I can see Cignetti trying to slow the game down early on to try to avoid a shootout. Let's just hope the defense can hold up. Better offense than Villanova and they moved the ball well against us.

JMU’s defense has historically done very well against pocket passers. I believe that will be the difference. JMU will dial up blitzes if necessary and make Kelley throw quickly.

A top offense against a top defense. Sounds like a battle worth watching.

(11-28-2021 02:40 PM)fishingduke12 Wrote:  I can see Cignetti trying to slow the game down early on to try to avoid a shootout. Let's just hope the defense can hold up. Better offense than Villanova and they moved the ball well against us.

I tend to agree but slowing the game down means using up every bit of the game clock which hasn't been a strength of ours this season unfortunately. It requires good time management fundamentals which this coaching staff hasn't shown it possesses.

(11-28-2021 02:58 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  JMU’s defense has historically done very well against pocket passers. I believe that will be the difference. JMU will dial up blitzes if necessary and make Kelley throw quickly.

A top offense against a top defense. Sounds like a battle worth watching.

But he isn’t strictly a pocket passer. He has more rushing attempts than anyone on the team and more yards and 16 rushing TD’s. And that is on top of throwing for over 400 yards per game. He is almost a one man team.
He is slow though so I agree JMU can get pressure on him and team speed should limit his rush yards whether it is designed runs or on the scramble. We may not need to blitz if the D-line plays to its ability. I expect huge games from Greene, Carter, and Ukwu.

What is the record for pass yards given up by JMU?
I assume McCormick will still be out and he is the best CB which is saying a lot because he has been toast often in his career, but not as much as Ross has been in one season.
CB is the weak spot on this defense and I expect lots of pass yards to be conceded. Just mix in some sacks and a pick or two. That should be enough to give JMU separation on the scoreboard.

Does anyone have any insight on what day/time we will play if we beat SELA?

I assume the 7PM slot on Friday?

(11-28-2021 04:38 PM)14SemesterDuke Wrote:  Does anyone have any insight on what day/time we will play if we beat SELA?

I assume the 7PM slot on Friday?

I heard on podcast depending we may get the 12PM Saturday slot because we are one of the very few on East coast, not sure if that is true or not but would be sweet.

Austin Douglas' brother, Justin, is a sophomore DB for SELA. He's listed on the two deep as a backup at their STAR position.

(11-28-2021 04:47 PM)sekudog Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 04:38 PM)14SemesterDuke Wrote:  Does anyone have any insight on what day/time we will play if we beat SELA?

I assume the 7PM slot on Friday?

I heard on podcast depending we may get the 12PM Saturday slot because we are one of the very few on East coast, not sure if that is true or not but would be sweet.

I would love the Saturday slot.

(11-28-2021 10:53 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  Except SELA beat Villanova last year in a shootout.

Not last year. And it was @ SELA. In 2019 that was a very injured VU team, esp secondary. As I recall VU came into that game missong 2-3 strters in the secondary, and by the end of it all 4 I think. Mostly completely different personnell from 2 years ago.

VU lost 45-44 due to a blown PAT and had a 4th qtr TD taken away due to a fabricated offensive pass interference. Horrendous call.
https://247sports.com/college/villanova/...139579893/

(11-28-2021 05:12 PM)BDKJMU Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 10:53 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  Except SELA beat Villanova last year in a shootout.

Not last year. And it was @ SELA. In 2019 that was a very injured VU team, esp secondary. As I recall VU came into that game missong 2-3 strters in the secondary, and by the end of it all 4 I think. Mostly completely different personnell from 2 years ago.

VU lost 45-44 due to a blown PAT and had a 4th qtr TD taken away due to a fabricated offensive pass interference. Horrendous call.
https://247sports.com/college/villanova/...139579893/

Ah man forgot that awful call was against SELA. That was absolutely brutal.

(11-28-2021 03:02 PM)JMU1987UVA1998 Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 02:40 PM)fishingduke12 Wrote:  I can see Cignetti trying to slow the game down early on to try to avoid a shootout. Let's just hope the defense can hold up. Better offense than Villanova and they moved the ball well against us.

I tend to agree but slowing the game down means using up every bit of the game clock which hasn't been a strength of ours this season unfortunately. It requires good time management fundamentals which this coaching staff hasn't shown it possesses.

Agree that our time management hasnt been good at all this year but the best way to stop a high powered offense is to keep them off the field so they need to figure it out. SELA has been in shootouts all year long, we havent and I really dont want our first taste of one to be in the playoffs

(11-28-2021 04:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 02:58 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  JMU’s defense has historically done very well against pocket passers. I believe that will be the difference. JMU will dial up blitzes if necessary and make Kelley throw quickly.

A top offense against a top defense. Sounds like a battle worth watching.

But he isn’t strictly a pocket passer. He has more rushing attempts than anyone on the team and more yards and 16 rushing TD’s. And that is on top of throwing for over 400 yards per game. He is almost a one man team.
He is slow though so I agree JMU can get pressure on him and team speed should limit his rush yards whether it is designed runs or on the scramble. We may not need to blitz if the D-line plays to its ability. I expect huge games from Greene, Carter, and Ukwu.

What is the record for pass yards given up by JMU?
I assume McCormick will still be out and he is the best CB which is saying a lot because he has been toast often in his career, but not as much as Ross has been in one season.
CB is the weak spot on this defense and I expect lots of pass yards to be conceded. Just mix in some sacks and a pick or two. That should be enough to give JMU separation on the scoreboard.

No way do I believe we should rely on our defensive line to get to Kelley. SLU has a pretty good offensive line. Don't get me wrong, our D-line is going to beat them, but we need to be in Kelley's grill in a microsecond. That means blitzing backers and d-backs. We should also have a spy on Kelley. He is the whole team. He should not be difficult to defend against. The key is not allowing him a split second to find receivers. He is going to get the ball to RBs on the corners, especially to the left. We have to be all over that.

We don't have to "expect lots of pass yards to be conceded." Running for his life is not something Kelley is used to. He is going to be very frustrated and mistake-prone next Saturday. I see many sacks and multiple picks.

Kelley is going to spend a lot of time flat on his back come Saturday and a lot of time flat on his back on a therapist's couch in the future trying to figure out what happened to him on 12/4/2021!

Go, Dukes! Kick 'dey ass!

We know Heatherman blitzes alot, just saying he may not have to rely on it to get pressure. I put JMU D-line sacks at +/- 3 with Mike Greene getting constant pressure up the middle. Woe be the lions if they mistakenly choose to not double team him on some plays.
Throw in a couple of LB or safety sacks and JMU could get 5 or more for the game.

When you pass 40-50 times every game, there will be more opps for sacks. JMU is the best defense they have seen all year by far. Even better than 3-8 FBS La Tech who had 3 sacks against them.

I don’t see how they will maintain a full game of error free offense being one dimensional against the Dukes.
Should be a high scoring game and really high scoring for JMU. Is there an over/under line? Would be interesting to see what the experts think.

As I recall the over/under vs Soft Houston in 2016 was 81. As JMU was up 65-0 late 3rd (9 TDs, FG, missaed PAT), probably could have gotten 79 or 86 if kept foot on gas.

Think we’ll see an over/under in the 70s for Sat…

(11-28-2021 05:51 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 04:23 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 02:58 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  JMU’s defense has historically done very well against pocket passers. I believe that will be the difference. JMU will dial up blitzes if necessary and make Kelley throw quickly.

A top offense against a top defense. Sounds like a battle worth watching.

But he isn’t strictly a pocket passer. He has more rushing attempts than anyone on the team and more yards and 16 rushing TD’s. And that is on top of throwing for over 400 yards per game. He is almost a one man team.
He is slow though so I agree JMU can get pressure on him and team speed should limit his rush yards whether it is designed runs or on the scramble. We may not need to blitz if the D-line plays to its ability. I expect huge games from Greene, Carter, and Ukwu.

What is the record for pass yards given up by JMU?
I assume McCormick will still be out and he is the best CB which is saying a lot because he has been toast often in his career, but not as much as Ross has been in one season.
CB is the weak spot on this defense and I expect lots of pass yards to be conceded. Just mix in some sacks and a pick or two. That should be enough to give JMU separation on the scoreboard.

No way do I believe we should rely on our defensive line to get to Kelley. SLU has a pretty good offensive line. Don't get me wrong, our D-line is going to beat them, but we need to be in Kelley's grill in a microsecond. That means blitzing backers and d-backs. We should also have a spy on Kelley. He is the whole team. He should not be difficult to defend against. The key is not allowing him a split second to find receivers. He is going to get the ball to RBs on the corners, especially to the left. We have to be all over that.

We don't have to "expect lots of pass yards to be conceded." Running for his life is not something Kelley is used to. He is going to be very frustrated and mistake-prone next Saturday. I see many sacks and multiple picks.

Kelley is going to spend a lot of time flat on his back come Saturday and a lot of time flat on his back on a therapist's couch in the future trying to figure out what happened to him on 12/4/2021!

Go, Dukes! Kick 'dey ass!

Are you thinking we should plan on playing with more than 11 guys on defense? The opening two drives SLA was running quick 5-10 yard routes. The more we blitz the more those are open especially since they run a ton of 4 and 5 receiver sets. There are not enough players on defense to do what youre suggesting.

Best way to beat the blitz is to get the ball out quick and I'm pretty sure SELA is going to do exactly that after watching tape on our defense and Hetherman's tendencies

Best way to stop great qbs is pressure with the front four. Look at what the giants did to brady in the two super bowls and look at Mahomes this year. Teams stopped blitzing him and he is having by far his worst year

Several people keep mentioning how bad of a pass defense we have. We are ranked #10 in the country.

JMU will give up a few plays here and there but no one has scored more than 28 on us this year and that team is currently ranked #5 in the country.

A lot of points have come late in games too when JMU has big leads. I think it goes without saying that the defense is going to guard against giving up a big play late in games where we have a big lead. Make the offense earn it and burn clock doing so.

I believe the criticism of our pass defense is a bit unfair. You can’t expect the Dukes to shut everything down for 4 quarters. Other teams will make plays sometimes.

(11-28-2021 07:17 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  Several people keep mentioning how bad of a pass defense we have. We are ranked #10 in the country.

JMU will give up a few plays here and there but no one has scored more than 28 on us this year and that team is currently ranked #5 in the country.

A lot of points have come late in games too when JMU has big leads. I think it goes without saying that the defense is going to guard against giving up a big play late in games where we have a big lead. Make the offense earn it and burn clock doing so.

I believe the criticism of our pass defense is a bit unfair. You can’t expect the Dukes to shut everything down for 4 quarters. Other teams will make plays sometimes.

I think those numbers are hiding the fact we played 3 starting QBs all year, Moorehead, Nova, and Campbell. All the other backups rarely threw the ball.

(11-28-2021 11:17 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 11:08 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  I hope all these folks are right. Sure seems optimistic considering our offense’s allergy to the endzone in our games vs RU, W&M and Campbell.

We hung 51 on Campbell, 45 on Elon and 56 on Towson. I expect a similar caliber of defense, and that is what SELA has shown this year outside of FAMU.

IF SELA could find a way to win, it would be something like a 48-45 victory for them. Our defense is better than this I believe.

Oops, meant Delaware.

I knew JMU was having a stellar year in turnovers, but didn’t realize they lead the nation in turnover margin. Normally that would give me pause to think the team is not as good as it’s record, but the dukes don’t have a ton of takeaways that can at times be circumstantial.
They do have the least turnovers lost of any team at only 7 for the year.

In my mind that is the most critical element of JMU making a run in the playoffs. If they continue to have zero or 1 turnover per game, then they can beat any team in the field. I don’t think they have enough talent this year to overcome a turnover deficit against a playoff team.
When the weather starts getting crappy, will Cig get more conservative and have JMU running more? Could be tough sledding with JMu’s worst rushing team in many years. No problem against SELa. Someone like Montana or ND State will salivate at JMU trying to run more.
Can we get the valley weather gal to dial up good weather the next several weekends?

(11-28-2021 07:19 PM)fishingduke12 Wrote:  

(11-28-2021 07:17 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  Several people keep mentioning how bad of a pass defense we have. We are ranked #10 in the country.

JMU will give up a few plays here and there but no one has scored more than 28 on us this year and that team is currently ranked #5 in the country.

A lot of points have come late in games too when JMU has big leads. I think it goes without saying that the defense is going to guard against giving up a big play late in games where we have a big lead. Make the offense earn it and burn clock doing so.

I believe the criticism of our pass defense is a bit unfair. You can’t expect the Dukes to shut everything down for 4 quarters. Other teams will make plays sometimes.

I think those numbers are hiding the fact we played 3 starting QBs all year, Moorehead, Nova, and Campbell. All the other backups rarely threw the ball.

How many top level QBs are there is FCS now? With the new transfer rules, not as many as there use to be. Watching some of the games yesterday, I didn’t see a lot of high level QB play.

Until somebody torches us, I am not buying that our secondary is bad. I think because JMU blitzes so much, the secondary has to play on an island a lot. Ours is a risk/reward defense.