(11-02-2026 07:53 AM)Uncle Rons Valet Wrote:  All of the factors from coaches to players earned that loss, but Thursday's loss falls equally on the crowd. The students filing out in the 2nd Quarter was shameful and you could feel the air come out of the stadium. We are a spoiled and still developing fanbase (I understand I am preaching to the choir here). We are far from the only school to deal with this issue, but we can't puff our chest out until we start to change that culture. It would have helped me if I was a Troy player to see a crowd bail before halftime.

There won't be just one fix, but having the students scan on their way out in the 4th Quarter or after the alma mater should earn them priority points for tickets. Same for attendance of other teams etc. Try to encourage the most passionate and the rest will follow. We have gotten better with the late arriving crowds, no reason we can't make progress here too.

The Pass Interference committed by the club section in the scoring drive by Troy was what started it all.
Those fumbles by Section 109 really did cost us the game. Damn you 109!

Dismiss all you want, from where I was sitting it played a role in the game.

Student section was half full 15+ minutes prior to kick. Noteworthy enough that I said something to my wife at the time. Now wondering if the early entrance contributed to early exit.

There are enough donors/sponsors/budget to start a "2K2H" (will let the marketing majors sort out the name). $2k worth of giveaways during the second half. Move the sing alongs, gamechangers recognition, etc. to first half. Nothing but student FG attempts, pass/punt/kick, matching game, races, contests, etc. to the second half. 8 TV timeouts, $250 a contest. Could probably make it "4K4Q" if you make some guarantee winners and some less likely (35 yard FG, punt/pass/kick).

Announced that X% of contestants are chosen from the two sections next to the band and/or first X rows of endzone seating to also encourage getting in early.

(11-02-2026 09:19 AM)Uncle Rons Valet Wrote:  Dismiss all you want, from where I was sitting it played a role in the game.

Can our crowd play a factor? Absolutely! Home field advantage is a thing.
But to claim that fans were equally responsible... sorry I just cannot buy that. If we're going that route, blame our admin for not having policies in place to keep fans there. People need to be fired if this is truly a cause for losing games. If fans are equally responsible, then punish them! They should never be allowed back into Bridgeforth. Heads must roll.

But here's the thing...

Fans leaving early is not a JMU thing. This is happening all over the country.
Plus this was on a Thursday night. It was the start of Halloween weekend. If you were at the game, the streets were lined up with students going to events/parties.
I'm not saying it's acceptable, but it is the life we are living right now. The game was just a part of their plans.

But you know those that it was most important to?
-Staff. They get paid to do this. It is literally their job. Regardless of the situation, they must perform and they must do their job. Did Napier blame the fans? Hell no. He blamed himself and his staff for not doing enough. They have way more control on the plays being run, making adjustments and limiting mistakes than anyone sitting in the bleachers.
-Players. The people there that paid a ticket to watch a game haven't been busting their ass all year. Those are the players. They were practicing all week to prepare for Troy. And for the first part of that game, they were absolutely showing their hard work was paying off. But then they starting committing penalties. Did the fans do that? They started turning the ball over... gave Troy 5 more possessions as a result. Did the fans have something to do with that? Hell no. The players did not keep their focus. The players did not execute. The players on the football team, not the fans, gave Troy that game on a silver platter.

I stayed the whole game. I was screaming my head off. LOTS of people were sitting on their hands. Why aren't they getting any of this blame? Maybe AD Roan should have told everyone to sit down in the lower bowl if it truly would have made a difference.

I love JMU. But I am no player. I'll do what I can to be loud for JMU, but when it all comes down to it, the players and the coaches have to do things on the field to win games. They also do things to lose games. Fans do not and if any coach wants to put this loss equally on the fan support... they need to be fired.

Edit. One last thing. We've played away games in empty stadiums with no home support to speak of and lost. I've also been to JMU games when the stadium was vacant and we've won games. We can make a difference, but we do not have equal blame here.

Equal is probably hyperbole, but I absolutely know that Troy felt it, you could see it on their sideline and I know Gerad Parker noticed it after rewatching the broadcast.

The more important issue is how to address it, because it absolutely is a factor. It's correct that we aren't alone, but if we want to walk around like the best fanbase in G6 than it needs to get better.

(11-02-2026 10:16 AM)Uncle Rons Valet Wrote:  Equal is probably hyperbole, but I absolutely know that Troy felt it, you could see it on their sideline and I know Gerad Parker noticed it after rewatching the broadcast.

The more important issue is how to address it, because it absolutely is a factor. It's correct that we aren't alone, but if we want to walk around like the best fanbase in G6 than it needs to get better.

I agree. The fans are absolutely a factor. And I also agree that we need to do better.
I really hope that our admin saw what we saw and can come up with ways to fix it.
Some of this absolutely comes down on the students. They need to be accountable as an important piece of this fan base and they just weren't good.
While we are among the top of the G6, I think Thursday night showed that we still have a lot of work to do to be considered the best. We just weren't and need to own it and not be try to spin it. It wasn't good.
I don't want to play the blame game here. Instead, I want it fixed and to do things to try to fix it. The worst thing we can do is nothing.

It was a Thursday night game on probably the biggest party weekend of the semester. Heck, even 20 years ago the Thursday before Halloween was a huge party night.

This game SHOULD have been over well before the 2nd half crowd ever entered the equation. Score once more when up 21-7, and it was over. Instead, the team collapsed.

The last couple weeks has been some of the most interesting fan fallout I've seen in my ___decades watching JMU sports. i don't like the way the losses "looked", but things happen.

My household has two teams. We cheer for Dukes and Ducks (my wife is an Oregon Alum). We are 7-2 right now with a new coaching staff and everything that goes along with that. We still have avenues to the championship game and who knows what else. What we can't do is control our destiny. I thought an 8-4 finish would be great.

Compare that to what the Ducks are experiencing. They now have three losses (with a likely 4th one coming against Ohio State) and are unranked after starting at number 2 in the nation. No chance at a conference championship, let alone their expected place in the CFP. This was a team that had almost all of the key starters from last year's playoff run intact. Yes, they lost their starting QB a few weeks ago, but there were serious issues before that occurred.

This last week, while I was trying not to throw things at the screen... She looked at me and just said something along the lines of... "Well, its not as bad as the ducks." Almost spat out my wine and then was able to enjoy just being able to watch a JMU game on tv, which is something I couldn't do for most of those ____ decades.

(11-02-2026 12:07 PM)JMUPortland Wrote:  The last couple weeks has been some of the most interesting fan fallout I've seen in my ___decades watching JMU sports. i don't like the way the losses "looked", but things happen.

My household has two teams. We cheer for Dukes and Ducks (my wife is an Oregon Alum). We are 7-2 right now with a new coaching staff and everything that goes along with that. We still have avenues to the championship game and who knows what else. What we can't do is control our destiny. I thought an 8-4 finish would be great.

Compare that to what the Ducks are experiencing. They now have three losses (with a likely 4th one coming against Ohio State) and are unranked after starting at number 2 in the nation. No chance at a conference championship, let alone their expected place in the CFP. This was a team that had almost all of the key starters from last year's playoff run intact. Yes, they lost their starting QB a few weeks ago, but there were serious issues before that occurred.

This last week, while I was trying not to throw things at the screen... She looked at me and just said something along the lines of... "Well, its not as bad as the ducks." Almost spat out my wine and then was able to enjoy just being able to watch a JMU game on tv, which is something I couldn't do for most of those ____ decades.

Obviously Oregon's confidence has been shaken, ever since being outscored 28-17 in the 2nd half to upstart JMU. As well as giving up 509 total yards to that lowly Slum Belt squad. And I can tell you as a Nebraska fan, that Raiola is vastly overrated. Still like his family though. Good people.

I had a similar discussion with my wife at a restaurant last night. She asked if I was disappointed that JMU was “only” 7-2 and I said no. I was surprised that JMU started 7-0 in a rebuild year where the talent level is significantly lower than last year, but we know the weak SOS played a part in the gaudy record.
I am not surprised JMU lost on the road at App State.
I was surprised JMU lost at home to Troy, but when you have 5 turnovers you will almost always lose even to the worst opponents.

I also had an 8-4 benchmark in my mind using Chesney’s 8-4 record in his rebuild year as an example of what is possible. Perhaps 9-3 might be a better benchmark since Va Tech wussied out and left JMU with zero P4 opponents this year.
7-2 so far, so good if you ask me. You will be hard pressed to find G6 teams who dominate in a complete rebuild year during the free agent transfer era. Year 2 is the true litmus test for me. Can Napier bring in more talented players after a full year of prep for the transfer portal? Can he retain some of the good players on the current roster? Will he produce an excellent team on the field next year?

The loss both of the last two weeks was primarily on our two QB system... well and on turnovers against Troy.

Shoot, if we had turned it over maybe just three times, we likely would've still held on and won. Even with a pick six.

If we bothered to account for a safety named Powe when he was clearly going off on us. I don't know, block him, box him out on a hail mary catch instead of standing there and watching him mug your teammate.... don't throw in his direction.... literally anything. We'd probably have won.

That failure to account for Powe is on the coaches and the QBs.

(11-02-2026 02:46 PM)Potomac Wrote:  The loss both of the last two weeks was primarily on our two QB system... well and on turnovers against Troy.

Shoot, if we had turned it over maybe just three times, we likely would've still held on and won. Even with a pick six.

If we bothered to account for a safety named Powe when he was clearly going off on us. I don't know, block him, box him out on a hail mary catch instead of standing there and watching him mug your teammate.... don't throw in his direction.... literally anything. We'd probably have won.

That failure to account for Powe is on the coaches and the QBs.

They should’ve known a guy with zero INTs this year and 3 total in the previous 3 seasons combined would’ve grabbed 3 against us?

(11-02-2026 02:46 PM)Potomac Wrote:  The loss both of the last two weeks was primarily on our two QB system... well and on turnovers against Troy.

Shoot, if we had turned it over maybe just three times, we likely would've still held on and won. Even with a pick six.

If we bothered to account for a safety named Powe when he was clearly going off on us. I don't know, block him, box him out on a hail mary catch instead of standing there and watching him mug your teammate.... don't throw in his direction.... literally anything. We'd probably have won.

That failure to account for Powe is on the coaches and the QBs.

One of the INT's went right where it needed to go. It bounced off the guys chest and the defender caught it. How was that the QBs fault? He put it exactly where it needed to go.
One of the fumbles was a HUGE pass and it was fumbled near the red zone. The QB did his job on that play. The WR needs to just hold onto the damn ball and we get points. Once again, how is that the QBs fault?
Putting the blame on a system that had us undefeated is a cop out. Blame the coaches? Sure, but it wasn't the 2 QB system that was to blame. Players need to execute. We handed Troy that game on a silver platter.
And what about that defensive drive that led to the TD? Even Napier said it was a 4 point play. We had them stopped for a FG and instead it put them in position for a TD. The QB system had nothing to do with that.
Evans absolutely was to blame for that pick 6. But I don't think the system was the problem. The QB was the problem. Blaming it on the system is giving Evans a pass on what was a terrible decision.

Edit- Evans threw the INT- thanks fishingduke12

(11-03-2026 08:56 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  

(11-02-2026 02:46 PM)Potomac Wrote:  The loss both of the last two weeks was primarily on our two QB system... well and on turnovers against Troy.

Shoot, if we had turned it over maybe just three times, we likely would've still held on and won. Even with a pick six.

If we bothered to account for a safety named Powe when he was clearly going off on us. I don't know, block him, box him out on a hail mary catch instead of standing there and watching him mug your teammate.... don't throw in his direction.... literally anything. We'd probably have won.

That failure to account for Powe is on the coaches and the QBs.

One of the INT's went right where it needed to go. It bounced off the guys chest and the defender caught it. How was that the QBs fault? He put it exactly where it needed to go.
One of the fumbles was a HUGE pass and it was fumbled near the red zone. The QB did his job on that play. The WR needs to just hold onto the damn ball and we get points. Once again, how is that the QBs fault?
Putting the blame on a system that had us undefeated is a cop out. Blame the coaches? Sure, but it wasn't the 2 QB system that was to blame. Players need to execute. We handed Troy that game on a silver platter.
And what about that defensive drive that led to the TD? Even Napier said it was a 4 point play. We had them stopped for a FG and instead it put them in position for a TD. The QB system had nothing to do with that.
Coleman absolutely was to blame for that pick 6. But I don't think the system was the problem. The QB was the problem. Blaming it on the system is giving Coleman a pass on what was a terrible decision.

Evans threw the pick six but the other points are valid

(11-03-2026 08:56 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Putting the blame on a system that had us undefeated is a cop out. Blame the coaches? Sure, but it wasn't the 2 QB system that was to blame. Players need to execute. We handed Troy that game on a silver platter.


Edit- Evans threw the INT- thanks fishingduke12

Players don't execute as well when they have to work with two different passers. Rhythms are different, throws are different, etc. Switching them when you don't need to makes that harder, and that is a coach's choice.

Now maybe the players need to execute anyway, and that's just your expectation. But it's not realistic to say "welp, I did my job" if you chose to deploy the team in a system that they weren't optimally prepared to use.

I know I'm being nit-picky. Lots of things went wrong last week, and the blame pretty much goes all over.

(11-03-2026 01:14 PM)94computerguy Wrote:  

(11-03-2026 08:56 AM)JMad03 Wrote:  Putting the blame on a system that had us undefeated is a cop out. Blame the coaches? Sure, but it wasn't the 2 QB system that was to blame. Players need to execute. We handed Troy that game on a silver platter.


Edit- Evans threw the INT- thanks fishingduke12

Players don't execute as well when they have to work with two different passers. Rhythms are different, throws are different, etc. Switching them when you don't need to makes that harder, and that is a coach's choice.

Now maybe the players need to execute anyway, and that's just your expectation. But it's not realistic to say "welp, I did my job" if you chose to deploy the team in a system that they weren't optimally prepared to use.

I know I'm being nit-picky. Lots of things went wrong last week, and the blame pretty much goes all over.

This is it in my opinion.
Let's say Coleman went down and Evans came in to sub for him.
Evans throws an interception. Would that be seen as acceptable? I doubt it.
A player needs to be ready to go at any given time. And when their number is called, they need to execute. Evans was called and he threw an INT.
To blame the system lets Evans off the hook. He's the one that threw the INT. He could have played the whole game and still threw that INT and still would have been unacceptable. The argument could be made that had he played the whole game maybe he wouldn't have. But just a week before Coleman played most of that game and threw an untimely INT that led to an App State TD.
Two separate QBs put in similar situations. In both cases you cannot turn the ball over and both did just that.

I think the tougher pill to swallow was starting 7-0 and truly believing we could run the table. After the App game I was like ok, we can still do some magic just like in 2023. After the Troy loss I still feel like we can finish 10-2 but it’s going to take support from all involved. Players, coaches and fans. I was calling for Napiers head last Thursday like a dummy, but it was just because I was irrationally upset about a loss that really shouldn’t have happened. Oh well, **** happens. 7-2 is good for a rebuild year with EVERYONE new aside from a handful. It sucks seeing our name drop out of the CFP conversation but I knew realistically that was a pipe dream from the start.

Go 1-0 the remainder of the season. Can’t believe it’s already almost over. Feels like it just started.

Posted 17 hrs ago, already 140k views.
Edit: And UF fans are just piling on..

(Yesterday 11:04 AM)BDKJMU Wrote:  Posted 17 hrs ago, already 140k views.

Unless a coach goes undefeated, and even then, they'll always be critics.

(Yesterday 11:08 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(Yesterday 11:04 AM)BDKJMU Wrote:  Posted 17 hrs ago, already 140k views.

Unless a coach goes undefeated, and even then, they'll always be critics.

PFT is the modern shock sports radio host. Some of what he says is just for attention.

I absolutely agree that what we saw in certain clock situations against Troy is inexcusable for an 8th yr HC at this level. The situational game management was atrocious.