{"id":9626,"date":"2017-09-08T08:29:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T12:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9626"},"modified":"2017-09-08T08:29:07","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T12:29:07","slug":"jmusb-game-preview-2-east-tennessee-state-at-jmu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9626","title":{"rendered":"JMUSB Game Preview #2 – East Tennessee State at JMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After last week’s successful business trip to ECU to take out the Pirates, the Dukes open the home slate against the Buccaneers in grand fashion this weekend with what’s looking like spectacular Valley weather and of course the big highlight, raising that banner!<\/p>\n

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

ETSU (1-0) at JMU (1-0), 6:00 p.m., Bridgeforth Stadium, The ‘Burg<\/p>\n

TV: CSN+ and Madizone (out of market)! Seriously this is great news after the ESPN3 debacle last week. Also, JMU announced the full slate of television games for this season at last, and boy do we owe them a mea culpa. Though some people will always find a way to complain, using a combination of MASN and CSN is pretty sweet for most folks in the JMU market and is outstanding nationally for watch parties where almost all the games should be available at bars with DirecTV.<\/p>\n

Weather: 68 degrees, mostly sunny. Temps dropping to 47 overnight so be prepared for fall in the Valley.<\/p>\n

How ETSU can win?<\/strong><\/p>\n

They probably can’t. JMU beat ECU. ETSU’s win was over something called Limestone. While Limestone might be better than JMU’s next opponent, Norfolk St., it’s pretty clear a 31-10 victory over the Fightin’ Saints in the big game to open ETSU’s new stadium was not an indicator they’re ready for BFS on a Saturday night. That said, we’d encourage you to think back to the Dukes game at UNC-Charlotte a couple of years ago. Another brand new program making it’s way to respectability scared JMU a whole lot more than they should’ve and ETSU is a new SoCon member now, which is certainly a solid level of play even if they struggle.<\/p>\n

How JMU can win?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like last week, do what they do and don’t believe the hype. Just buy into Coach Houston’s “they’re such a tough team” thing and execute.<\/p>\n

Really, if you want in-depth analysis, you should check out JMU Sports’ great new “What They’re Saying<\/a>” Roundup of coverage. Great work on this one JMU!<\/p>\n

What We Know About ETSU<\/strong><\/p>\n

ETSU is located in Johnson City, Tennessee. When I was a kid I went nuts for a tiny basketball player in March Madness named Keith “Mister” Jennings who led the Bucs. Most famously, despite the fact he goes on College Gameday every year in the hat of some bandwagon bigger team, Kenny Chesney has to be ETSU’s most famous attendee (unclear if he’s actually an alum). Kenny was a frat guy and in the ETSU bluegrass program, because of course he was.<\/p>\n

A Note on a CAA Rival<\/strong><\/p>\n

During football season, and actually during any season, we often forget that The College of Charleston is really a CAA member. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about them this week. With Hurricane Irma threatening, JMU Men’s Golf had their trip to the Holy City cancelled this weekend and we should all be thinking about the Cougars this Saturday instead of getting angry at some on-field mishap.<\/p>\n

The REAL Big Game In The Burg This Weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n

So as of the writing, Field Hockey is 4-0 and ranked 15th in the country. Tonight they host St. Joe’s, and if they can resist the temptation to overlook this potential trap game, they will head into Sunday for a 1 p.m. game that is by far the biggest game in JMU Athletics so far this fall. The Dukes host the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils at the JMU Field Hockey Complex (ISAT). It’ll also be on Madizone if you feel like second-screening it during the first NFL Sunday.<\/p>\n

Shameless Plug: Did we tell you we’re doing a podcast now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check it out on the Bumpers app or search for it and subscribe in Apple Podcasts at “JMUSB”<\/p>\n

And Did We Tell You We’re Back in The Breeze<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 years after our last byline, we’re back doing a weekly roundtable<\/a> with everyone’s favorite media source this year. Feel free to submit Darts telling us to STFU anytime.<\/p>\n

Beer of the Week<\/strong><\/p>\n

Go to the patio of the amazing Pale Fire Brewing downtown. Get a Deadly Rhythm Pale Ale. Be happy and root. This beer is great, and for the record much maltier than our usual selections. And the fact that many things at Pale Fire are named after Guy Clark lyrics alone means this won’t be our last choice from them this season.<\/p>\n

Official JMUSB Prediction<\/strong><\/p>\n

JMU 41, ETSU 17<\/p>\n