JMU @ Villanova Game Thread

[BDKJMU]

Well, there's only about a 1/2 doz JMU fans regularly on here, and only 1-2 Nova fans, but I figured I'd start a thread anyway.

JMU #7 Total Offense in the CAA (313 yards per game) vs Nova #3 Total Defense (279 yards per game).
-JMU #4 rushing offense CAA (179 yards per game) vs Nova #1 rushing defense (84 yards per game)
-JMU #10/dead last passing offense CAA (134 yards per game) vs Nova #7 Pass defense (196 yards per game).

Well known that JMU’s offense isn’t playing well right now. Pre season lost the right side of the o line- 2 seniors, including one (returning starter), one to academics, and one to a broekn ankle. 2 redshirt freshman that have replaced them have struggled some. Doesn’t help that in the lackluster win over Towson 2 weeks ago JMU lost starting tightend for 3-4 weeks and starting TB Sullivan to injury. Sullivan was dressed last week against UNH but didn’t play. 2 other tailbacks in JMU's 3 headed tailback rotation. Griff Yancey came back last week against UNH after missing a couple of games with a hamstring injury, was limited. Brandon Noble was pretty good in the running game against a decent UNH defense, going 19 carries for 100 yards, and had 2 receptions for 55 yards. Sullivan isn't the receiver out of the backfield that the other 2 are, but is better between the tackles, and more importantly, he's a better blocker. At Monday's press conferences Mickey mentioned a # of problems with the offense, and one of them was about the tailback against UNH failing to pick up blitzing LBs on pass plays. Villanova runs that blitzing 3-3-5 defense where the tailback often has to pick up a blitzing linebacker. That’s why it is key for JMU to have Sullivan playing against Nova. Outside of quick passes, I don't see Dudzik with having time to throw most of the time, and I don't see JMU having consistent success running or passing the ball.

[BDKJMU]

Nova #2 Total Offense in CAA (396 yds per game) vs JMU #2 Total Defense (266 yards per game). Lost 3 more defensive starters to injury against UNH that reportedly won't play vs Nova (Pre season All CAA Ronnell Brown at DT, Sean O'Neil at DE, and Leavander Jones at CB), going up against a Nova offense that is #1 in scoring in the CAA and without Szczur just put up 559 yards of offense and 48 points last week at Maine.

-Nova #3 rush offense (192 yards per game) in the CAA vs JMU #3 rush defense (118 yards per game). Yeah, Nova doesn't have a healthy Szczur, who according to Nova HC Andy Talley is recovering from 2 high ankle sprains and has missed close to 3 games (Szczur dressed but didn't play last week vs Maine and again will be a game time decision vs JMU), but Babaro (#6 in the CAA in Total yards) has been playing very well in place of him. JMU is now minus 3 of their 4 starting DLs, including their 2 DT studs. As evidenced by the 2nd half against UNH, when Brown went down, JMU wasn't as good against the run between the tackles. Even if there wasn't much drop off with the other 2 DTs, they've pretty much got to play the whole game. Where I think Nova's rush offense will likely have their offensive success on the ground against JMU is running between the tackles, especially behind All World Ijalana. Nobody has had much success running wide against JMU. Now Nova could if they start gashing JMU up the middle, and then JMU compensates by packing it in more in the middle.

-Nova #4 pass offense in the CAA (204 yards a game) vs JMU #1 Pass defense (148 yards per game). Also with those 3 starting DLs out JMU not getting as good of a pass rush. Add to the fact that one of Leavander Jones at CB also went down to injury vs UNH and reportedly won’t play vs Nova, JMU’s pass defense won’t be as good against the pass. Also Nova having success in the run game could open up more success in the passing game.

http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/8500/St ... EM_ID=8500" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JMU hasn’t given up a play longer than 36 yards all season, and only 2 longer than 30, but in the last 2 times have played Nova, in the 08’ quarterfinals and last yr, have been burned by Szczur on big plays. With Szczur either not playing or not 100%, hopefully JMU won't give up the big play. That will be one key to the game, whether or not Nova can get any big plays on the wounded JMU defense.

[BDKJMU]

From the Harrisonburg Daily News Record (subscription only, so won’t paste the whole articles):

"Lots Of Reasons For Poor Offense"

"......In the past four games, the Dukes have been held without a second-half touchdown, managing just a pair of field goals after halftime in those contests.

"We're struggling on offense, period," Matthews said. "Maybe it becomes more apparent in the second half. We're not really changing anything. They're not changing anything. We're just not moving the ball in the second half. It's a heck of a problem."

New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said he didn't detect any dramatic changes from JMU's offense or make any drastic adjustments on defense Saturday.

"I didn't notice anything with their play-calling as much as I thought we did a much better job of keeping the ball inside us and in front of us," McDonnell said Monday. "I thought we tackled better and just got to the ball better."

In 2009, JMU's problems moving the football centered around the quarterback position, where then-freshman Justin Thorpe struggled after taking over the job full-time when Drew Dudzik was injured.

Monday, Matthews said there is no one central reason for the offensive woes this season, noting dropped passes against Towson and poor offensive line play against UNH hurt the team.

JMU also dealt with excessive penalties and inconsistent play from Dudzik and its tailbacks in earlier games.

The right side of the offensive line is being manned by two previously untested rookies because the Dukes lost would-be starters Brandon Monroe and Jerald Brown in the preseason. In their place, redshirt freshmen Scott Jones and Matt Krout are playing guard and tackle.

"One week, during the game you're really proud of them," Matthew said. "Those two guys are playing a good game. There are some games where you need to take them out of the game. I can't do it because I don't have anyone else. Those guys should be backups this year behind Jerald and Brandon."

Tailback Jamal Sullivan has dealt with injuries. His replacement, Scott Noble, has run the ball well but has been ineffective as a pass-blocker, Matthews said.

And Thorpe, who JMU planned to use as a change-of-pace in its Wildcat package, was injured in the first half of the season-opening win over Morehead State and is expected to miss the entire season.

Matthews defended the play-calling of offensive coordinator Jeff Durden.

"There's always plays you wished you had back, wish you had called a certain play," Matthews said. "That really hasn't been a concern of mine. I haven't even thought twice about it."

The Dukes did switch to running the majority of their plays out of the Pistol formation - with the tailback aligning directly behind the quarterback to avoid tipping the defense as to which direction the play would be run - for the Sept. 11 upset of Virginia Tech. Dudzik scored a pair of second-half touchdowns, running untouched to the end zone out of the formation.

"We had some plays in critical situations that helped us at Tech," Matthews said. "And I think it took Tech by surprise, that particular scheme of things. That being said, we only had 235 yards against them. It's not like we ran over Virginia Tech. Let's be honest about it."

This week's opponent, Villanova, isn't expecting Matthews to take the throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water approach Saturday.

"I think any time you have an insertion of something new it takes a while for a group to get used to doing it," VU coach Andy Talley said. "The question mark is, do you have the guts to stick with it or change things in the middle of the season? Mickey is a big-time, seasoned coach. He knows what he's doing down there. They're not going to jump ship and go into anything else. It's something they believe in and feel they have the personnel for, and as time goes on, they'll make it work the way they want."

McDonnell said he went into New Hampshire's game against JMU fearing that weekend would be the one where things clicked for the Dukes.

"I was nervous that they were ready to explode, to be honest with you," McDonnell said.

Instead, in the second half, they imploded.

Matthews said the move to the Pistol didn't change any of Dudzik's reads on the option, noting that after practicing the offense all spring and preseason, JMU moved back to the old alignment for the Morehead game so as not to tip its hand before playing Tech.

Do the Dukes have any other tricks up their sleeves? It'll be hard to know before Saturday.

Matthews closed practice to the media this week, a measure he's only resorted to once before in the last eight years. The 12th-year coach said the main reason was that he didn't want media members using Twitter to disseminate information about injuries and strategy going into Saturday's game at Villanova.

It's possible Matthews is aiming to hide an injury or personnel change.

JMU also ran its Wildcat package - dubbed Eagle - once against UNH with Kavon Seaton at quarterback. The Dukes could experiment with wide receivers Dae'Quan Scott and/or Quintin Hunter - both high school quarterbacks - in that series of plays.

Or, Matthews could just be limiting distractions going into a tough game at the defending I-AA national champions.

NOTE: Matthews said JMU will be without defensive linemen Ronnell Brown (ankle), Nick Emmons (ankle) and Sean O'Neil (hamstring) and cornerback Leavander Jones (knee) this week."
http://www.dnronline.com/details.php?AI ... ccessfully" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[BDKJMU]

More Daily News Record: "Who's to Blame?" bottom half of article:

"......"Someone called and asked me, ‘Would I think about replacing Drew?'" Matthews said. "I think about replacing me. Probably the only person I haven't thought about replacing is my wife. I think when you're not going good, you want to pin the blame."

But Matthews said Dudzik - who has completed just 52 percent of his passes (53-for-102) for 803 yards and five touchdowns with six interceptions - isn't the primary cause of the Dukes' offensive ineptitude.

"Our protection was horrible Saturday," Matthews said. "He was under fire so much Saturday, it was hard to play quarterback. If I thought we needed to make a change at quarterback, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I think he needs to play better, but he needs some other guys around him to help."

Matthews said he was frustrated with Dudzik's performance during Saturday's loss, but after reviewing the game tape, realized just how often Dudzik's offensive teammates let him down, whether it was the offensive line allowing him to be rushed, tailback Scott Noble missing blocks on blitzing defenders or wide receivers running bad or wrong routes.

"It's much like last year when all y'all wanted me to play Drew all the time," Matthews said. "When I would review the tape on Sundays - and I was being hung in effigy because I wouldn't play Drew every snap - I didn't see that on tape."

Last year, Dudzik was 28-for-50 for 472 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions before his season ended in the fifth game, a home loss to Richmond. In the spring, Dudzik quickly won the starting position from Thorpe, and in the preseason, Matthews dubbed him a Division I-AA All-America candidate.

That talk was bolstered when Dudzik ran for a pair of touchdowns and led the Dukes to a gritty upset of Virginia Tech on Sept. 11.

But since then, Dudzik and the offense have been unimpressive."

[BDKJMU]

http://www.whsv.com/jmufootball/headlin ... 18863.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Game Day Central:
http://www.jmusports.com/ViewArticle.db ... =205016364" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Games notes are at the very bottom:
http://www.jmusports.com//pdf8/718292.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mcveyrl]

Well, I'll be the first to comment post-game.

This is JMU's mantra "Same Shit, Different Week."

I only watched the second half, and it wasn't too bad. Obviously that was our better half (for once). The biggest difference in the game was the big play at the end of the half (54 yard TD) and, once again, penalties. And it wasn't necessarily the amount of penalties, but the timing and stupidity of them. In the second half we had: a holding penalty muck up a good drive that started from the 1, a kick catch interference penalty after the guy clearly called for a fair catch (this one let 'Nova start in our half in the 4th with a 7 point lead), and an ineligible down field that negated a pass that took us to Nova's 35 with about a minute to play.

Maybe even without these penalties we lose, I'll acknowledge that, but they sure do make it tougher on the whole team.

We did get lucky with a, IMO, stupid decision by Talley to go for it on 4th and 1 at the goal which ended up being a turnover. A FG there ices it. And 'Nova's kicker turned into shankapotamus in the 4th quarter with a missed chip shot. Either of those things go the other way and the penalties don't matter nearly as much. They're still frustrating.

From what I saw, 'Nova ran all over us and the counter/cutback plays were KILLING us. We were overpursuing big time and they saw that and made adjustments.

The big question is: are they all "do or dies" from this point forward?

[BDKJMU]

Looking at the score looks like a defensive struggle, but it really wasn't. 368 yards of offense (Nova missing Szczur vs a JMU defense missing 5 starters) to 300 would normally be a score along the lines of 24-17 or 21-14.

That’s why it is key for JMU to have Sullivan playing against Nova. Outside of quick passes, I don't see Dudzik with having time to throw most of the time, and I don't see JMU having consistent success running or passing the ball.

JMU net rushing (including 4 sacks for negative 16): 87 yds. Lowest rushing output of the season, previous low was 114 vs VT. JMU hasn't rushed for under 100 yds in years I don't think, maybe since 03'.

JMU passing: 22 of 33 for 213, 0 TD, 1 INT (on the hail mary pass on the last play) JMU threw the ball 33 times, and with the 4 sacks and handful of times Dudzik took off, were over 40 called passing plays Heck, it may have been since 03', 02', even 01' since that's happened.

JMU hasn’t given up a play longer than 36 yards all season, and only 2 longer than 30, but in the last 2 times have played Nova, in the 08’ quarterfinals and last yr, have been burned by Szczur on big plays. With Szczur either not playing or not 100%, hopefully JMU won't give up the big play. That will be one key to the game, whether or not Nova can get any big plays on the wounded JMU defense.

54 yard TD pass for Nova. Starting CB Leavander Jones goes down vs UNH. Replacement Mike Allen broken ankle 1st qtr vs Nova. His replacement Daniel Allen (no relation) gets burned. Another f*****g injury.

I wrote somewhere for JMU to win this would have to get a non offensive TD and go +2 on turnovers. Only turnover of the game was Whitney fumble on 4th and 1 from the JMU 2 late in the 4th qtr, but he was already stuffed and fumbled the ball trying to extend it across the 1st down line.

http://www.jmusports.com/fls/14400/stat ... u-1023.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh well, congrats to Nova.