The good:

1) The offense is developing some weapons. Birdsong has some moments where he looks really good. we seem to FINALLY have some legitimate WR's. Brown, Hunter, Ravenel, even Cheathem at TE.

2) MM loves his RB's...and right now, we may have the best 1-2 punch in the CAA. Scott we already know about. But I'm not so sure Abdullah isn't a better runner. He hits the hole with more decisiveness than Scott and is very hard to bring down. It's always difficult to project a true freshmen's career....but for what he's shown so far as a true freshmen, he looks like he's going to be special.

3) at the WVU game last year, a buddy of mine who is a huge WV and college fan thought we were one of the best tackling teams he's seen. I think that is still the case. Our guys may not always have been in position (some our fault, some a result of the other team making plays), but when they reach the ball, for the most part, they bring their guy down. I don't see nearly as many broken tackles against us as a see in other teams.

4)i'll give the coaches credit on this.....they recognized UR would do a lot of quick throws and they CLEARLY told our line to be ready and get hands up. Never have I seen a JMU team bat down so many balls on the line. The players made the plays, but full credit to the coaches on this one for preparing them for that.

the bad:

1) the 3rd and long scheme continues to baffle me. I just don't understand why MM won't bring the heat more often in these situations. our pass coverage is the weakest part of a very good defense. so why do you rush 3 or a passive 4 and give QB's all day to throw? OF COURSE someone is going to get open. It's the conservative, "don't give up the home run" mentality and it drives me nuts.

2) in the same vain, the punting. I get the rugby style punting. fine. But FCS kickers are mostly walk ons and not all that great. You are just asking for trouble to expect your punter to roll to one side AND kick the ball so that it pins the returner on the sideline. They are just not going to be that good and accurate. Kick the damn ball in the middle of the field and TRUST your coverage to make a play. Stop being so freakin' scared of the once in a blue moon big return.

3) again in the same vain.....the overall play not to lose mentality. why oh why oh why do we change things up when we get a lead? step on their damn throat and put the game away !!!!! We did that on the bomb to Brown to make it 38-16 and you could clearly see the coaches thought that was enough. they retreated into their shell and damn near cost us the game.

4) A couple Birdsong issues. I like Ginja. But he simply HAS to get better at throwing the ball away and realizing when the play is a lost cause. He also needs to learn how much to put touch on his throws. We all know he's got a cannon. He doesn't need to prove it to us anymore. but sometimes, the pass calls for a little more finesse.

5) 4th and inches. Couldn't believe I was seeing it. A big ass QB at the controls and MM still runs out of the shotgun. Yes, we made the conversion. But clearly we have learned nothing in these situations. and it's just a matter of time before that philosophy bites us in the ass.

Excellent Win by the Dukes. Birdsong was better than he has ever been and made the Ticks pay for overplaying the run.

Good observation about our tackling, I think our defense tackles very well both at the line of scrimmage and open field.


... now if only our secondary can defend the pass a little better.

Tough to say the Dukes have a very good defense at this point, as they've allowed high point totals against the three legit teams they've played: 35 versus Akron, 29 versus DE and 31 versus Richmond. Teams have difficulty running against the Dukes...that's certainly fair to say. Need to shore up pass defense.

Rashard Davis has also shown flashes at wide-out, primarily on end-arounds. He's gotta be one of the fastest guys on the team. Problem with three true freshmen skill guys -- Davis, Ravenel and Abdullah -- is that they're all very small guys. That's why they slipped to JMU.

I believe and agree that Addullah appears to be a better runner than Scott. Scott can't seem to run effectively between the tackles and looks slow to me. Don't be surprised if he plays more slot receiver going forward.

Lambert looked like a player too...let's hope his thumb has healed to the point that he can contribute again (and without fumbling, of course).

Yes, Birdsong holds the ball too long.

One other bad thing: team could not move the ball after scoring 38 points, which allowed Richmond the chance to mount a comeback. You said that in a different way. Was it because of overly conservative play calling or a failure to execute?

(10-13-2013 08:41 AM)Dukes84 Wrote:  Tough to say the Dukes have a very good defense at this point, as they've allowed high point totals against the three legit teams they've played: 35 versus Akron, 29 versus DE and 31 versus Richmond. Teams have difficulty running against the Dukes...that's certainly fair to say. Need to shore up pass defense.

Rashard Davis has also shown flashes at wide-out, primarily on end-arounds. He's gotta be one of the fastest guys on the team. Problem with three true freshmen skill guys -- Davis, Ravenel and Abdullah -- is that they're all very small guys. That's why they slipped to JMU.

I believe and agree that Addullah appears to be a better runner than Scott. Scott can't seem to run effectively between the tackles and looks slow to me. Don't be surprised if he plays more slot receiver going forward.

Lambert looked like a player too...let's hope his thumb has healed to the point that he can contribute again (and without fumbling, of course).

Yes, Birdsong holds the ball too long.

One other bad thing: team could not move the ball after scoring 38 points, which allowed Richmond the chance to mount a comeback. You said that in a different way. Was it because of overly conservative play calling or a failure to execute?

the defense gave up a lot yesterday because we went to the "prevent yourself to win" defense.

before that, they played very well.

and we couldn't move the ball late because everyone knew MM was taking his foot off the gas. Especially Rocco who has battled with MM many times. He knew we were just going to run, run, run.

the most satisfying win in a few years. yeah, we let off the gas (Dukeman) at the end, but this team played well in most aspects of the game. gotta give Mickey credit, his best coached game in a while

- cut back on penalties
- lined up to go for it on 4th and 7, we drew UR offsides, Mick decides to kick the FG and we get 3
- we get the ball up 31-16, at the Richmond 40, I am expecting 3 handoffs, nope, 40 yard strike to DBrown for a TD
- not sure it was planned, but we had the ball, took a penalty in the last 2 minutes, and there was an additional 10 second run off, I may not have this right
- Mickey seemed to be taking what UR would give us, the first drive, they gave us the quick 8 yarders and we took it right down the field
- they took away the run with 8 in the box, so we threw it on them all day


Rocco - not that good a day -

- they couldnt score TDs in the redzone
- they had it on our 10 and ran that flanker run that takes the runner wide, 2 yard loss
- follow that with another run for 1 yard, then a pass play that is short of the endzone, end up with FG
- still not sure why they went for 2 so early and down 16 (38-22). take the extra point and be down 15. because they didnt get it, next time they scored to make it (38-28), they had to go for two again, and failed. Now we are up 10, two scores, and if they had taken the two extra points, we would have only been up 8. The last drive, they would have had the ball with a chance to tie with 2 pt conversion, DUMB_DUMB

anyways, i hate the spiders and am glad to see them go home losers. I heard second hand that UofR thought they were going to roll us That Rocco thought he could coach circles around Mickey. What is that now Rocco, 0-3?

Did Reynolds play at all yesterday?

looking at the box score.

they ran 88 plays, we ran 52

Kwe'shon Williams had 8 tackles. I remember hearing his name a few times on some good plays. he's a rFR.

(10-13-2013 08:46 AM)PGJMU Wrote:  What is that now Rocco, 0-3?

He's 1-4 vs. JMU in his HC career.

2009 - Liberty 24-10 L
2010 - Liberty 10-3 L
2011 - Liberty 27-24 L
2012 - Richmond 35-29 W
2013 - Richmond 38-31 L

Reynolds played a little bit as Mickey scolded Parrish for lining up incorrectly.
CB has not been solved 7 games into the season...

Good analysis. Birdsong had his best game of his short career yesterday. We have probably the best set of receivers I can recall us ever having. The kicking actually was pretty good.

Defensively, we tackle very well this year, but pass coverage continues to be our weakness. That problem almost let UR back into the game in the 4th Quarter.

Little discussed from what I've seen so far is that we were helped somewhat by a seriously lackluster performance by Strauss as compared to his play against us last year, and by some strange play calling IMHO by Coach Rocco. If this were not a home game and if the crowd and (especially) the MRDs were not raising hell whenever UR touched the ball the result might have been different.

this bye seems to come at a good time. heal up. get two more weeks to figure out what we have at DB. W&M will be coming off a tough game at Maine. Even two more weeks of practice for Birdsong will be huge given he missed much of summer camp.

Every game seems like a must win. We get that W&M game to go 6-2, I will feel much better about our direction. Still have Towson and Villanova who beat Towson last night.

does W&M stream their games? any way of watching our W&M game?

(10-13-2013 09:10 AM)PGJMU Wrote:  does W&M stream their games? any way of watching our W&M game?

http://www.tribeathletics.com/liveEvents...m_id=25100
https://www.nmnathletics.com//subs/Landi...IN=&gclid=

It looks like their school stream is the only video option. You'll have to subscribe at the $11 monthly rate and cancel after the game is over.

What's the ugly DD?

That one punt, I would say.

(10-13-2013 09:20 AM)Potomac Wrote:  

(10-13-2013 09:10 AM)PGJMU Wrote:  does W&M stream their games? any way of watching our W&M game?

http://www.tribeathletics.com/liveEvents...m_id=25100
https://www.nmnathletics.com//subs/Landi...IN=&gclid=

It looks like their school stream is the only video option. You'll have to subscribe at the $11 monthly rate and cancel after the game is over.

Wondering if Comcast will pick this one up

(10-13-2013 09:10 AM)PGJMU Wrote:  does W&M stream their games? any way of watching our W&M game?

It is a fun trip and Homecoming for W&M. Best way to see the Dukes is always in person - anyone else going?

We should expect a good game from the Tribe.

Really Good - for those at the game, we got to see Dukester receive a spirit Award for starting the streamers tradition. Congrats Dukester - well deserved.

Cool!!! Congrats 'ster!!!