#3 JMU Dukes (2-0, 0-0)
Sept. 25, 2010 - 6:00pm - Harrisonburg, VA
Televised on Madizone and the Liberty network
Weather Report
| Tailgating | 8am | 66° | 10% (precip) |
| Mid-tailgate | 1pm | 82° | 0% |
| Getting into the stadium | 5pm | 82° | 0% |
| Kickoff | 6pm | 79° | 0% |
| Game over | 9pm | 68° | 0% |
Line for the game
JMU by 17
Injuries
WDT Nick Emmons and LB Jamie Veney look to be out for the Liberty game.
The Numbers (game averages)
JMU Sagarin (37); Strength of Schedule: 57.37 (152)
JMU Rushing Offense: 204 yds - Liberty Rushing Defense: 144 yds
JMU Passing Offense: 155 yds - Liberty Passing Defense: 181 yds
JMU Total Offense: 359 yds - Liberty Total Defense: 325 yds
JMU Scoring Offense: 34.5 - Liberty Scoring Defense: 20
JMU Sacks allowed: 1 - Liberty Sacks: 2.33
Liberty Sagarin (144); Strength of Schedule: 44.92 (213)
Liberty Rushing Offense: 135 yds - JMU Rushing Defense: 153 yds
Liberty Passing Offense: 332 yds - JMU Passing Defense: 105 yds
Liberty Total Offense: 466 yds - JMU Total Defense: 257 yds
Liberty Scoring Offense: 34 - JMU Scoring Defense: 11.5
Liberty Sacks allowed: 1.33 - JMU Sacks: 1
JMU predictor: 73.66 (+3 home) ; Liberty predictor 55.44 = JMU by 21.22
What to watch
The first week against Morehead State, JMU used a playbook they had practiced for 3 days. In week 2, JMU revealed their pistol offense to defeat Virginia Tech, 21-16. But even that playbook was still very "vanilla" and we didn't give away much of our overall playbook. Over the past two weeks they've been adding in their Eagle plays into the offense (another name for Wildcat) with last year's 3rd string QB, Seaton. Look for this offense to have a lot of wrinkles and the defense not to know who has the ball until the hit the line of scrimmage. Unless Liberty gets lucky, there will be few tackles for loss against JMU in this offense. We have an abundence of speed with our WR's and we have three solid RB's so we won't have any problems staying fresh with our skill players. Our defense is ridiculous this year, and even though we have a couple injuries, look for them to make a statement. They are a pass-happy offense, so look for at least one interception and probably one fumble by a receiver as our safeties will be anxious to hit someone again after a couple weeks off. Today's game is the first real test against a possible FCS playoff team, so keep a watch and see how each phase competes. One area where we have an advantage is punting, so JMU should win the field position battle all night.
Liberty destroyed a terrible FCS team (232), then pulled an upset on a terrible FBS (143) team, and then got upset by a bad FCS team (193). Their QB, Brown, is a very athletic guy. He could play RB or WR also, and sometimes does. We need to keep a contain on him and get after him or he will make some plays. Think of him as a Landers or a Tyrod Taylor. His WR Summers is very athletic and tall. They will be the main guys to get yards the entire night. Our main focus will be Brown and if we stop him from getting big games, we'll win this game in a big way. Their defense is nothing to write home about. They'll do an okay job, but I don't expect them to be able to keep up with us for four quarters.
Two years ago they were held out of the playoffs after going 10-2. Last year they lost to a bad Stony Brook team in the last week to keep them out of the playoffs. Especially after a bad loss to Robert Morris, this is their ticket to the playoffs. This is their Super Bowl. When we played their last year, they hyped it as the biggest game in their history, and we beat them in a monsoon, 24-10. For JMU, we need to prove that the Virginia Tech win wasn't a fluke. We played a terrible FCS team and a ranked FBS team and won both. We need to come in focused and prove to everyone that we are that good. We have outstanding senior leadership this year and they pride themselves on going one week at a time. I don't see us overlooking this game. Plus we're 7-1 after bye weeks. I don't see this game being close.
The Series
JMU has won the last four games against Liberty, including last year's 24-10 win.
My Thoughts
Liberty is a good team, don't get me wrong. And they're completely focused on us and have been for a couple weeks. That still doesn't excuse losing to Robert Morris. They haven't proven anything other than their offense can put up yards, but not many points (except against a really terrible St. Francis team). I don't believe their defense can stay with us. We're too ready for this game and we'll open the playbook up a little more. The Dukes are ready to get back out there and light up the Flames. To win, Liberty needs to win the turnover battle by at least 2, but I think the Dukes stay on the good side of that statistic and get a couple more turnovers. JMU will probably give up a fairly quick TD in the first or second quarter, a field goal early in the third quarter, and then another TD in garbage time once our starters are out at the end of the game.
Windbreaker prediction: JMU - 38, Liberty - 17
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.
And as always...
No comments:
Post a Comment