Just an update that I haven’t died of some rare disease.  I am just extremely swamped with law school stuff.  In fact until Matt Tremonte mentioned my blog today, I had completely forgotten about it.  So just wanted to drop a line that I’m on hiatus from this until law school dies down a bit/JMU football season heats up.  I’ll be back later with thoughts on the postseason that could’ve been, first-hand accounts of the Arctic JMU/Montana game, and what I think of the new recruits and the upcoming season with our new offensive leader, Drew Dudzik.

Until then take care and GO DUKES!!
Cam

So to make this easier on me and you since I have been quite busy lately, I direct you to the ever cognizant Bruce Dowd from College Sporting News and his playoff explanations and predicitions.  It’s a very well written in depth article and should answer any questions people have.  Another plug I’ll put in is for the new FCS Bracketology site.  A simple yet fantastic site that is update weekly based on all the goings on in FCS.

Now, on to the game of the week!  JMU (8-1, 6-0) is poised to make history this weekend in many forms.  They are trying to win seven conference games for the first time ever, win the automatic bid for the first time ever, and take down a top 15 team for the fifth time in a season which would also be a first.

Of course they have a formidable foe to get through in order to accomplish these feats.  The Tribe of William & Mary (7-2, 5-1) have shot up the ranks by winning five straight conference games and can swipe the automatic bid from the Dukes if they can win this one.  They have been averaging 34 points a game and have relied mostly on the pass, something that has hurt the Dukes’ defense this year.  Luckily for JMU, they are playing at home where the defense has been stout, allowing only 15 points a game.  The Tribe have never faced a defense like that and there’s something else they’ve never faced:

SCOTTY MCGEE! YOU. ARE. RIDICULOUS!!!

Yes sir.  The Devin Hester of DI-AA.  McGee has four return touchdowns this season which is a school record.  Something tells me the Tribe will get cocky at some point and send the ball his way but as NC Central, App State, Richmond and Delaware will all tell you: DON’T KICK TO HIM!

In other CAA news, UMass is pretty much gone after its shocking 21-20 defeat at home to Maine.

Liam Coen sits dejected as he watches the game and most likely the season end for his Minutemen.

The Minutemen have one last shot to impress the committee by upsetting New Hampshire in Durham this weekend but they will still be a longshot.  This is shocking considering UMass has one of the most lethal passing offenses in the country.  In the end it seems that their defense did them in and they will miss the playoffs.  It’s too bad that one of the best aerial displays won’t be around in the postseason but I’d be lying if I said I was not relieved to know this.

All photos courtesy of College Sporting News.

What a rush.  Combine that with Scotty McGee’s punt return for a touchdown against Richmond two weeks prior to that and I feel like I’ve aged 20 years.  Needless to say, it has been a magical season so far.  I won’t go into “Team of Destiny” like a lot of others have because it has become somewhat cliche.  I’d rather talk about the fact that we are a really good football team that has been able to overcome adversity and injuries to sit atop the toughest conference in I-AA with three games left to play and sit atop the rankings as well.

Coach Matthews and company celebrate the Hail Mary touchdown that beat Villanova

JMU did a lot of things right in the game to start off.  They did not seem phased at all by the weather and quickly got up 14-0 on two, yes TWO Rodney Landers touchdown passes including one to Rockheed McCarter in which it didn’t appear Villanova knew he was on the field.

Then it seemed like the Dukes got too conservative on both sides and allowed the Cats to get back in the game.  A major liability was our run defense that constantly allowed their QB Chris Whitney to scramble up the middle for big yardage and continue drives.  It seemed like the complete opposite of the Appalachian State game where JMU came out strong but finished flat and needed the miracle at the end to win.  But a good team is able to get the job done when it needs to and JMU had one last drive left in them.

It actually has gotten to the point that when Villanova had to punt the ball away with just over a minute remaining, I was pretty confident we were going to at least get a field goal.  I also join the clamours on the message boards saying Scotty McGee should have won the special teams player of the week even though he never touched the ball.  He really has become the Devin Hester of I-AA in that teams are sacrificing field position just so he can’t get a return.  We need to cherish these next two years that he is on our team because it has been special (no pun intended) to watch.

In more news, ESPN2 is televising the titanic matchup in Boone this evening between App State and Wofford.  This game will most likely decide the Southern conference champion and who has the inside track to at least the #2 seed in the playoffs.  Both teams come in undefeated in conference play and off convincing wins last week versus rival foes.  Wofford obliterated then #3 Elon in Burlington, 55-20 which means it will probably still get a playoff spot if it loses tonight.  The Terriers aren’t thinking that way though after they knocked off the Mountaineers in Spartanburg last year which, a lot of people forget, paved the way to their conference championship.

App State meanwhile is fresh off a 26-14 victory over the always tough Furman Paladins.  State has had a similar season to the Dukes in that there have been one or two convincing wins and then a Great Escape which for them was Georgia Southern two weeks ago.  The Eagles, down one, were driving in App State territory when they fumbled the ball away (sound familiar JMU fans?).  Nevertheless, App is one of the toughest teams in the country especially at home where they’ve only lost once in the last 37 games.  It should be a fantastic game so tune in.

As far as the playoff situation goes, once again some changes are in the air.  Northern Arizona’s playoff hopes are all but gone after losing to Weber State 42-14.  The Wildcats meanwhile will be in if they win out.  Southern Illinois almost went out until they pulled a JMU and beat Missouri State with a 51 yard hail mary on the final play of the game.  McNeese State was almost in the playoffs until last Saturday’s clunker at home to Nicholls State, losing 38-25 which puts the Cowboys out.

Hampton is also now looking in with the rest of them after getting spanked at South Carolina State, 35-13.  The Bulldogs are now the only undefeated MEAC team and can be placed in the bracket.

The OVC has been shaken up too with Tennessee State being upset and Tennessee Martin knocking off previously #21 Jacksonville State.  The Skyhawks now have a half game lead in the conference and will be placed in the mix while TSU is gone for now.

In the CAA, we can still keep JMU, Villanova, Richmond and New Hampshire but keep an eye out for William and Mary who have skyrocketed to #16 in the nation and are making a case for a bid.  We’ll have to see how it pans out before they get a place though.

For the Southern Conference, App and Wofford are secure and nothing may change if the game is close tonight.  Elon however has issues.  While the Phoenix will keep a spot for now, their drubbing at home by Wofford will have the committee wondering if they’re for real.  They still have to play Furman and App so things are not looking to good.  They stay in the bracket but are right on the bubble.

Potential Bracket as of this week:

1 JAMES MADISON v. Elon

RICHMOND v. Central Arkansas

NORTHERN IOWA v. New Hampshire

4 CAL POLY v. Weber State

3 WOFFORD v. South Carolina State

MONTANA v. Southern Illinois

VILLANOVA v. Lafayette

2 APPALACHIAN STATE v. Tennessee-Martin

Griff Yancey helped JMU rout Villanova, 35-7 in Harrisonburg last year. The going won't be as easy this year.

James Madison has so far played the best football since its national championship year in 2004 and they are going to need to be on the top of their game this Saturday as they face a very game Villanova team that should be ranked higher than 7.  The Wildcats have absolutely manhandled every team they have played including Richmond at least according to Coach Matthews who stated that ‘Nova should have beaten them by more than they did.

It should be noted that JMU is about to face its fourth top 10 team this year.  This is incredible and will go down as the one of the toughest schedules in the history of I-AA.  What will be more incredible is if the Dukes get past Villanova because that would make them 4-0 against top 10 teams.  Hopefully JMU will be prepared to go against arguably their toughest test yet.  GO DUKES!

Onto the new playoff predictions!

We first start with notable updates from the Big Eight conferences.  Southern Illinois routed Youngstown State, 33-0 to help keep its inside track in the Mizzou Valley.  In the Ohio Valley, Tennessee State eeked out a win over Austin Peay, 37-34 to stay undefeated and atop the conference.  While we won’t know much about the Patriot league for awhile, we’ll keep Lafayette atop after their convincing win over Liberty last weekend.  There’s no change for now in the Southern conference but crucial games await this weekend when #4 Wofford travels to Elon to take on the 3rd ranked Phoenix while #2 App State hosts 18th ranked Furman.  By the end of Saturday, we will know who the power teams are there.  Finally, the MEAC title may be on the line this weekend as the Hampton Pirates travel to South Carolina State in a battle of the only two undefeated teams.  Hampton stays for now.

Liberty is now gone thanks to their lackluster performance.  We can also eliminate UMass after the Minutemen were routed at home by Richmond.  Those two eliminations open the door for Northern Iowa and New Hampshire to slide in.   Here’s how the new matchups could look:

1 JAMES MADISON v. Hampton

NORTHERN IOWA v. Central Arkansas

VILLANOVA v. Lafayette

4 WOFFORD v. Richmond

3 ELON v. Northern Arizona

MONTANA v. Cal Poly

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS v. New Hampshire

2 APPALACHIAN STATE v. Tennessee State

Scotty McGee celebrates his game-winning punt return TD against Richmond as James Madison remained undefeated in conference play.

Meanwhile, we are well into the heart of the football season.  It is hard to believe that it is more than halfway done but that only makes the excitement build as the playoff picture starts to take shape.  That being said, it is time to start looking where teams stand and what their chances are of getting into the FCS dance.

Once again the CAA has shown that it is, top to bottom, the best conference in the country.  As proof I offer just some results from last weekend: William & Mary, considered on the lower end of the conference, upsets #4 New Hampshire in Durham; Delaware, a finalist in the championship just last year, gets beaten at home by once lowly Maine who has shown they can hang with anyone.  How about Northeastern who is lighting up scoreboards on any foe they face?  They could easily knock out UNH this weekend.  Towson has a fantastic offense behind QB Sean Schaefer. Even though they don’t have the wins to prove it, I’d bet on them against most teams from the other conferences.

These are all arguments in what has become an annual rant for me saying that no less than five teams from the CAA should be in the 16 team bracket.  Sure I’ll give credit to the Southern or Missouri Valley Conferences when their teams start playing some decent competition and they prove they should be in the talk.

Now, let’s first understand a few things about the playoffs.  The Ivy League and the Southwestern Athletic Conference abstain from postseason play for their own reasons but that does not really affect anything as no team for either of those conferences are in the top 25.

Next we look at the conferences that get automatic berths for winning the overall title.  The following are the eight conferences with the teams that right now look like they are in the best position to win the overall title:

Big Sky – Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

Colonial – James Madison Dukes

Missouri Valley (formerly Gateway) – Southern Illinois Salukis

Mid-Eastern Athletic – Hampton Pirates

Ohio Valley – Tennessee State Tigers

Patriot – Lafayette Leopards

Southern – Appalachian State Mountaineers

Southland – Central Arkansas Bears

That leaves us with eight spots to fill with each of the previous conferences eligible for at-large births along with four other conferences: Great West, Big South, Northeast, and Pioneer.  This does not mean that a team from any of those four conferences will get in.  It all depends on how they measure up against the teams from the Big Eight.

In fact, there are really only two teams who look like they could come out from the other four: Cal Poly and Liberty.  So if we take those two, that leaves six spots from the Big Eight which means that there will be some very good teams missing out.

So let’s say we look first at the CAA:  Richmond and Villanova have to get in.  UMass and New Hampshire are on the bubble but have very strong resumes.  But let’s go ahead and give two spots to the CAA here.

Southern is next:  Elon and Wofford look good to get in. Other than that, it’s tough to make arguments. So give them two as well.

That leaves two more spots up for grabs.  Montana will grab one if they stay on course due to their preceding reputation and the committee will have to decide on the last one.  I think there is no argument that we give it to either UMass or New Hampshire.  Four CAA teams is a must and right now let’s just say UMass gets it based on being ranked higher and looking like the more consistent team.

So here are the 16 playoff teams:  Northern Arizona, James Madison, Southern Illinois, Hampton, Tennessee State, Lafayette, Appalachian State, Central Arkansas, Richmond, Villanova, UMass, Elon, Wofford, Montana, Cal Poly, Liberty.

Now for the matchups, the committee tries to pair teams in terms of location so that first round trips aren’t too burdensome on the away team.  There are positives and negatives to this but generally there hasn’t been much opposition to it.  Based on rankings, relative location and making sure to have inter-conference matchups, here are possible matchups (home team in caps):

1 JAMES MADISON vs. Liberty

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS vs. Central Arkansas

UMASS vs. Lafayette

4 WOFFORD vs. Richmond

3 ELON vs. Hampton

MONTANA vs. Cal Poly

VILLANOVA vs. Northern Arizona

2 APPALACHIAN STATE vs. Tennessee State

The only problem location-wise seems to be N. Arizona having to come across the country to play Villanova but those are the breaks sometimes (just ask Wofford who had to go to Montana in the first round last year).  This will definitely change as the weeks progress but its nice that we’re back in this part of the year.

Well with summer in full swing that means only one thing: FOOTBALL!!  And to help accommodate our need for the pigskin, AnyGivenSaturday.com has released the first official FCS poll of the 2008 season and the JMU Dukes have been ranked #2.

The Dukes also received two first place votes and placed second behind only their new nemesis, the Appalachian State Mountaineers. App State deservedly landed in the #1 spot as the three time defending national champs are set to go after another title with a team that is still somewhat the same. Hopefully JMU will put a stop to that on September 20th when they face ASU in Harrisonburg.

Thanks to AnyGivenSaturday.com for the poll and here is the full list:

2008 AnyGivenSaturday Preseason Top 25

(First place votes in parenthesis)

1. Appalachian State (76)

2. James Madison (2)

3. Richmond (1)

4. North Dakota State (2)

5. Northern Iowa

6. Massachusetts

7. Montana

8. McNeese State

9. Eastern Washington

10. Wofford

11. Delaware

12. Southern Illinois

13. Cal Poly (1)

14. Youngstown State

15. Elon

16. Georgia Southern

17. Villanova

18. South Dakota State

19. Eastern Illinois

20. New Hampshire

21. The Citadel

22. Eastern Kentucky

23. Fordham

24. Yale

25. Furman

Name: University of Massachusetts Amherst

Nickname: Minutemen

Founded: 1863

Student Body Population: Approx. 25,000 with Graduates

Located: In the town of Amherst in western Massachusetts about two hours from Boston

Colors: Maroon and White

Mascot: Sam the Minuteman

Fun Academic Fact: UMass Amherst is part of the Five Colleges Consortium which allows its students to attend classes, borrow books, work with professors, etc., at four other Pioneer Valley institutions: Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges.

- UMass and UMaine were both founded under the Land Grant Act signed by President Lincoln in 1862.

MASSACHUSETTS FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Don Brown, 5th Year (38-12)

STADIUM: Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium

Opened in 1965, McGuirk Stadium has a capacity of 17,000 and has seen the Minutemen win 17 conference titles most recently in 2007. The stadium was named after Warren McGuirk who served as UMass’ Director of Athletics from 1948 to 1971. For how long the stadium will be around is uncertain due to an increasing call for the Minutemen to play in the I-A Bowl Subdivision which would require increasing the seating or building a new facility.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

UMass football was going nowhere fast in the 90s until then head coach Mark Whipple did an overhaul and turned a ragtag team into national champions in what seemed like overnight. In fact it was. The previous year, UMass had gone 2-9, but in 1998, the Minutemen went 13-2 culminating with a 55-43 thrashing of previously top ranked and unbeaten Georgia Southern. Eventual NFL running back Marcel Shipp had 244 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the way and UMass football has been on the map ever since.

UMass RB Marcel Shipp slips away as UMass wins the title against GA Southern on 12/19/1998.

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Steve Baylark, Greg Landry, Milt Morin, Marcel Shipp

]]> http://allthingsfootball.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/12-caa-teams-in-12-days-umass/feed/ 0 cjones22 http://allthingsfootball.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/12-caa-teams-in-12-days-maine/ http://allthingsfootball.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/12-caa-teams-in-12-days-maine/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:52:27 +0000 cjones22 http://allthingsfootball.wordpress.com/?p=101 ]]> We just keep rolling along with our CAA teams and today the train stops in Orono. Welcome to Lobster Country!

Name: The University of Maine

Nickname: Black Bears

Founded: 1862

Student Body Population: 12,100

Located: In the town of Orono just off of I-95, 15 minutes NE of Bangor and an hour and a half NE of Maine’s capital, Augusta.

Colors: Blue & White

Mascot: Bananas the Bear

Fun Academic Fact: Maine’s Fogler Library houses rare early writings by alumnus Stephen King that many aspiring authors go to research.

- The school offers a minor in Socialist and Marxist Studies, something rarely found in any other university.

MAINE FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Jack Cosgrove, 16th Year (80-90)

STADIUM: Morse Field at Harold Alfond Sports Stadium

Opened in 1998, Harold Alfond Sports Stadium is a 10,000 capacity stadium that is one of the newer facilities in the CAA. The stadium was named after Harold Alfond who donated $3.1 million toward the grandstand that made the capacity what it is today. The field was named for Phillip and Susan Morse who contributed $2.15 million for the playing surface, lights, and scoreboard. The stadium does double duty as the home for the football and field hockey teams.

HISTORIC I-A VICTORY

Despite their recent struggles, the Maine football program will always be able to look back to the 2004 season for inspiration when they had arguably their greatest win ever by shocking I-A Mississippi State of the SEC 9-7 in Starkville. The Bears scored a touchdown with under three minutes remaining to shock the Bulldogs and their fans.

Maine celebrates the upset of Mississippi State at the 50 yard line, 9/19/2004

NOTABLE PLAYERS

Mike Flynn, Brandon McGowan, Lofa Tatupu (transfered to USC after his freshman year)

In JMU’s second football scrimmage this past Saturday, rising senior QB Rodney Landers ran for two touchdowns while rising sophomore fullback Donnell Brown also had a scoring run.

Landers finished with 13 runs for 51 yards and the two scores along with completing 7/10 passes for 62 yards. His backup Drew Dudzik was 6/9 for 45 yards and had 47 yards of rushing on 11 attempts.

Other notables from the second scrimmage:

TB Scott Noble (Soph. – Baltimore, MD/Franklin HS) – 6 carries, 39 yards; 2 catches

TB Corwin Acker (Fr. – Landover, MD/Blake HS) – 7 carries, 27 yards

TB Jamal Sullivan (Soph. – Ruther Glen, VA/Caroline HS) – 6 carries, 21 yards; 2 catches

TB Deric Dudinski (Soph. – Sterling, VA/Park View HS) – 4 carries, 19 yards

WR Marcus Turner (Soph. – Berlin, NJ/Eastern HS) – 2 catches

WR Mike Allen (R. Fr. – Powhatan, VA/Sacrament Hugenot) – 2 catches

All information courtesy of JMUSports.com

Name: James Madison University

Nickname: Dukes

Founded: 1908

Student Body Population: Approx. 18,000

Located: Harrisonburg, VA in the Shenandoah Valley about two hours west of Washington, DC

Colors: Purple and Gold

Mascot: Duke Dog

Fun Academic Fact: U.S. News & World Report has ranked JMU as the top public, masters-level university in the South for 14 consecutive years.

Fun General Fact: The Princeton Review ranked JMU sixteenth for the most beer usage on campus.

JAMES MADISON FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Mickey Matthews, 9th Year (64-44)

Stadium: Bridgeforth Stadium

Built in 1975, Bridgeforth Stadium has been the lifelong home to the JMU football team and has a seating capacity of 13,559. Recently, the JMU Board of Visitors approved a $10 million budget to renovate and expand the stadium. By the start of the 2011 season, the stadium will hold 24,878 people making it the largest stadium in the CAA.

RECENT SUCCESS

Up until the hiring of Coach Matthews in 1999, the JMU football team was almost non-existent. But that has completely changed as the team made the I-AA playoffs in Matthews’ first year and in 2004, won the national championship over Montana. JMU has made the playoffs in three out of the last four years making them a very recruit friendly program and a powerhouse with a lot of success in its future.

Justin Rascati scores the winning touchdown as JMU beats Montana to win the 2004 National Championship.

NOTABLE PLAYERS:

Alvin Banks, Gary Clark, Corey Davis, Nelson Garner, Charles Haley, Akeem Jordan, Scott Norwood, Ed Perry, Justin Rascati, Bryan Stinespring, Kelly Wiltshire

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