September Hangover

BREAKING NEWS: It's the last day of September. Hold your tears though, baby birds. Because I'm gonna feed you.

WVU 30, #11 Oklahoma State 21:

So what is the anomaly? The defensive domination of a high-flying Air Raid that hasn't scored 21 points or fewer since 2011? Or the 38-0 shutout embarrassment at the hands of Maryland, a team West Virginia hasn't lost to since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, that put most Mountaineer fans on the edge of a cliff, peering over the edge in search of greener pastures? How many more questions can I ask? And how many of them will be obvious run-on sentences? I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS.

Seriously, I have no idea what to think of this team. None. In truth, I didn't even get to watch this game, as I was at work for most of it and then driving to Charlottesville to visit my suddenly collegiate little sister for the rest of it. Don't worry, though. Driving through Shenandoah National Park, the shoulders were just large enough for me to pull off the road every couple of minutes, and the 3G was just good enough for me to make out a late Darwin Cook interception, a ridiculous couple of plays leading to a game-clinching field goal attempt, and the small, but very real word "Final" scrawled across the top of my ScoreCenter app. 30-21, West by God.

This is likely the best (regular season) win of the Dana Holgy era, given how mediocre Texas has proved to be over the last two years. And I have no clue what that means. It's almost certainly going to nab us a couple of extra recruits, and cements Keith Patterson as defensive coordinator for at least the foreseeable future. It likely means Clint Trickett is the guy for the Mountaineers, solving the biggest (and maybe only) big question mark the team has faced this season.

But what it means more than all of these things is that WVU has an October 5 date with #17 Baylor in prime time, and it's now the biggest game of the season. Because if West Virginia can walk out of Waco with a win, then it's time to stop talking about a new head coach... and start talking about a potential Big XII championship.

Delaware 29, #14 JMU 22

Unlike the West Virginia game, I did get to catch at least the second half of this particular contest. Which is probably why they lost. The curse of my fandom, folks. It's real.

From my best estimates, it seems that the defense was legit and the offense was at least productive in the first half. But I'm really here to talk exclusively about the second half of this game, which is clearly where this game was decided. Let's break down some talking points here.

-Cameron Starke. I understand that he left four points on the board, missing an extra point and then a field goal at the beginning of the second half. Four points could have made a big difference too; in addition to the obvious momentum lost in the third quarter after the missed field goal, four extra points on the board means they only would have needed a field goal coming down the stretch. That changes up the atmosphere and the play-calling entirely. 

All that being said, this game is not Cameron Starke's fault. He is, by and large, a lights out kicker, the calibre of which a school like JMU probably has no business having. (Starke is a transfer PK from, guess where: West Virginia.) He's hit 47 and 48-yarders. Not in practice, either. In live games. I've seen him do it. There's plenty of FBS schools that wish they could unpack that kind of firepower, let alone schools at the championship subdivision. JMU enters every game with an advantage in the kicking game, and that's all Starke. He gets a pass from me.

Starke now 2-for-4 FG as his 33-yarder sails wide & #BlueHens regain ball at 20-yd line. They trail #JMUDukes, 19-7, at 8:07 in 3Q. #CAAFB
— CAA Football (@CAAFootball) September 29, 2013

One last thing with the kicking game. I would like to confirm with other football-heads that field goals, are not, in fact, extra point attempts?

Our bad, Starke is 2-for-3 on FG tonight, w/ that 33-yarder serving as 1st miss of 2013. Thanks to @ckiddysports for the correction. #CAAFB
— CAA Football (@CAAFootball) September 29, 2013

Ahh, I see. Never mind. Sanity has been restored. Let's move on.

-Birdsong. The ceiling is so high here. Birdsong had three stand-out plays that I can recall in the second half. The first was a bullet that Birdsong threaded over the middle right between two UD defenders for a 20-yard pickup. The second was only a 5 or 6-yard scramble, but it was how he did it that was so explicitly incredible.

Birdsong LITERALLY just Heisman'd a UD defender on a qb keeper. I just yelled. Loudly. In public.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) September 29, 2013

Stiff-armed him and threw him onto the ground mid-stride. I pissed my pants. I suppose it could have been the alcohol. But I'm pretty sure it was the Birdsong.

The third and most important thing that I noticed was the sacks. More than once, the offensive line allowed a sack in the second half, and as the pocket collapsed, Birdsong did something very important: he tucked the ball and went down. He didn't try to be Justin Thorpe. He didn't try to be a hero. Birdsong, likely under very specific instructions from his coaching staff, just protected the ball and took the sack.

Never forget, people: JMU quarterback Michael Birdsong has only eight more starts than I do. He's still growing. His ceiling is high, but for now, fans need to be patient with offensive shortcomings. Even in a loss, he looked pretty good. And he's only going to get better.

-Personnel use. Dae'Quan Scott ran the ball on the first play of the fourth quarter. He didn't get another touch the rest of the game. Either he injured himself, or that's a gross misuse of talent. You're only down one score, Mickey. You don't need to head into the two minute drill when there's 12 minutes left in the game.

-Trench play. Did JMU's D-line miss Sage Harold? I think they did. And while Jordan Stanton and Tyler Snow are arguably the two best players with a hand on the ground, it's hard to ignore the raw production that Harold gives JMU up front. JMU has made other team's offensive lines look like garbage, piling up sack statistics that are just stupid, yet they were held without a sack all game at Delaware. Our secondary is talented, but it's never been so raw that they could get by without pressure up front. See: all of 2012.

And the offensive line. You could argue the offensive line was the reason for the meltdown. They allowed four sacks, all in the second half, three of which came on third down. And the results of those three drives: missed field goal, punt which led to Delaware TD, punt which led to Delaware TD.

-Coaching. I don't even know where to start here. The apparent lack of halftime adjustments is inexcusable. This was a problem on Saturday; it was a problem at Akron; it was a problem with ODU last November; it's been a problem for a while, and I've only been watching this team since 2008. (side note: it wasn't much of a problem in 2008.)

As for playcalling: look, I understand Mickey had an epiphany over the off-season, that he wants to run more plays and be a more balanced offense. I understand that Mike O'Cain is now a large part of the picture and that he must receive credit and/or blame whenever playcalling is good and/or terrible. But the staff, as a whole, needs to sit down an develop an offensive identity. It's a different version of the same problem JMU suffered from last season. In 2012, JMU ran the wildcat, jet sweeps, zone reads, designed keepers, the option, reverses, and of course, the timeless, unforgettable "Dae'Quan Scott runs into the ass of [insert name of any offensive lineman here] for no gain" play. And yeah, believe me, that was openly mocked in the Bridgeforth Stadium press box.

One year later, JMU is throwing the ball all over the yard -- the Dukes have outgained every opponent so far this season, and usually by a pretty considerable margin -- but I still feel like this is a team that's just trying to do too much. Rather than master what it's good at, JMU just hopes it can sneak into the end zone after throwing its own kitchen sink at the other team on the field. So my question, which should have been asked years ago, is this:

How does a team that doesn't know what it's good at, expect to be any good?



Other scores and observations from this weekend:

No. 23 Wisconsin 24, No. 4 Ohio State 31

Great win and a big hurdle for the Buckeyes and Urban Meyer, who is gunning for a Saban-Meyer rematch.
Also, that game ball is gonna be worth a lot of tattoos.

No. 14 Oklahoma 35, No. 22 Notre Dame 21

I don't know how much more plainly I can say this: Notre Dame is not that good. They were an average team with 29 seniors and a severely overrated schedule last year; this year, they have neither.

No. 10 Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 33

Does this still count as an SEC game?

No. 12 South Carolina 28, UCF 25

The good news for UCF is that, despite the loss, they're still for my money the best non-AQ team in these United States.

The bad news for UCF is that they must live in constant fear of an impending invasion of Herpes-infested African monkeys.

UVA 3, Pitt 14

I was in Charlottesville on Saturday, right after the loss. They suck, and they know it. At least they're good at the other football.

Arizona 13, No. 16 Washington 31

Eat your heart out, Rich Rod.

USC 41, Arizona State 62

Rough loss for the fightin' latexes. However, I have the utmost confidence in Lane Kiffin as USC's head... well, fuck.

No. 6 LSU 41, No. 9 Georgia 44

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: you've gotta love the SEC for their sturdy, reliable defensive prowess. They're not afraid to grind out wins.

Virginia Tech 17, Georgia Tech 10

Don't get excited, acolytes. Your team still sucks ass.

No. 21 Ole Miss 0, No. 1 Alabama 25

True story: twice last year, Nick Saban had a wet dream about winning a football game 25-0. He was upset when he woke up, though. Changing the sheets in his master bedroom took away from his recruitment time.

JMU, Conference USA, and other September Shenanigans

About 9 days ago, I started hearing some JMU-to-Conference-USA rumors. No big deal. Rumors fly all the time.

About two days ago, though, I was still hearing them. In my experience, these rumors sweep over social media like wildfire, and are extinguished by the wet reality of truth in a matter of days. So to be hearing them a full week later was... notable.

Then, this afternoon, after a long day of pretending to build an online portfolio and mooching food off of relatives, my former Breeze Sports co-editor Wayne Epps Jr. directed me to this page on the CSN message boards. The ethos doesn't exactly jump off the page at you, but the fact that this potentially informed person was echoing other things I heard was enough to make me sit up off the couch, pause my second Skyrim play-through, and make a few phone calls. The Stormcloak Rebellion can wait.

Before I did anything, I confirmed some information I've been sitting on for a while, as long as did some research into some other topics. They are as follows:

• The Carr Report is completed, and has been for some time.
  
  Many of you have heard about a feasibility report headed to the JMU Board of Visitors that will supposedly recommend or advise against a move for the Dukes to the Football Bowl Subdivision. What you might not know is that this report has been complete for several weeks. While a few members of the Athletic Department have seen bits and pieces, the only person that I know of who has seen the report in its entirety is athletic director Jeff Bourne, and he will be the one to present the report to the BoV next Friday, October 4. It is that same Friday that JMU supposedly will announce its move to the C-USA, if you buy into the rumors which are currently circulating.

• JMU has an open-ended offer from the Sun Belt that can be accepted at any time.
  
  Details may have changed since I last heard about this, but the gist of it is that the Sun Belt is interested enough in JMU that they have extended an offer to the athletic department that can be accepted at any points. They feel very strongly that JMU can significantly raise the profile of their conference and are showing their faith with a convenient, if desperate, offer. JMU hasn't accepted this offer as of yet, and I would think that, if they were to, they would at least wait until the Carr Report comes down. However, I have a hunch JMU has its sites set higher than the Sun Belt.

• ODU is actively campaigning for JMU to join Conference USA.
  
  I don't like how it looks -- like big brother ODU, who has played football for all of three years and four weeks, is pulling us up to their esteemed level, and oh thank you, blessed sons of Norfolk, for doing us such a favor in our time of need! But at a certain point, I'm guessing Leonardo DiCaprio would have let anyone, even his worst enemy, throw him a lifejacket.. if it meant he could keep making out with Kate Winslet. (Kate Winslet, in this case, is a bigger TV deal.) Both AD Wood Selig and head football coach Bobby Wilder have been on the record in the media, trying to pressure their new conference into adding JMU. It's hard to ignore their logic: JMU makes for natural rivals with Marshall, ODU, and ECU. And Charlotte, if they ever get any good. Based on last Saturday, that rivalry might be a ways off, though.

• Conference USA officials have experimented with a 16-team conference model, and have made trips to JMU in the recent months.
  
  I'm still working on nailing down exactly when officials were on campus, but I do have credible information that they were here and came away impressed with the facilities. And why wouldn't they be? A brand new athletics park, an engaged campus, a premier FCS football stadium, and let's not forget the sexy, ninth-ranked DC market to slip their grubby little hands into.

So what does all that add up to? Well here's what it likely doesn't mean: an imminent decision to move to Conference USA. After a long talk with one notable source in the Athletic Department, it would be wholly irresponsible for the BoV to hear the Carr Report and vote on a cataclysmic Athletics move all in the same day. Furthermore, the BoV hasn't scheduled a vote on anything in the near future, and the University can't announce a move without approval from the board.

But the most damning reason why you shouldn't expect any big JMU news next week is because they're too invested in their own success. As much as JMU may need to move up to stay viable in the long term as an athletic program, it almost certainly won't force its own teams into an ineligible season when its Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, and Softball teams have legitimate chances to win their conference.

That doesn't mean you won't see a move up this year. JMU has until June 1 to announce any intentions to swap conferences, which leaves a nice 2-4 week period after all the conference tournaments where JMU can announce any C-USA plans, for next year, penalty free. Even if the decision comes internally by next Friday, I expect no official announcements will come in the immediate future. Given that the suddenly resurgent men's basketball team has a chance to defend its title and return to the NCAA tournament, it's hard to imagine the school throwing that opportunity away.

The Glorious Return of... The Hangover

BEFORE WE GET THIS YEAR'S FIRST HANGOVER STARTED: I have taught myself how to embed tweets into my blog posts. You are about to drown in a torrent of my own self-absorbed hilarity. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


#19 JMU 38, Central Connecticut State 14

On one hand, I'm kind of surprised the Dukes only rang up 38 points against CCSU, a team whose defense was leakier than the Flying Dutchman last year. It's supposedly improved this year. So is West Virginia's. I digress.

It's hard to really take a lot away from this game, not only because of the opponent, but because of the way the game, particularly the second half, unfolded. But some of the things I saw that I liked:


-The play-calling. My goodness, the play-calling. I am a cow over the fucking moon with the play-calling. There were sweeps, dives, screens, and, wait for it, passes 10+ yards down the field! Most importantly, it was all very well mixed together, it was at pace, and it was executed, to the most part, with a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness. This is what a non-stagnant offense looks like. For too many years now, JMU has coasted by on poor play calling because of the caliber of athlete the program attracts. I won't get all worked up over one game against a directional school from a state the size of large Arby's, but Mike O'Cain clearly passes his first test. If Mickey gives him that sort of creative control over the offense all year, this team will make the playoffs. It's that simple.

-Let's stick with the offense. Birdsong is bull-headed, which I think is mostly a good thing. He said something sort of poignant in the post-game press conference along the lines of 'I'm 240 pounds, and if I can go one-on-one with some DB, I'm going to run his ass over.' I'm paraphrasing here, but the takeaway was starkly unlike the typical QB towline of Slide first, ask questions when you miss the first down line later.

For the most part, I think this is a good thing. Maybe it means MB doesn't know his own value to the team; maybe it doesn't. And while it's true JMU is startlingly barren behind Birdsong at quarterback, what this probably just means is that Mike is big, he knows it, and his legs are just a potent a weapon on offense as his arm is.

-Dae'Quan Scott, God love him, actually said after the game that he felt it was the worst game of his career. Child, please. You had 197 all-purpose. You ran a punt back 57 yards for a touchdown. And, oh yeah:

Breaking #CAAFB news: Dae'Quan Scott is first CAA Special Teams Player of the Week. CB Taylor Reynolds is first Rookie of the Week. #JMU
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) September 2, 2013

Yeah, I break news occasionally. So what? This moment is about Dae'Quan. Stop trying to take this away from him, cynical reader.

-There were ten caught passes. Eight players registered a reception. That is all.



-On defense: Dean Marlowe and Stephon Robertson were, well, they were Dean Marlowe and Stephon Robertson.

Dean Marlowe with a filthy, ball-hawking pick sets #JMU up onA doorstep for its 5th touchdown of the evening. Dukes in complete control.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) September 1, 2013

Robertson led the team in tackles, along with redshirt freshman Gage Steele, part of the much-heralded #1 recruiting class. We all know Robertson is a beast, but Steele is a new commodity. It seems his natural position is middle linebacker, like what Robertson plays, but JMU has moved him to weak-side LB because, let's be real, a freshman isn't unseating an All-American.

-The defense was so lights out in the second half that offense basically didn't play. Let's recap:

On the opening drive of the second half, CCSU throws an incomplete on third and 4. Blue Devils punt the ball. Scott returns ball for touchdown.

Next possession: thanks to an offside penalty, CCSU moves up from 3rd and 9 to 3rd and 4. Commence Bridgeforth getting loud as hell. Two consecutive false starts push Blue Devils back to 3rd and 14. Blue Devils QB Andrew Clements, now getting desperate, launches a prayer 20 yards down the field, which became said filthy, ball-hawking Dean Marlowe interception. JMU kicks field goal.

Next possession: On third and 10, Clements again launches one, this time 30 yards downfield. Same result: picked off by quarterback-turned-cornerback Taylor Reynolds, returned for a touchdown.

Next possession: Look, the JMU defense is only human. They've literally been on the field the entire third quarter thus far, and they're staring down the barrel of yet another possession. CCSU runs 13 plays and 8 minutes off the clock... yet they only make up 35 yards. Even when they're tired, this defense is pretty good, it seems.

-The Crowd! Hell Yes! Go crowd go! Be all that you can be!

The student section was rocking the entire first half and into the third quarter. The north end zone was also filled out, which is where I often see some of the more lackadaisical fans/empty pockets. The only empty parts I saw were in the upper decks, which is acceptable for CCSU. I get it. ESPN has a bigger campus than Central Connecticut. Fine. As long as we're full for big home games (looking at you, Villanova), my bitching will be at a minimum.

Tonight's attendance: 23,541.
— Matthew Stoss (@MatthewStoss) September 1, 2013

Given the circumstances, I find this to be acceptable.



Obviously I'm nitpicking, and I thought overall JMU turned in a solid performance on Saturday, but briefly, some of the things I wasn't so fond of:

-There was no pass rush. AGAIN. JMU recorded 8 tackles for a loss, but if you look where they're coming from, it's a lot of linebackers and safeties, and not so much from guys coming unchecked up front. That being said, Defensive End and FOTB Tyler Snow was held out with a hamstring issue. I'm told he's doubtful to play at Akron, which is a major loss for another FCS upset bid. Mickey called him after the game "the most solid player" on JMU's defense. Big words when you have conference POY's in your linebacking corp. Still, I'm convinced that the pass rush will improve when Snow does.

-Hold onto the ball. Put gorilla glue on your fingers and rip them off at the end of the season. Wear Andre's ridiculous grippies (mandatory The League reference: check). Just hold on to the ball, for God's sake.

-Not crazy about bend, don't break coverage against CCSU. We have superior players and athletes all over the field. We can afford to cover receivers a little more tightly.

-We have GOT to figure out how to cover tight ends. JMU has been straight up bad covering tight ends ever since I got to Harrisonburg, and there were signs of that trend continuing. Teams know this about JMU by now. I don't know if it's mixing schemes or double-coverage, but we've got to do something other than just let tight ends crush us over the middle for 15 yards at a time.

-Stupid fans. I have ranted about getting fans into the game and leaving early. Now, I need you all to educate yourselves!

At the #jmu game, standing between the women's basketball team and two girls who don't know when offense switches to defense.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) August 31, 2013

Now they're yelling things like 'watch left side!' Because, I guess, they think it makes them sound sporty. WBB just quietly observing.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) August 31, 2013

We all need goals, I guess.



West Virginia 24, William & Mary 17

TOUCHDOWN MOUNTAINEERS. And my blood pressure comes off defcon 5.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) August 31, 2013

AND THE WEST VIRGINIA DEFENSE ENDS A GAME!! #thingsIhaventsaidinawhile
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) August 31, 2013

Second year since 2011 #WVU trails FCS team at half, then shuts them out in second half. Will have full reaction on blog tomorrow.
— Chase Kiddy (@ckiddysports) August 31, 2013

That's pretty much all I have to say on that, lest I relapse back into a rage-fueled state of fanaticism that can't process a blue and gold number being less than a green and gold number, much less the implications of an A-gap blitz on a passing down.


I probably have a couple of quips left in me, but honestly, it's just lots of making fun of Virginia Tech. Oregon State lost? That's going to turn into me making fun of Virginia Tech. Kansas State lost? Nope, Virginia Tech. JMU is playing Akron next week? Nope, Virginia Tech.


I'll have the pregame up Friday evening, and I'm shooting for my annual 10 Things: NFL predictions midweek. Until then, may you tailgate preparations be swift and just.