#1 Richmond Spiders (4-0, 2-0) vs. #12/13 JMU Dukes (2-2, 0-1)
Oct. 10, 2009 - 12pm - Harrisonburg, VA
Watch the game on Madizone
Weather Report
| Tailgating | 8am | 62° | 40% (precip) |
| Mid-tailgate | 10am | 62° | 20% |
| Getting into the stadium | 11am | 63 | 20% |
| Kickoff | 12pm | 63° | 10% |
| Game over | 3pm | 64° | 10% |
Line for the game
Richmond by 14 (or 54 points if you listen to Mickey Matthews)
Injuries
WR Kerby Long will miss another 4-6 weeks. CB Mike Allen is still out as far as I've seen. QB Drew Dudzik may still be a little woozy from a minor concussion he suffered against Hofstra.
I haven't heard of any major injuries for Richmond.
What to watch
Last week was...shaky at best. The offense couldn't do anything and the defense had a terrible first half. There half been a lot of shifts in the past week to make everything a little more solid: Justin Thorpe has been named the official QB after 4 weeks of the quarterback shuffle (not nearly as entertaining as the Cupid Shuffle); RB Corwin Acker has been shifted to an 'inside' or 'slot' receiver. Jamal Sullivan is all healed up and will be back in at starting Tailback; Griff Yancey, who had shifted over to defense for the first four games, is back at Tailback this week; and Donny Smith is back at Center with Roane Babington at Left Guard.
The most consistent group on our team has been our defensive line. This week we will need to keep the pressure on Richmond QB Eric Ward. Against VMI, Ward had 394 yards passing. For the year, Richmond has nearly twice as many yards passing as they do running the ball, so shutting them down through the air will be key. This starts with our big guys like Arthur Moats and Sam Daniels getting in their and introducing him to the field turf of Zane Showker Field.
And a note to students, don't worry about your parents. Stand up, yell, and be loud. Better yet, get them to. Tell them that you won't be able to focus on that upcoming test if we lose this game, so they need to yell. If you're standing behind the Richmond team, yell at them. Make it impossible to hear them discussing plays. Don't use profanity, be witty. Laugh at them for needing to build a smaller stadium to stop us from getting homefield advantage in their stadium. Laugh at them because their girls are...well...not JMU girls. Laugh at them because they are the Itsy Bitsy Spiders. Call them Spiderpigs. Do whatever you can to get in their heads.
The Series
Anybody know the last team that Richmond lost to? I'll give you a hint...it starts with a J...and ends with an M-U DUUUUUUUUKES. That means they've gone on a winning streak of 13 straight games since then including winning the national championship. I think it's about time for that to come to an end. Going against us is the fact that since 2004, the away team has won our matchups with Richmond. Again, a streak that is ready to be ended. Another fun stat to look at: JMU is 2-0 at home against defending National Champions (2-2 overall since 2004). In 2004, we beat Delaware AT HOME. In 2006, we lost AT App State. In 2007, we lost in the playoffs AT App State. In 2008, we beat App State AT HOME (Thanks to the Purple Wave for the stats)
Oh, and just in case you forgot what happened last year...
My Thoughts
Last week hurt. A lot. But we're just going to assume that they were already studying film for this game. So I'd imagine we're extra pumped up and ready to go for the Ticks...I mean...Spiders. These are the National Champions, we will be ready for them. Not only that, but this begins our playoff run. If we lose on Saturday, the best we can end the year is 8-3, which would still get us in the playoffs, but we wouldn't be able to lose anymore. With one more loss, we'd be on the bubble and would more than likely be out of the playoffs. With a remaining schedule of Villanova, @W&M, @UD, Maine, @UMass, Towson we have a hard road ahead. Time to get ready Dukes. However this turns out, it's going to be a close one. The weather seems like it will be clearing up just in time for the game, and nothing beats JMU on a beautiful day.
Windbreaker prediction: JMU - 27, Richmond - 24
Game Notes
JMU Game Notes
Score Updates
To get score updates on Twitter, subscribe to @JMUWindbreaker. I'll be posting scores at the end of each quarter and any major action that happens. Posts might be more intermittent due to weather, but I'll do my best.
And as always...
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