I don't recall ever seeing a better defensive game at JMU and I have been watching a long time. URI receivers helped us out a lot with dropped passes, but I was starting to feel sorry for the Rams. Total domination. Let's hope it carries over to the rest of the season. BDK, time for some research.

Great defensive effort for sure,, but I'd chalk some up to offensive futility. Of, perhaps, historical proportions.

Infact...

Most everyone is familiar with the biggest rout in football history, Georgia Tech 222-0 over Cumberland College. Consider the following...

Cumberland QB Leon McDonald went 4-14 against Tech for 14 yards and 6 picks (5 pick 6s)

Rhody QB Vazzano may not have been much better at 4-24 12 yards and 5 picks (2 pick 6s)

Did URI really have dropped passes? They all seemed to be either 50/50 or to no one in particular. We've seen a lot of lowly teams in BFS...St. Francis, Lock Haven, Morehead, Alcorn... that URI performance has to be the worst I've seen.

URI had the worst offensive game I've ever seen in person. Their QB is horrible and his WR's did him no favors with multiple drops on short crossing routes in the first half. I think JMU's defense played very well although they weren't really tested by the Rams.

Andrew Ankarah has lost his mojo as a pass rusher. The Dukes need him to return to form as most opponents are forced to pass as the Dukes have established big leads. There is no time like this week as JMU faces a pass heavy team at Richmond.

(10-30-2016 11:18 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  URI had the worst offensive game I've ever seen in person. Their QB is horrible and his WR's did him no favors with multiple drops on short crossing routes in the first half. I think JMU's defense played very well although they weren't really tested by the Rams.

Andrew Ankarah has lost his mojo as a pass rusher. The Dukes need him to return to form as most opponents are forced to pass as the Dukes have established big leads. There is no time like this week as JMU faces a pass heavy team at Richmond.

Well, our opponents know his rep and I've watched several (not all) teams use their running backs to chip his outside shoulder or they'll keep their TEs in for max protection on pass plays to help out the tackles. I think this has helped Robinson get more pressure.

While I started this as a defensive thread I think it is noteworthy to point out that we have discovered a long ball game within our passing offense. 44 yarder to Ravenel and a 30 something to Davis, I think. We will need that going forward.

Also of note, the muddle huddle PAT formation shown early in the game. Clearly the coaches wanted to get that on film for our opponents to think about moving forward.

While we could have run the ball all day long against URI, passing with the proficiency that we did and hitting some long balls gives the SPATTERS some additional defensive worries. That said, this is the game we need to have our entire defensive effort come together and not simply rely on our offense outscoring them. We need pressure on Lauletta so he can fulfill his destiny of throwing a bunch of interceptions. Taylor, Jimmy, Rashad, Raven & company need to lock down their receivers while mixing in some effective blitzing to help out our D-Line.

A strong defensive statement would be to hold them to 200 yards total offense with strong red zone defense. Accomplish this and we have a very loud statement win.

The pass rush will be critical Saturday. Last year Lauletta threw for over 400 yards against the Dukes and he is the leading passer in the CAA again this year.
They do save some hits on him by bringing in #14 for QB run plays.
Should be very easy for the defense to recognize when he comes in

The good news is that Richmond has struggled on the ground this year. I believe they have lost 2 RB's to injury this year. Down and distance problems should give JMU lots of chances to make some game changing sacks.
Ankrah, the JMU Nation needs you to step up in the big game.
Only 1 sack this year and 10.5 sacks last year.

(10-31-2016 09:30 AM)AllForDukes Wrote:  While we could have run the ball all day long against URI, passing with the proficiency that we did and hitting some long balls gives the SPATTERS some additional defensive worries. That said, this is the game we need to have our entire defensive effort come together and not simply rely on our offense outscoring them. We need pressure on Lauletta so he can fulfill his destiny of throwing a bunch of interceptions. Taylor, Jimmy, Rashad, Raven & company need to lock down their receivers while mixing in some effective blitzing to help out our D-Line.

A strong defensive statement would be to hold them to 200 yards total offense with strong red zone defense. Accomplish this and we have a very loud statement win.

A W over RU by any means is a big statement. No elaboration needed.

(10-31-2016 09:30 AM)AllForDukes Wrote:  A strong defensive statement would be to hold them to 200 yards total offense with strong red zone defense. Accomplish this and we have a very loud statement win.

Not sure if AllforDukes has had a few morning cocktails.
JMU is not holding Richmond to 200 yards Saturday.
Richmond is one of the top teams in the country with an excellent QB and a stud receiver in Brian Brown.
This should be a high scoring game as long as the weather is decent

No cocktails, but since they have a difficult time running the ball they are functionally a one dimensional team. IF Brown can be neutralized ( and I believe he can be) they will have a very difficult time. Crank up the pressure and Lauletta is not nearly as effective. Frankly, I don't care how many yards they get as long as none of them reach the endzone. This is not the same team we played last year and I think we are going to prove it.

Who's the Richmond freshman with the long dreadlocks that seems pretty tall too? I know I could google it.

He's seemed like a tough RB in the UR games I've watched this season. The problem is he's the only RB I see consistently for them. I can't think of another one that has stood out.

I've watched a number of UR games this year. All the ones that have been on tv. They are obviously finding ways to win football games and are good overall, but they are far from a world beating team and I do think they're not as strong as last year.

They have done the following:

Win over what now is a very bad UVA team (2-6)

Win over a bad Norfolk State team (2-6)

Blown out by an above average Stony Brook team (5-3). SB's defense dominated them and Lauletta had a terrible game.

Close 7 point win over what looked like a good Colgate team at the time. Now they're (3-4). UR trailed them until 39 seconds before half time. They didn't go ahead in this game for good until 10 minutes remaining in the 3rd.

3 point win over the CAA's second worst team, Towson (1-7). Towson lead UR until 10 minutes remaining.

6 point Triple OT win over a once great but now fading Albany team (5-3). UR lead in this game until they let UA tie it with 1 minute remaining and then they had to go back and forth in overtime until Albany finally stumbled.

23 point shutout of a currently good Villanova team (6-2). This was definitely their most impressive win of the season. I did watch this game though and it was half UR's defense playing well and half Villanova's QB playing awful, then going out with injury, only for his back up to play even worse.

28 point blowout of Elon (2-6) but Elon held them to just a 6-0 halftime lead. They definitely started slow against an inferior opponent.

They keep winning, but for the most part, unimpressively.

This post is about D Fence but I think its gonna be a track meet....Offense vs Offense and who turns the ball over more will pay dearly.
Our defense has come a long ways since the beginning of the year but still have concerns. This is a huge test and if we can throttle them back by limiting the times in the endzone we will succeed.
Remember Defense wins championships and now is the time for them to GEL and show what caliber team JMU really is!
Other boards speak of signature wins well this is One of those times to earn that Signature win.
JMU Controls their own destiny and its time to write a new chapter in the 2016 JMU's Fight for Glory Story!

Throw out the stats and records. It is JMU vs. Richmond!
The best thing we have going for us is that it is at Richmond. Seems like the away team usually wins. Our turn.

The Defense is definitely better this year. What worries me is Richmond's O-Line and their tall receivers. Whenever they have tall receivers they give us serious trouble. Our D-Line is going to need to get pressure for most of the day without blitzing help. That will give our CBs help and get us out of any potential one-on-one coverage situations. We're going to need help over the top from our safetys. It's going to be a hell of a game!

The defensive effort at Vanillanova was the best I have seen in over 3 years. Talk about rising to the occasion!

(11-13-2016 08:51 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  The defensive effort at Vanillanova was the best I have seen in over 3 years. Talk about rising to the occasion!

I really believe the worst thing we do for our kids is play those cupcake games at the beginning of the season. They simply do not learn to play four quarters. It took a total meltdown at UNH to wake these guys up.

(10-30-2016 07:43 PM)BSKB 24 Wrote:  I don't recall ever seeing a better defensive game at JMU and I have been watching a long time. URI receivers helped us out a lot with dropped passes, but I was starting to feel sorry for the Rams. Total domination. Let's hope it carries over to the rest of the season. BDK, time for some research.

Yielded by defense this season:
vs URI 109 yards, 0 points (7 was on kick return) (45 yards came on last possession)
vs Morehead: 182 yards, 7 points.
vs VU 239 yards, 7 points
vs CCSU 224 yards, 14 points (other 7 was pick 6)

Last season 2 best were:
-Morehead: 252 yards, 7 points
-Elon to 289 yards/0 points

Best ever statistically against a CAA? Might be back 04' season. Held Top 5 at the time VU to 91 yards/0 points. But game was literally in a remnants of a hurricane monsoon. VU finished 6-5 & didn't make the playoffs.

Best against a playoff team (regular season or playoffs) prior to yesterday?. Might also be 04' vs Lehigh 1st round/round of 16: 237 yards/13 points.

The defensive performance vs VU had to be one of the best ever against a playoff opponent, regular season or playoffs.