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All 4 should be 2 deep, with 1-2 starting:

-4 star rSo who was Maryland's starting strong safety last season. He'll likely start.

-3 star rSo who was an RB at Maryland. He has been switched back to the position he was recruited at, corner, and is a possibility to start, as JMU lost 2 of the 3 rotating starting corners from last season.

-3 star Rivals/4 star Scout rSo QB/RB transfer from Vandy who should be Thorpe's backup, as the 2nd and 3rd team QB's from last season have left the team and JMU will have 3 true Fr QB signees on roster in Aug.

-3 star rSr DT transfer from VT in above article. Should be on JMU's 2 deep rotation. JMU lost one DT starter, 3rd Team All CAA Lamar Middleton, and a 2 deep rising rSo DT for unknown reasons. JMU returns one DT starter + one starter who went down for the season in game 2.

Well, here is what JMU is looking at:

Offense:
-8 of 11 starters (as per CAA Preview)
+ 2 starters from 10' who missed all of last season, an OL and 4 star WR transfer from UVGay.
+ 2 OL who got 5 starts last season

-rising rJr/rSr (depending on if he gets 6th yr) QB Thorpe is 10-1 in his last 11 I-AA games as a starter, including 7-0 CAA. Only loss was @ NC NDSU
-rising rJr TB Dae'Quan Scott rushed for over 1300 yards last season.
-rising rSr OG Earl Waford, 1st team All CAA last season, is a pre season AA and NFL prospect.
-rising rSr TE Brian Barlow, 2nd team All CAA last season at FB/HB, is an NFL prospect.

Defense
-6 of 12* starters (as per CAA preview)(3 CBs rotated, according to participation stats 13 games started 11, 8, and 7 games respectively)
+ starting LB from 08'-09' who missed most of the last 2 season.
+ 4 star transfer who was MD's starting safety last yr as an rFr.
+ starting DT who went down for the season in game 2
+ DE who has 8 starts and LB who has 7 going back over the last 2-3 seasons (all according to participation stats)

-rising rJr MLB Stephon Robertson was 10' CAA rookie defensive POTY and 1st team All CAA last season
-rising rSo FS Dean Marlow was last season's CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In sum that's 18 players with at least a full season of starting experience + 4 more with 4-8 games.
Good possibility JMU won't be starting a single true or redshirt freshman. If that is the case would be the 1st time that I can ever remember that happening.

The schedule sets up pretty favorably.

9/1 St. Francis- blowout win
9/8 Alcorn State- blowout win
9/15 West Virginia (@ Fed EX)- blowout loss
9/22 @ Rhode Island- easy win
9/29 Bye
10/6 Towson (NBC Sports)- won't really know if JMU is an NC contender or not till at least this game
10/13 William and Mary (Parents')
10/20 @ Richmond
10/27 Georgia State (HC)
11/3 @ Maine
11/10 @ Villanova
11/17 Old Dominion (NBC Sports)

Of what will be the top 2 pre season CAA teams in Towson and ODU, JMU gets both at home on national TV. Towson will be @ JMU on 10/6 in their 2nd straight road game the week after @ LSU in Death Valley. JMU will be coming off a bye week.

The 2 CAA teams JMU doesn't play are UD and UNH, who might be the CAA pre season #4 and #5 teams.

I predicted last yr 9-2/7-1 regular season. Well, JMU was a bong hit away from 9-2 regular season last season.

I'm predicting the same this season.

fcsfan1987 wrote:Wow. I know you guys were a hell of a team last season. You should be even better this year except maybe on D. Didn't you guys have quite a few injuries/suspensions last year? Also I thought your stadium seats 25k. This site has it listed at 16k. Are the pics on this site current? - it doesn't look "ridiculous" as my friends have described it.

Yeah, JMU had a lot:
-Last spring (2011) 2010 starting WR and OL has surgeries & missed all of last season.
-Late Aug starting LB got injured, missed whole season.
-Thorpe was suspended 5 games for a 2nd career school imposed postive drug test for pot. Other one who was suspended was a backup LB.
-Lost both starting DTs for season in games 2 and 6.
-Lost both starting OTs for season in game 8 vs ODU.
So started the season minus 3 would be starters. By game 9 were down 8 starters (7 for season + Thorpe's suspension). Actually 2010 was even worse.

A bunch of guys had offseason surgeries late winter. Not sure if all will be back come Aug. JMU is certainly due some good fortune in that area.

The stadium seats at least 25k:

Defensively, my perception of JMU is: Strong against the run but weak against the pass. But they may have just gotten much better against the pass.

Offensively, I love Scott. Thorpe bores me. Nice big TE. It will come down to line play.

JMU won't likely outscore opponents in shootouts. But they will out defend most of them.