{"id":9124,"date":"2016-12-05T10:48:44","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T15:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9124"},"modified":"2016-12-05T10:48:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T15:48:44","slug":"dukes-roll-new-hampshire-sam-houston-st-on-espn2-friday-night-up-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9124","title":{"rendered":"Dukes Roll New Hampshire, Sam Houston St. on ESPN2 Friday Night Up Next"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Need to restock after that one!<\/p><\/div>\n

With Saturday recovery and holiday commitments, we’re a little later than usual with this wrap-up. And it’s been so long since we could really get into a playoff run that we forget how easy it is to only look forward (is it Friday yet?!), but we did want to to give you a few quick thoughts on the win over UNH Good\/Bad\/Ugly style.<\/p>\n

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

Over the hump – JMU won a playoff game! Repeat, JMU won a playoff game! That they did so in resounding fashion only makes it sweeter, but the key to making noise in the tourney is actually accessing the tourney, something the Dukes failed to do in the Withers era. We still think UNH may have been a better squad than LU ’14 or Colgate ’15, but the Dukes were ready to friggin’ roll this year.<\/p>\n

Gage Steel interception return – Favorite play of the game, maybe the season. He was being tackled by three guys in one spot and wasn’t brought down for another twenty eight yards. For some reason this play spoke volumes about where this team is now compared to the last four or five years.<\/p>\n

Refs Scolding the MRDs – This could have been in the Ugly for the refs, but honestly it sure seemed to be the launching pad for the team, the fans and the playoff run. The Dukes were a bit sluggish\/nervous to start the game. Two 3-and-outs from the Dukes, a UNH TD, and QB feeling his way into the game and back from injury had us feeling a bit nervy. But then suddenly the officials decided to tell the MRD’s to quiet down and the JMU Nation’s reaction was beautifully predictable. The entire stadium woke up, got pissed and got out of their seats. They were loud in a way that seemed we were all just beginning to remember what these games can be like from days gone by. Who knows if the team noticed, but it sure was fun from the stands. And remember this folks – here’s current SHSU Head Coach KC Keeler’s comments on the MRD’s from his days at Delaware:\u00a0“It’s a hostile environment, even the band will cuss at you. It’s classic, we’re warming up and that band is just cursing at us and my guys are looking like, \u2018This is the band,'” and I said, \u2018Yeah, just wait until you play the team.'” (thanks to saxkow for the tagline all these years!)<\/p>\n

Bryan Schor’s Health – Sure looked alright to us. He may have understandably been a bit nervous at the outset, but after taking a few falls and hits, he sure seemed to gain in confidence throughout the game. Needless to say, that throw to Ravenel off the scramble at the end of the half may have been the finest throw by a JMU QB since at least Mike Cawley. No disrespect to JMU legends like Rascati or Landers or Lee, but Schor is starting to look like from a pure passing standpoint, he may be the one.<\/p>\n

This Staff’s Decisions – First, the decision not to “just try to run their stuff” as in the last two years, but to dust off the deepest pages of the playbook with the halfback pass and fake punt show just how seriously this group takes this time of year. These are coaches who have been in the FCS playoffs and know you can’t leave anything on the sidelines in these games. Should be fun to watch what they come up with this week! Secondly, offensive tackle Mitchell Kirsch has been battling an injury for while now. He got the start, but just wasn’t moving well. After the first hit on Schor, the coaches quickly made the move to talented freshman Tyree Chavious and everything clicked again up front. We all know we’d rather have Kirsch back at full strength and we know he’s doing everything he can, but this is the kind of cool calculation we love to see from the staff.<\/p>\n

Davis hustle\u00a0– Rashard Davis was all over the place in this game. Catching passes, throwing a TD, causing havoc. But you know what impressed us most? The fact he was the gunner on punt coverage hustling down to be in DeAndrade’s face on the fumbled punt return that really blew the game open. Similar to all the Jimmy Moreland blocks downfield on all of JMU’s big returns this year, the difference on this team from any group since ’08 is that Coach Houston and company have kept all of the talented guys, even the ones who may not have the huge roll they dreamed of, still very much motivated to do the little things. This team is not only deep with talent, it’s deep with “want-to” and that may be just as important.<\/p>\n

Friday Night Lights! – It’s ESPN2 with no other college football up against it that night. The Friday night games in ’08 were special and we’ve got a feeling this will be too. Some people say it’s harder on Friday, but honestly, with holiday commitments and everything else, in some ways it’s actually easier for the NoVa and RVA folks to make a quick run Friday night from a family standpoint. \u00a0And yes, it’ll be cold, and awesome. But here’s what you do. Ski pants, layers, hand and foot warmers, flask. Which is more easily concealed in all those layers. It’s very likely this week’s BOTW will be whiskey.<\/p>\n

Andy Talley – Villanova lost in heartbreaking fashion up in some serious weather at South Dakota St. this weekend, falling 10-7 on a last-second field goal that bounced in off the uprights by none other than the nephew of Adam Vinatieri. But one last thank you and congrats to Villanova’s long-time coach for many years of heated rivalry in the A-10\/CAA. Not sure we’d say we’ll miss you on the field, but the sport always misses guys like you.<\/p>\n

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

Fan confusion on when to get loud – A lot of fans (and scoreboard operator telling them to) “getting loud” while JMU was on Offense this week. We love the energy the playoffs bring, but let’s tighten up our game.<\/p>\n

Close calls – They all went JMU’s way this week, or at least none of them went against us, and we need to be ready to overcome them should they not go so well later on. The near late-hit on the sidelines, the near hands-to-the-face on the QB, the weirdly second guy knocking the ball out of Alls hands on the TD. All were called correctly, but let’s not forget this is FCS, and these could go any way at any time. Be ready and overcome. For the record, those were SoCon officials and it was a huge improvement from the usual.<\/p>\n

Kirsch Health – Need him back. If he’s not back now, rest him and save him for later.<\/p>\n

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

My anger at Coach on the first 4th and Goal – I was apoplectic. I said horrible things like “this is pure late-era Mickey bullsh*t!” and generally forced everyone around me to listen to all the reasons we should have gone for it. Loudly, annoyingly, and inappropriately. Guess there’s a reason Coach Houston is the Coach of the Year and I’m a doofus in the stands, huh? Look, I still think every coach everywhere needs to go for it on 4th down about 100x more than they do, and I still think the Dukes should’ve punched it in or pinned UNH at the 1. But Coach knows his team. Surely he thought there were plenty of points to come. Probably he thought it would settle the team down, or at least not get them in panic-mode if they had failed to convert. Maybe he wants to keep building Tyler Gray’s confidence, something they’ll surely need as the Dukes move along. But in any case, he was right, I was wrong, and I apologize to Section 211.<\/p>\n

SHSU Fans – They had less than 5k at a HOME game Saturday and yet somehow this is the loudest, most obnoxious group of internet trolls in the country at this level. NDSU is loud, but they’ve earned it. We’d just love your help on Twitter this week if we get them riled up haha.<\/p>\n