CAA Preseason Poll

[JMUpurplehazed]

Let's see here, JMU beat ACC Champ VT, beat #1 W&M running one play the entire game, lost to "super power" Deleware by a late FG in the last minute(s) if I remember correctly...all with what has been called a weak O-line two of which were freshmen...we now have two bigger/stronger soph O-Linemen with other holes patched and we insert a former offensive CAA rookie of the year at qb or a kid that broke many MD high school passing records (I think but not going to bet my life) that was offered by KSate...

I think we will be fine and a preseason prediction at number two in the CAA is not a crazy notion...see you guys soon.

[AZGrizFan]

Let's see here, JMU beat ACC Champ VT, beat #1 W&M running one play the entire game, lost to "super power" Deleware by a late FG in the last minute(s) if I remember correctly...all with what has been called a weak O-line two of which were freshmen...we now have two bigger/stronger soph O-Linemen with other holes patched and we insert a former offensive CAA rookie of the year at qb or a kid that broke many MD high school passing records (I think but not going to bet my life) that was offered by KSate...

I think we will be fine and a preseason prediction at number two in the CAA is not a crazy notion...see you guys soon.

I hope you're right. The CAA needs a strong JMU.

[Purple Reign]

I think the Dukes success will depend on two things. Can Coach Matthews stay calm enough on the sidelines to call the plays and can a talented offensive line stay healthy. Matthews has ounce again under recruited the offensive line in terms of quantity , not quality.JMU roster lists eight players as off linemen. Compare that with 16 ol at W&M, 12 ol at Richmond, 14 ol at ODU and 14 listed at Montana.But , We have AJ Scott, a transfer from Marshall who was projected to start. He will take Theo Sherman`s spot. Add Watford and Babinton, the left side of the line is awesome.
I managed to watch seven or eight spring practices. Early on,(with Thorpe being held out) Jace Edwards looked really good at QB. Billy Cosh just kept getting better as he got more comfortable with the recievers and the plays.Andre Coble, boy is he gonna be fun to watch !!! WOW
Then about halfway through spring practice, enter Justin Thorpe at QB and move Coble to reciever.Thorpe looked great. I saw no effects from his knee injury.And make no mistake about it, Justin Thorpe is the leader of this team. I think to compare him with Landers is not fair. Landers got to learn from Justin Rascoti for two years and started his JUNIOR year. Thorpe was thrown in as a rFR. CAA rookie off the year !!! I think Thrope will be the starter and Cosh will get some playing time also. He has a great arm.He made some unbelievable throws this spring.
I would like to see an offensive package with Cosh at QB , with Thorpe, Dae Quan Scott, Dejor Simmons (track champion),Coble and Kerby Long. That is speed that is unmatched in the CAA.
Go DUKES !!!!!

[93henfan]

Fuck Virginia.

[clenz]

Well we went 1-10 last year, last place is a no brainer. We've got a lot to prove this year.

The first place vote for URI is a ripper.

How about the same bet I made with you last year is in effect this year again?

[andy7171]

Well we went 1-10 last year, last place is a no brainer. We've got a lot to prove this year.

The first place vote for URI is a ripper.

How about the same bet I made with you last year is in effect this year again?

It's on like Donkey Kong!

[BDKJMU]

JMU at #2 is respectable. The media polls had JMU shut out of the top 25 ... AGS and CS polls caught on and stuck JMU in the mid-teens. Then Phil Steele and CAA coaches come out and have JMU as a top 10 team. I'm sorry, but I'll trust the experts over media who vote based on reputation, last year's record, etc. AGS and CS polls are a nice mix of reputation, knowledge and "show me first" mentality

I think JMU/UD are 2a and 2b, but I think the CAA title will come down to the last week with WM. I don't have any problem with this poll ... JMU fans have been clamoring for more respect all off-season. OL holes are filled in and last year's freshmen are a year older ... and the assumption is whoever wins QB (Thorpe/Cosh) are much higher regarded than Dudzik. Also, JMU's defense may be far and away the best in FCS. THey don't have one stud NFL prospect like they have in the past (Moats, Jordan) ... but this team is arguably all-conference at every position. Don't undersell this defense ... they single-handedly kept JMU in every game last year when the offense was scoring about 10 points per game and taking up NO time of posession.

Defense in 2010 (14.7 ppg)
Morehead (7), Virginia Tech (16), Liberty (3), Delaware (13), Towson (13), UNH (28), Nova (14), Umass (21), UR (13), WM (24), Maine (10)

For an offense that averaged 17.7 ppg (actually 14.7 ppg if you take away the 48 against Morehead) ... that's incredibly impressive ... considering the positions the offense put them in ...

Defense gave up 21 vs UNH.

[BDKJMU]

Here's the thing...Dudzik was so bad last year, that JMU's QB simply must be "good" for us to see an improvement. Don't read into that that everyone's overvaluing Thorpe (or Cosh), rather, recognizing how much a bad QB held us back last year.

UD fans...think Schoenhoft.

Which had as much if not more to do with the o-line than Dudzik. If don't lose those 2 senior starting OL in Aug and replace them with 2 redshirt freshmen, would have won a couple more games (two 3 point and two 7 point losses), made the playoffs (probably a bye, even though would likely have lost 1st game or qtr finals), and everyone would have been saying that Dudzik was mediocre or decent.

[BDKJMU]

Ah, GF, at least JMU fans on here have the decency to fairly discuss UD issues when they arise ... I've never seen you say anything positive about JMU ... so your opinion on the matter should be completely irrelevent.

I think you forgot to add "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" to that argument.

Dudzik played pretty well his jr year before getting hurt. There was a sense that after splitting time with Thorpe before getting hurt that the team could use the veteran leadership (Senior v. SOph) last year. Of course, Dudzik beat out Thorpe in the pre-season and led JMU to a big 2-0 start. Thorpe got hurt in the first half of the first game of the season. Therefore, Dudzik beat out Thorpe on perception ... but Thorpe would undoubtedly have been starting by week 4/5 had he not been hurt. It isn't like Dudzik was crapping the bed all season and Thorpe wasn't good enough to unseat him ... Thorpe was out of commission.

Sure, Thorpe could've been starting by week 4 or 5 last year, but there's nothing to say that he would've been any better than Dudzik. The OL was bad regardless who the QB was, and there's no indication that the OL will be any better this year after having to replace Sherman with someone and still relying on two pretty young OL who weren't terribly good last year. I'd have more faith in JMU being improved this year if Cosh actually did beat out Thorpe - Thorpe didn't show much of an arm at all when he played as a freshman (granted, he won't be called upon to throw much anyway) and he isn't much of a different runner than Dudzik was. And with the OL in front of him, it may not look any different than Dudzik did last year. Like I said, Cosh winning the job would at least indicate to me something better than Dudzik is in the works. But to think that Thorpe is going to be the next Landers after losing the starting job to Dudzik just one year ago is a pretty big leap of faith IMO.

Baloney. As has been stated before, JMU returns 4 starers on the OL- those 2 redshirt freshmen from last yr's right side of the line are now redshirt sophs and hugely improved, a 3rd who was a 1st yr starter last yr as a rSo and now will be a more experienced rJr, an all American candidate & 3rd yr starter at center, and the 5th spot (to replace 2nd team All CAA Theo Sherman) will likely be taken over by Marshall transfer AJ Scott, who according to the O-line coach at Marshall, would have started at OG for them. The JMU OL will be better at 4 positions, and might not be much drop off at a 5th. Anyone who has that much familiarity with JMU football knows the OL will be better provided 2 starters aren't lost early like last yr.

[BDKJMU]

http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.db ... EM_ID=8500

1- W&M
2- JMU
3- UD
4- UNH
5- UMass
6- UR
7- VU
8- URI
9- Maine
10- ODU
11- Bye
12- TU

JMU 2nd? OK - substitute Thorpe for Dudzik and now they have an offense?? What am I missing?

Most Under-rated: URI
Most Over-rated: JMU

Pre season conference polls aren't as worthless as national polls as you're dealing with a far smaller # of teams, the teams play each other every year, and the coaches picking them do have familiarity with all the teams (Unlike the national pre season polls when there a 120+ teams, a lot of the people voting are clueless about the teams outside of their respective conference, and they all don't play each other every year). That being said, even the pre season conference polls are SEMI worthless, because they never pan out like predicted. With # of starters returning according to the 2011 CAA Yearbook (some teams on one side of the ball starters returning + starters lost = 12)

1- W&M: 14 (7 offense, 7 of 12 defense), lose Callahan, return Paulus at QB.
2- JMU: 18 (8 offense, 10 of 12 defense), Thorpe 09' CAA rookie of the year at QB, will have best defense CAA.
3- UD: 10 (7 offense, 3 defense), lose Devlin, new starting QB, return 4 starters OL- will have best OL in CAA.
4- UNH: 10 (5 offense, 5 defense), lose Toman at QB, Decker some experience, 2 AAs/Buchanon candidates on de.
5- UMass: 16 (7 offense, 9 defense), new starting QB, AA & Buchanon candidate at LB.
6- UR: 13 (8 offense, 5 defense), Corp back at QB, lost the 3 AAs & NFL prospects on defense.
7- VU: 10 (5 offense, 5 defense), new starting QB, most that they lost were All CAA, including a few AAs, + Szcur.
8- URI: 16 (10 of 12 offense, 6 defense), return Probst at QB.
9- Maine: : 16 (8 of 12 offense, 8 defense), return Smith at QB.
10- ODU : 22 (11 of 12 offense, 11 of 12 defense)
11- TU: 16 (8 of 12 offense, 7 defense)
http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.db ... EM_ID=8500" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dukie95]

JMU had halftime leads in 8 games last year.
JMU had 4th quarter leads in 9 games last year.

Even just more sustained drives (not even scores) late in some games would have helped last year. We had a great defense, but the offense's inability to stay on the field came back to haunt us time and again.

[GannonFan]

Baloney. As has been stated before, JMU returns 4 starers on the OL- those 2 redshirt freshmen from last yr's right side of the line are now redshirt sophs and hugely improved,

hugely improved based on what? Could they and should they be better? Probably, but it's not automatic, especially since it's just one year. OL really come into their own about 3 years in (when they're juniors) - right now being hugely improved is just wishful thinking.

a 3rd who was a 1st yr starter last yr as a rSo and now will be a more experienced rJr, an all American & 3rd yr starter at center, and the 5th spot (to replace 2nd team All CAA Theo Sherman) will likely be taken over by Marshall transfer AJ Scott, who according to the O-line coach at Marshall, would have started at OG for them. The JMU OL will be better at 4 positions, and might not be much drop off at a 5th. Anyone who has that much familiarity with JMU football knows the OL will be better.

Again, has Scott even practiced with JMU yet? The other poster in another thread thought he hadn't even enrolled yet so he missed Spring practice. OL is an area that needs a lot of reps together to be really good. And as JMU's offense relies almost entirely on the cohesion and quality of the OL, that's even more important. Assuming this guy can step in, with little practice time with the other 4 guys, and be almost as good, if not as good, as a 4 year starter that Sherman was is again wishful thinking. Wishes do come to pass sometimes, but they aren't sure things.

[TribeFanInNC]

JMU's new stadium has to be worth at least 2-3 extra wins.

How so? Has JMU lost 25 home games over the last 10 years? I suspect their total is significantly lower than that. Unless you figure the stadium will draw a better caliber athlete (thus impacting their chances of winning on the road), I just don't see how it can help them that much over a five game home schedule each year.

[GannonFan]

JMU's new stadium has to be worth at least 2-3 extra wins.

How so? Has JMU lost 25 home games over the last 10 years? I suspect their total is significantly lower than that. Unless you figure the stadium will draw a better caliber athlete (thus impacting their chances of winning on the road), I just don't see how it can help them that much over a five game home schedule each year.

pssst - I think he was being "sarcastic". Besides, we all know it's the JMU band that is really worth 1-2 wins a year.

[BDKJMU]

Baloney. As has been stated before, JMU returns 4 starers on the OL- those 2 redshirt freshmen from last yr's right side of the line are now redshirt sophs and hugely improved,

hugely improved based on what? Could they and should they be better? Probably, but it's not automatic, especially since it's just one year. OL really come into their own about 3 years in (when they're juniors) - right now being hugely improved is just wishful thinking.

a 3rd who was a 1st yr starter last yr as a rSo and now will be a more experienced rJr, an all American & 3rd yr starter at center, and the 5th spot (to replace 2nd team All CAA Theo Sherman) will likely be taken over by Marshall transfer AJ Scott, who according to the O-line coach at Marshall, would have started at OG for them. The JMU OL will be better at 4 positions, and might not be much drop off at a 5th. Anyone who has that much familiarity with JMU football knows the OL will be better.

Again, has Scott even practiced with JMU yet? The other poster in another thread thought he hadn't even enrolled yet so he missed Spring practice. OL is an area that needs a lot of reps together to be really good. And as JMU's offense relies almost entirely on the cohesion and quality of the OL, that's even more important. Assuming this guy can step in, with little practice time with the other 4 guys, and be almost as good, if not as good, as a 4 year starter that Sherman was is again wishful thinking. Wishes do come to pass sometimes, but they aren't sure things.

I edited my previous post to include OL will be better provided 2 starters aren't lost early like last yr. But then again, that would be the case with any team. Lose a couple of starters early, and your OL isn't likely to be as good as the yr prior.

They might not "come into their own" util they're juniors, but starting OL typically make their biggest improvement between their 1st and 2nd yr starting, JMU that will be 3 of the 4 returning starters.

Also as with any position players typically make bigger improvement gains in their 1st couple of years of college ball than in their last couple of years.

Any, we'll see who's right on JMU's OL being improved.

[BDKJMU]

Since 04'-09' CAA South:

04' UD picked 1st, finishes 3rd, quarterfinals. JMU picked 4th?, finishes 2nd to W&M, wins NC
05' JMU picked 1st, missed playoffs. UR picked 5th, wins South/playoffs
06' UR picked 1st, missed playoffs. JMU picked 2nd, wins South/playoffs
07’JMU picked 1st, finishes 2nd, makes playoffs. UR picked 4th, wins South, playoffs.
08’ UR picked 1st, finishes 3rd, makes playoffs, wins NC.
09’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 1st, makes playoffs, wins NC.

Last yr entire CAA:
10’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 4th, makes semis.

Only see one yr in the last 7 where the winner was picked right (which doesn't bode well for W&M). Like I said, even these pre season coaches conference polls are semi worthless.

The only certainties are TU and ODU won't make the playoffs....

[ODUalum11]

Since 04'-09' CAA South:

04' UD picked 1st, finishes 3rd, quarterfinals. JMU picked 4th?, finishes 2nd to W&M, wins NC
05' JMU picked 1st, missed playoffs. UR picked 5th, wins South/playoffs
06' UR picked 1st, missed playoffs. JMU picked 2nd, wins South/playoffs
07’JMU picked 1st, finishes 2nd, makes playoffs. UR picked 4th, wins South, playoffs.
08’ UR picked 1st, finishes 3rd, makes playoffs, wins NC.
09’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 1st, makes playoffs, wins NC.

Last yr entire CAA:
10’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 4th, makes semis.

Only see one yr in the last 7 where the winner was picked right (which doesn't bode well for W&M). Like I said, even these pre season coaches conference polls are semi worthless.

The only certainties are TU and ODU won't make the playoffs....

I hope you're wrong with that last statement about ODU not making the playoffs but realistically you're probably right. Oh well, we'll make the playoffs soon enough.

[89Hen]

10’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 4th, makes semis.

[89Hen]

The only certainties are TU and ODU won't make the playoffs....

ODU scares me a little.

[BDKJMU]

Since 04'-09' CAA South:

04' UD picked 1st, finishes 3rd, quarterfinals. JMU picked 4th?, finishes 2nd to W&M, wins NC
05' JMU picked 1st, missed playoffs. UR picked 5th, wins South/playoffs
06' UR picked 1st, missed playoffs. JMU picked 2nd, wins South/playoffs
07’JMU picked 1st, finishes 2nd, makes playoffs. UR picked 4th, wins South, playoffs.
08’ UR picked 1st, finishes 3rd, makes playoffs, wins NC.
09’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 1st, makes playoffs, wins NC.

Last yr entire CAA:
10’ Nova picked 1st, finishes 4th, makes semis.

Only see one yr in the last 7 where the winner was picked right (which doesn't bode well for W&M). Like I said, even these pre season coaches conference polls are semi worthless.

I agree. At home I think they will be a threat to beat anyone. On the road I think they'll have a shot with URI, Nova, and will bring a lot of fans to W&M.

The only certainties are TU and ODU won't make the playoffs....

I hope you're wrong with that last statement about ODU not making the playoffs but realistically you're probably right. Oh well, we'll make the playoffs soon enough.

After ODU's cupcake OOC, there are no cupcakes with the possible exception of Towson. I think ODU will win 1-3 CAA games, and go 4-7 to 6-5. Don't see any chance of ODU winning 5 CAA games to get a playoff bid.

Now 2012 wouldn't surprise me.

[BDKJMU]

The only certainties are TU and ODU won't make the playoffs....

ODU scares me a little.

Me too. Actually, I think the @ UD game is the least likely one they'll win. They have a shot against anyone at home, along with @ URI and @ Nova. They should bring a lot of fans to @ W&M since it is in their backyard.

9/3 Campbell
9/10 @ GST
9/17 Hampton
9/24 @ UD
10/1 UMass
10/8 @ URI
10/15 TU
10/22 @ Nova
10/29 JMU
11/5 UR
11/12@ W&M

[ODUalum11]

I hope you're wrong with that last statement about ODU not making the playoffs but realistically you're probably right. Oh well, we'll make the playoffs soon enough.

After ODU's cupcake OOC, there are no cupcakes with the possible exception of Towson. I think ODU will win 1-3 CAA games, and go 4-7 to 6-5. Don't see any chance of ODU winning 5 CAA games to get a playoff bid.

Now 2012 wouldn't surprise me.

Not to look past this season since this year will be a entertaining season but 2012 will be a big one because we'll have 26 seniors on the team assuming all them stay so we'll definitely be an experienced team with 1 year of CAA football behind us.

[State Line Liquors]

The 1st place vote for URI is ridiculous. Other than that, I really have no issue with this poll.

Tribe should have been unanimous.

Sure, JMU's position seems a little high, but someone has to finish 2nd and JMU returns a bunch of players from a middle of the pack squad from last year(like URI, but named JMU, not URI)....so it seems as likely as any. Plus, I don't mind the pressure being on Mickie to produce now that he's 'hired himself' as OC and Harrisonburg has magically 'transformed into Tuscaloosa' in the last 6 months. The JMU offense will probably be better than last year and their defense will probably be worse than advertised, but those predictions are pretty easy to make.

Delaware's got questions a plenty in the secondary and with a young QB, which should account for at a couple losses. There seem to have been a few answers found, but only time will tell.

UNH graduated a talented group, but are well coached as always. Same for Nova, but probably deeper losses.

Richmond has what I expect is the finest quarterback in the conference

UMass has talent like always.

ODU is young and hungry. Towson seems to have a young and hungry coach, who I'd like to see find some success/relevance.

In all, there's going to be probably 3 or 4 programs tied for the top 2 spots at the end of the season.

[Sirloinburger]

Coach Wilder picked his team to finish last. ODU has no CAA track record therefore it should be last. The sportswriters and coaches or whoever votes had no choice. If they picked them to be 4th, what data are they going by? There is none. This also takes some pressure off the Monarchs.

As far as JMU's stadium worth 2-3 wins........

[JmuSkinsfan]

Huh. I'm still not understanding the empty stadium scenario here ... especially coming from ODU fans. It comes off as cocky ... you had a great season drawing 20k+ ... cool ... let's see how many are showing up when you're 3-6 at the end of the season.

JMU has sold out every game in pretty lame facilities for the last 5-6 years. No one is expecting that we'll pack 27k into BFS every game ... but not sure why it's so hard to expect 18-23k average ... which is still more than most any team in FCS aside from Montana, UD and ASU ... I refuse to give ODU an attendance crown yet ... let's see how they do with a couple down years in the CAA.

Also, our stadium is a lot nicer than the one pictured. And a lot more purple.