#3 JMU Dukes (3-0, 0-0)
Oct. 2, 2010 - 12:05pm - Harrisonburg, VA
Televised on Madizone, The Comcast Network, and Comcast SportsNet New England
Also check out the official viewing parties
Weather Report
| Tailgating | 8am | 46° | 0% (precip) |
| Mid-tailgate | 10am | 55° | 0% |
| Getting into the stadium | 11:30am | 61° | 0% |
| Kickoff | 12:05pm | 63° | 0% |
| Game over | 3pm | 68° | 0% |
Line for the game
JMU by 5
Injuries
LB Jamie Veney out for the season
QB Pat Devlin has a fracture in his non-throwing hand
The Numbers (game averages)
JMU Sagarin (36); Strength of Schedule: 55.21 (167)
JMU Rushing Offense: 204 yds - Delaware Rushing Defense: 80 yds
JMU Passing Offense: 129 yds - Delaware Passing Defense: 151 yds
JMU Total Offense: 334 yds - Delaware Total Defense: 231 yds
JMU Scoring Offense: 26.33 - Delaware Scoring Defense: 5.5
JMU Sacks allowed: .67 - Delaware Sacks: 1.25
Delaware Sagarin (66); Strength of Schedule: 52.35 (181 - I don't think this includes their D2 game)
Delaware Rushing Offense: 271 yds - JMU Rushing Defense: 122 yds
Delaware Passing Offense: 155 yds - JMU Passing Defense: 137 yds
Delaware Total Offense: 426 yds - JMU Total Defense: 259 yds
Delaware Scoring Offense: 30 - JMU Scoring Defense: 8.67
Delaware Sacks allowed: 1 - JMU Sacks: .67
JMU predictor: 72.11 (+3 home) ; Delaware predictor 69.98 = JMU by 5.13
What to watch
This game is going to be epic. It doesn't get much better than a sold-out conference game between the #3 and #5 teams in the nation when they're both still undefeated. The two things that could ruin the potential atmosphere: family weekend with parents not knowing how to cheer and students being afraid to get crazy...and it being a noon game when limits tailgating and students are still half asleep. We can't let this stop us. Everyone needs to PURPLE OUT and get crazy for this game. Get there at 8am and get some proper tailgating in. Bring some jackets, it's gonna be a little chilly in the morning. Make sure to have extra purple shirts, jackets, and blankets to give to friends and other JMU fans just in case they forgot what game they were going to and showing up in white (or even worse...blue). These two teams are potential seeded teams for the playoffs and this game could help decide who gets one of the 5 seeds this year. Wear purple, stay on your feet, and yell until you can't yell anymore and then you can still clap your hands and jump up and down.
So let's talk about the Liberty game...our offense couldn't execute much of anything. Dudzik couldn't pass and made a few bad reads on the option and Sullivan dropped the ball a couple times. Plus, we didn't even reveal the eagle (wildcat) with Seaton in the mix. Mickey and company took a huge risk in not letting that loose in a close game, but hopefully it will payoff.
Expect to see the eagle and probably a few WR reverses with some of our speedy WR's. Delaware has a much improved defense with some good depth...and they're big. We need to use that to our advantage and use our speed to create some distance while passing and not try to power through the middle on runs. Dudzik also needs to do some scrambling and take the outside route on his options because powering through the middle is gonna be difficult against Delaware. We also need to bring our TE's back into the passing mix as they're big targets with good hands and will probably be open more that the WR's. Look for Noble to get the start as an award for his performance last week and Sullivan to come in to give him a breather as a punishment for putting the ball on the turf twice against Liberty. Mickey called out the entire offense on Monday and I think they'll step up and come in with a ton of energy tomorrow.
Delaware's offense is much improved over the past couple years. Devlin, their QB, is great, but needs to have pressure put on him. He's not the best at scrambling, and probably still has nightmares about how we treated him last year up in the hen house. Their biggest weapon is their freshman RB Pierce. He has sliced through every defense he's come up against and will be tough to stop. One advantage we have...our defense is (probably by far) the best defense they've faced all year. If we hold Pierce under 100 yards, I'd find it hard to believe we lose the game. We've gone seven quarters without giving up a TD, including three quarters against a BCS team.
Their schedule so far has been wholly unimpressive, but they've beat up on all of their opponents pretty bad. They beat D-II West Chester, 31-0. They beat 0-3 South Dakota State (#154), 26-3. They beat Duquesne (#178), 30-6. Last week they beat a bad Richmond (#105) team, 34-13, after going into the 4th quarter 20-13.
It will probably come down to turnovers, which we're pretty much even on...both being near the top of the nation in getting turnovers. Special teams will also come into play, in this case I think we have the advantage. Skahn, our punter, is clutch and one of the best punters in the nation. It would be surprising if the other team ever started past their own 40 after a punt. We've also blocked a field goal.
The Series
JMU has won the last two games and hasn't lost at home against Delaware since 2001.
My Thoughts
Starting off with Delaware as our first conference game is good and bad. Good because it's a great test, that if we win, shows great promise for the rest of the season. It'll also be a very very hard game that could very well end up a loss. I think we probably the best defense in all of FCS. And defense matters more than anything. This will be a very tight game, but I don't see JMU losing at home. I think we'll reveal a few more plays on offense, which is more in-sync this week, and pull a few blitzes on defense. Our defense will also be trying its best to keep our interception streak alive. JMU gets one medium-long passing TD and two rushing TDs, along with a FG. Delaware I think will get one TD from both rushing and passing, but our defense holds them in the back of the redzone two more times for a couple of FGs. If we lose the turnover battle, we lose the game, but I think we hold onto the ball and send the hens back to Delanowhere.
Windbreaker prediction: JMU - 24, Delaware - 20
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...
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