowe was ejected after receiving a Targeting penalty. And this one was horseshit. He didn’t even come close to the falling receiver’s helmet when he hit him in the side. And of course the worst part is since it happened in the second half, he now has to sit out the first half of the Dukes’ next game at Charlotte. We don’t know if the CAA has the power to review these calls after the game to prevent the suspension, but given this in out-of-conference game against the 49ers, we’re not hopeful (though better against Charlotte than W&M). This penalty is a debacle right now at all levels of football, but at the FCS and lower levels where there is no replay of the calls, the ejection\/suspension is entirely too steep a penalty for questionable calls. Remember at the FBS level, the refs can review the play immediately (the call always stands as a personal foul, but the ejection – and subsequent suspension – can be reversed).<\/p>\n

Towson – Dang it was nice to have the Towson St. we all knew and loved all those years at the bottom of the conference back. Really hard to believe the Tigers were in Frisco just this past January. Losing Terrence West is obviously huge, but what a dropoff. Make no mistake, JMU played well today and took their chances well, but this Towson team is terrible.<\/p>\n

Up Next<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Dukes have a bye this week before traveling to Charlotte for their last out-of-conference (and boy does it feel waaaay out of conference these days) of the year in two weeks. Hopefully they can keep up the positive performances of these last two games. And hopefully we’ll have a large road-game turnout from one of JMU’s most overlooked alumni strongholds. Go Dukes!<\/p>\n