i thought you guys had some nice talent to work with.

however, I'm not sure your QB is very good. He missed some pretty open throws that should be made at the high FCS level, much less in CUSA and just seemed too jittery. Part of that could be playing us, a higher level FCS team, but didn't he have a bunch of turnovers against NCCU as well?

If you can improve at that position, the scheme looks sound, some of the guys on your defensive front were blowing up our line at times.....there's definitely some pieces.

but again, football is very QB driven. if you are weak at that position, you're always going to be behind the 8-ball.

also, definitely try to get to another game. you did not see the full JMU experience yesterday. Conditions were absolutely miserable. And most of our alum fan base travels and it's asking a lot of them to come to this game with the conditions as they were, and with them being very predictable. Torrential rain was well forecasted. And students.....well, students are always extremely fickle. it's no surprise they didn't show up.

(09-22-2013 09:36 AM)49erlew Wrote:  From a Charlotte fan's perspective, I wouldn't get too worried about yourselves.

Yes, we're a startup, but we're a startup unlike any that we've seen in recent history. We knew from day one that we were shooting for FBS, and not too long after made it official with the C-USA announcement, and we have been able to recruit accordingly. In terms of raw talent, we are much better than you could expect for a first-year program. That being said, that talent in no way makes up for our lack of experience, and that's what has and will cost us on the field.

I was very happy with our performance last night. I thought we took a huge step up compared to our game vs. NC Central last week. I feel like we played about as well as I could expect against a very good team. Take your sky-is-falling helmets off, folks. You're still a very good team. Wet weather games are going to be sloppy, even on turf, so the lack of a vertical passing game shouldn't be too much of a cause to worry. That being said, I haven't seen y'all in any other games this year... I can only base it on that one game.

I'll admit that the fumble recovery and subsequent touchdown was pure euphoria on the Niner end. For a few minutes, we were all thinking "Oh my God, we've got a chance here." Then that pesky little running back of yours (I say that in the most endearing way possible, believe me) shut that down. Seriously, I hate that kid. (again, most endearing way possible. I hate him because he doesn't wear green.)

I've said it in a few other threads around this board, but I'll say it again because I really mean it... the fans that y'all had there were great. Incredibly friendly, polite, and welcoming folks, almost to a man. I'm going to check out our schedule up against y'alls for the rest of the year... if I can make it up to Harrisonburg for a game that doesn't conflict with one of ours, I'm going to try. I want to see that place in full voice.

I'll probably end up stalking this board throughout the year, too. I like you guys. Best of luck this year. Since we're not eligible for jack squat, I'll be pulling (rooting?) for y'all.

Come back anytime. Looking forward to the return game at Charlotte. Hopefully we see you in Fbs in short other too

Charlotte looks like they have some players, but they have only offered about 45 scholarships, right? Next year's game down in Charlotte will be a much different story.

(09-22-2013 09:47 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  Charlotte looks like they have some players, but they have only offered about 45 scholarships, right? Next year's game down in Charlotte will be a much different story.

Both teams will be basically the same next year...JMU has only about 6 seniors on the team who get substantial playing time. Charlotte should return just about everyone (unless there is an injury or a player quits).

As such, Charlotte will benefit from a year's experience...then again, so will JMU. JMU fans tend to forget Birdsong is a true Sophomore, and was making just his 6th start yesterday.

(09-22-2013 09:36 AM)49erlew Wrote:  From a Charlotte fan's perspective, I wouldn't get too worried about yourselves.

Yes, we're a startup, but we're a startup unlike any that we've seen in recent history. We knew from day one that we were shooting for FBS, and not too long after made it official with the C-USA announcement, and we have been able to recruit accordingly. In terms of raw talent, we are much better than you could expect for a first-year program. That being said, that talent in no way makes up for our lack of experience, and that's what has and will cost us on the field.

I was very happy with our performance last night. I thought we took a huge step up compared to our game vs. NC Central last week. I feel like we played about as well as I could expect against a very good team. Take your sky-is-falling helmets off, folks. You're still a very good team. Wet weather games are going to be sloppy, even on turf, so the lack of a vertical passing game shouldn't be too much of a cause to worry. That being said, I haven't seen y'all in any other games this year... I can only base it on that one game.

I'll admit that the fumble recovery and subsequent touchdown was pure euphoria on the Niner end. For a few minutes, we were all thinking "Oh my God, we've got a chance here." Then that pesky little running back of yours (I say that in the most endearing way possible, believe me) shut that down. Seriously, I hate that kid. (again, most endearing way possible. I hate him because he doesn't wear green.)

I've said it in a few other threads around this board, but I'll say it again because I really mean it... the fans that y'all had there were great. Incredibly friendly, polite, and welcoming folks, almost to a man. I'm going to check out our schedule up against y'alls for the rest of the year... if I can make it up to Harrisonburg for a game that doesn't conflict with one of ours, I'm going to try. I want to see that place in full voice.

I'll probably end up stalking this board throughout the year, too. I like you guys. Best of luck this year. Since we're not eligible for jack squat, I'll be pulling (rooting?) for y'all.

The family weekend game against Albany in 2 weeks should sell out. Approximately 1k tickets remaining it looks like.
However, those games tend to be a tamer crowd due to sober students behaving in front of their parents. It was also quiet last year as it was only a 13-10 win with both TDs not scoring until about 5 minutes remaining. A very defensive football game.

Congrats on the win fellas! I'm rooting for y'all to take care of Delaware and make a strong run towards our matchup at the end of the year.

(09-22-2013 09:56 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(09-22-2013 09:47 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  Charlotte looks like they have some players, but they have only offered about 45 scholarships, right? Next year's game down in Charlotte will be a much different story.

Both teams will be basically the same next year...JMU has only about 6 seniors on the team who get substantial playing time. Charlotte should return just about everyone (unless there is an injury or a player quits).

As such, Charlotte will benefit from a year's experience...then again, so will JMU. JMU fans tend to forget Birdsong is a true Sophomore, and was making just his 6th start yesterday.

I heard Mickey say that after the game. By my count, it's closer to 9 and those 9 are our leaders, are very good and most have been long time starters or at least been in the playing rotation for years. DQ, Stephon, Stanton, Snow, Scott Jones, Quentin Hunter, Wells, Togia and Starke. Throw in Peter Rose and Arlandis Harvey ( good playing time and solid depth) as well and that's a formidable group. That's why I have such high hopes for this year. I like this years team for such a good mix of veteran and youth. Keep the injuries down, get a handle on the turnovers & hope inexperienced secondary keeps improving- we'll be fine and could make a nice run.

(09-22-2013 09:47 AM)DBJMU2006 Wrote:  Charlotte looks like they have some players, but they have only offered about 45 scholarships, right? Next year's game down in Charlotte will be a much different story.

I'm not sure how many scholarships we are actually allotted (it isn't the full FCS amount, I know) to a first-year team, but I do know that the coaching staff didn't use all of them. They wanted to get a good base, but not put themselves into a position where we lose 15-20 starters after year 4.

We'll take our lumps as a result, but it's a smart play in the long run.

(09-21-2013 11:59 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  My personal observations on the game.....

- Attendance was embarrassing. Glad this was not a TV game. It's just a little water. Geez. I think scheduling Charlotte was actually a good move but it's showing that interest at the FCS level is really starting to wane.

- I don't know what was up with Birdsong, whether it was a wet football or what, but he couldn't throw a spiral for the life of him. Almost every ball was wobbling like a wounded duck.

- The D started out slowly but played much better as the game went along. I still don't know what Stanton did to get thrown out of the game as Madizone was frozen but I hope we have him for Delaware next week.

- Getting stopped on 4th and 1 3 times against Charlotte - or anyone - is completely unacceptable. WTH is going on there with no push on the OL?

- Glad Mickey pulled the redshirt in light of the RB injuries. DQ can't last getting hit this much. Plus, we still have the redshirt on Johnson. RB is not a position I ever worry about JMU being able to recruit.

- I'm really getting frustrated with the WR rotation. We've been doing this for years but why do we have 10 freaking guys rotating in at WR? How can you get any rhythm or feel that way? IMO, the top 3 are Brown, Smith (when he gets back), and Hunter. Harvey and Coble are OK but they're not scaring anyone. The one true freshman from Charlottesville (sorry, name is escaping me) has played well. Ravenel should have been redshirted if we're not going to use him at all. Just don't see how a QB can develop any rapport with his receivers with this many guys rotating in.

- Too much horizontal offense still. Get the ball down the field. Use the middle of the field. When we did that is when we had success.

- I would rather Dean Marlowe not returning punts deep in his own territory when the game is in hand. Fair catch that at that point and stay out of harm's way.

I know the majority of the above sounds really negative and I don't mean it to be that way, I just have high expectations for this team. Through the early part of the season, they've played really well at times but they are also very inconsistent. I'd like to see them put it together and start to build an identity. Hopefully that happens Saturday at UD. That will be a challenging opponent.

Yeah attendance sucked.

I saw some good spirals and ducks from Birdsong. Regardless, wounded ducks or not, he went 20-28, 201 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT. I'll take 70+% passing on around 30 passes if the TDs to INT were reversed to 2 TDs, 1 int...

Agreed, but got stopped on 4th and 1 twice, not 3 times.
http://www.jmusports.com/fls/14400/stats...mu0921.htm

Looking at the box score, I was surprised to see that Birdsong threw 28 passes and that his completion percentage was over 70% (20-28, 71.4%). It sure didn't 'feel' that way to me during the game. If you had quizzed me right after the game I probably would have guessed he went something like 11-19 passing.

Considering he's a true soph starting only his 6th game, missed quite a bit of training camp this year due to the appendectomy, and missed a whole other week of practice after getting banged up, he's doing quite well. I agree that he can make throws we haven't seen from a JMU QB in a very long time. Probably since Mike Cawley.

Nevertheless he'll need to keep improving for us to be successful in CAA play. It seems to me he stares down his primary option a little too long and if that doesn't come open he gets prone to making the bad passes and mistakes. On at least two occasions #85 was wide open in the middle about 20 yards down field and MB didn't see him. Although he did hit him later in the game so maybe they were able to coach him up to do it mid-game.

On those WR screen it looks to me like he's got to get the ball out quicker to give the player a chance to run with it. A couple times it looked to be blocked pretty well but MB either hesitated a bit or didn't put enough on it to get it to him quicker.

That is the other thing I was thinking about. JMU is not featuring the TE passes this year. That has been a staple of Mickey's teams in the past as it is high percentage and low risk. As much as the Dukes run, play action to the TE is almost always wide open because the LB's get sucked in.
You'd think O'Cain would leverage that more especially with a young QB who struggles to see the field.

(09-22-2013 12:21 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  That is the other thing I was thinking about. JMU is not featuring the TE passes this year. That has been a staple of Mickey's teams in the past as it is high percentage and low risk. As much as the Dukes run, play action to the TE is almost always wide open because the LB's get sucked in.
You'd think O'Cain would leverage that more especially with a young QB who struggles to see the field.

That and where are the crossing routes? We don't have big, strong receivers but we have a bunch of quick ones. Would like to see them going across the middle more with the ability to run after the catch. I am not a fan of the bubble screen at all. It's almost a wasted play most of the time.

Never in my life have I seen so many people ***** about winning 34-7 and outgaining an opponent by over 300 yards. Is the team a little rough around the edges? Sure. But the Dukes have already made great strides offensively and we should be rejoicing that we are indeed passing a little more and moving the ball quickly. The defense also seems to be coming along nicely since the Akron performance.

Attendance was what it was. A last minute game scheduled inconveniently in some rough weather. I'm not gonna give the students a hard time about not showing up en masse. Remember, most students and alums are not like us here. They don't know who UNC-Charlotte is barely know anything about our own football team. Unless we're playing a BIG name opponent, that type of weather will keep A LOT of people away.

Pointing out areas where we have had trouble is not bitching. Why are some people so damn sensitive. We won't beat the likes of Delaware, Villanova, and Towson playing the way we have (e.g. turning the ball over 5 times). It's a message board. This is a place for us to speculate. Last week we had a lot of trouble pulling one out against a team that we should be able to handle with our entire second string. Yesterday was a little better but still, there were quite a lot of warts. There is nothing wrong with questioning some of the things that we're consistently getting wrong that should be fixable.

(09-22-2013 01:44 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  Pointing out areas where we have had trouble is not bitching. Why are some people so damn sensitive.

Pretty much every time you've posted for years has been one ***** after another. It is what it is.

(09-22-2013 04:11 PM)JMUDuke25 Wrote:  

(09-22-2013 01:44 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  Pointing out areas where we have had trouble is not bitching. Why are some people so damn sensitive.

Pretty much every time you've posted for years has been one ***** after another. It is what it is.

But he is correct and has some good points. You don't have to agree or even like it, but as another pointed out, it is a message board. it is the forum for pointing out these issues.

(09-22-2013 01:15 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  We don't have big, strong receivers but we have a bunch of quick ones. Would like to see them going across the middle more with the ability to run after the catch. I am not a fan of the bubble screen at all. It's almost a wasted play most of the time.

I would argue that Daniel Brown, at 6'5" 220 is a big strong receiver, but he's already shown his chops out on the wing. I really do think we can thrive with a Ravenel or a Coble in the slot as a Wes Welker-type. That being said (and as was previously mentioned), I saw a total lack of willingness to throw to wide open receivers in the middle of the field yesterday. Sure, when you have a target like Brown and you're playing a UNCC, you can get away with it, but that route is going to get jumped in CAA play. Get it to Cheatham or Ravenel/Coble in the slot already.

(09-22-2013 04:18 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(09-22-2013 04:11 PM)JMUDuke25 Wrote:  

(09-22-2013 01:44 PM)DoubleDDuke Wrote:  Pointing out areas where we have had trouble is not bitching. Why are some people so damn sensitive.

Pretty much every time you've posted for years has been one ***** after another. It is what it is.

But he is correct and has some good points. You don't have to agree or even like it, but as another pointed out, it is a message board. it is the forum for pointing out these issues.

Go ahead and post whatever he wants. Never said otherwise. If he got a point right then I guess even a broken clock works twice a day. Good for him.

Great picture on JMUSports.Com of Brandon Lee jumping over a 49ner player en route to the QB. He cleared the blocker without even touching him - show up and you see great plays like that!

It all begins with Delaware. We have 4 really tough road CAA games. This is the one that we need. Pumped for Saturday. Go Dukes.