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James Madison Dukes Scouting Report

They are damn good in all phases. Going to be a tough game but our ST and D gives us such an X factor.

I think our D matches up well and could shut down their run game as we've proven to be able to do aginast top rushing attacks. I wouldn't be surprised if we have some success getting pressure on Cole. He's not as fast as Barriere and they have some issues at Oline.
If our Oline can buy Cam some time we may be able to exploit their corners and make some plays.
I see big game potential here for Sammy.

This is both teams toughest oppent of the year in my opinion and that includes UDUB.

LFG GRIZ
 
retiredpopo said:
I predicted a long time ago griz get two play off wins...and I stated I was going to wait on saying a 3rd....we are going to win this game. Sure they won big but if you watched the game they struggled at first and then with a couple minutes left in the second quarter they had like a 21 point score fest. I think we keep it close and it goes our way. be interesting if we get refs that let them play or refs that call everything. also much of their passing yards were on long passes. they only had 12 completions and 190 yards coming on 4 passes. stop the long passes same with rushing they had like 4 rushes for long yards. They were not that great on 3rd downs so stop them and make them have plenty of 3rd down situations. We got this...

He has been on a roll for what 7 to 8 weeks now. I'm sold on his predictions.
 
BWahlberg said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LzOnH-34to

Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Brint. Chase Reynolds had a monster night. Fun to see a kid from Drummond perform so well on a national stage.

JMU was impressive in their game against SE Louisiana. Cole Johnson is a top-tier quarterback, with great receivers. SELU was burned several times with that combination. Earlier this year, I'd have been concerned about our secondary, but our pass coverage of late is much improved. (Trying to block out memories of 2 bombs by EB missed by Limu-Jones and a pass EB flat out missed to a wide open receiver whose name I can't remember right now). If our pass coverage holds up against JMU, I like our chances.

An important stat from JMU's round 2 win: SELU had 5 turnovers, JMU had 1. That throws all the other stats out of whack, particularly the only one that really counts: the final score.
 
Limiting turnovers, preferably to zero, will be key I believe. JMU is really good at getting takeaways. Solid team all around. I’m feeling a game in the upper 20s. I could see 28-24 going either direction.
 
Didn't I read that two OL starters from JMU were penalized for targeting and will be sitting out the first half? They will be more than ready to go in the second half, for sure.
 
Griz til I die said:
While Brint is right that this will be the best team we’ve faced all year, this will also be the best team JMU has faced all year. I think this will be a rock fight that could go either way. This will be a really good game. I’m not gonna guarantee a win like some of you, but I do think we have a good chance of winning this game.

Great point
 
GrizLA said:
Didn't I read that two OL starters from JMU were penalized for targeting and will be sitting out the first half? They will be more than ready to go in the second half, for sure.

I’m only aware of one defensive player who got tossed for targeting but that was in first half so he will get to play entire game. Couldn’t remember if it was a LB or D-back.

Update, found it:

https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1467214379468873728?s=21
 
HookedonGriz said:
GrizLA said:
Didn't I read that two OL starters from JMU were penalized for targeting and will be sitting out the first half? They will be more than ready to go in the second half, for sure.

I’m only aware of one defensive player who got tossed for targeting but that was in first half so he will get to play entire game. Couldn’t remember if it was a LB or D-back.

Update, found it:

https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1467214379468873728?s=21
Oops, thanks. They say short term memory is the first to go..
 
GrizLA said:
HookedonGriz said:
I’m only aware of one defensive player who got tossed for targeting but that was in first half so he will get to play entire game. Couldn’t remember if it was a LB or D-back.

Update, found it:

https://twitter.com/frankgogola/status/1467214379468873728?s=21
Oops, thanks. They say short term memory is the first to go..
There was another one in the second half. I don't remember who it was but he will miss the first half of the game Friday night.
 
It's going to come down to our offense, once again.

I like our defense to be able to make life hard for them for long stretches, but if the offense can't move the ball, it'll be a long night. We don't have the clear special teams advantage in this one, and we're likely gonna need to win the turnover margin big time.

Cam is gonna have to play the best game of his career so far.

This team is playing its best football of the season right now, so I think we've got a shot.
 
I’m feeling oddly calm and peaceful about this game. Maybe it’s because I’m so burned out from the last two games, but I like the Grizzlies in this one.

I think Cam Humphrey has been under rated as a leader all season long. It feels like the offense may be hitting its stride. The defense is balling out. I think JMU’s stats are inflated by a wimpy schedule.

It’s been a season of adversity, the Griz have battled through the worst of it and appear to be peaking at the right time. I think this is one of those imperfect, but special teams, and I believe there is some magic left in this season still.

This is the ultimate RTD test. No disrespect to any BSC team, or even Sam Houston, but NDSU and JMU have been the class of the FCS. I think Hauck and the boys are licking their chops at the opportunity to go against the best.

Go Griz!
 
I can't believe that we won't win the ST battle.
Maybe not dominate like in Fair-catch Ewu game. I've seen very few FCS ST's that can match those of Hauck's.
If they kick to Flowers - look out. I still don't know why he doesn't return punts but I won't bitch about having Bergen running 'em back.
Bobby knows what he's doing in this part of the game
 
mega mauler said:
GrizLA said:
Oops, thanks. They say short term memory is the first to go..
There was another one in the second half. I don't remember who it was but he will miss the first half of the game Friday night.

Early in the 3rd Quarter, Wayne Davis (Rs-Sr Safety transfer from The Ohio State Univ) was ejected. He will sit the first half of the GRIZ game.
 
ChicagoDuke said:
Great write-up, and I think fairly even-handed. I'll add a few points....

OL is our biggest deficiency. Due to a variety of injuries and guys unexpectedly leaving the program we're starting 3 Freshmen and 1 Sophomore on OL. They're talented, but young. They seem adept at pass protection, but almost worthless at run blocking.

RB is a huge issue for us. We lost our pre-season offensive POY mid season after only a handful of total carries. The guy who was supposed to become RB1 in 2022, Kaleon Black, set the world on fire early, but had a season ending knee injury too. Our current starting RB #5 Palmer is a bruiser, but he's not meant as an every down back and doesn't have home-run speed.

Coming into the year we expected the run game to be our #1 strength, but due to all of the injuries it's become our #1 weakness.

On Defense #3 DT Mike Green is our star. He only made 2nd team all conference because he only played the second half of the season due to injury, but he has first team AA talent. He'll definitely play on Sundays. Expect to double him all game.

#7 WR Antwane Wells.....this kid is special. He's a R-FR, and through 20 games in his career he has 20 TDs. He's got an NFL type body and does just about everything well.....plenty fast, good routes, steady hands, and competes for 50/50 balls. He's the best JMU WR I've seen in the last 25 years, guaranteed to play in the NFL if he stays healthy. The only teams that have contained him did so by putting a dedicated safety over the top on his side of the field all game. And when they did that, Kris Thorton went off on the other side (see 4 TDs receiving vs. Campbell).

TE: We have abandoned them in the offense, needing them to stay home to block since our OL is undersized and young.

QB: Cole Johnson is really good. I personally don't think he has a shot at the NFL because of limited mobility and a somewhat slow release. But he's got a few things going for him. 1) Veteran decision making....knows when to throw it away. Really good at identifying coverages and calling out protections. 2) Best deep ball in FCS this season. 3) Stealthy runner.....he won't make you miss, but if you give him some green space he'll take it, and at 6'5" he's got crazy long strides. This past week vs. Southeast Louisiana was fun because the reining Walter Payton award winner was on the other side of the field, and it was clear who the better QB was.....Cole Johnson.

Our DBs are not a strength. Lots of Pass Interference calls early in the season. We've cleaned it up a lot recently, but if you have an NFL quality receiver (do you?) he's going to have a day.

Looking forward to this one, Griz. And regardless of who wins, let's all cheer to knock off the Bison the following week.

Good post. I just finished watching your last game for the second time. I agree with your post.

I am impressed with your QB. He makes great decisions, and is extremely accurate.

Your two receivers (7 & 8) are burners and are very dangerous.

#2 LB played fired up and made an impact.

To answer your Griz WR question, Samuel Akem has NFL aspirations (tall possession receiver). He's high in our history books. We had an exceptional WR that grad transfered to Nebraska for this season. His name is Samori Toure and he is lighting it up with the Cornhuskers (making Ohio State DBs look foolish).

We feel your RB pain. We have been without our All American candidate, starting RB (school single season TD holder) all season. And a couple backups as well. In fact, we are starting/only playing two freshman RBs (one just out of HS).

It's going to be two GREAT, proud teams competing this Fri night!! ESPN2 viewers nationwide are in for a treat.
 
One more thing. Our safeties are over aggressive and forget their number one job is pass defense. Play action passes should get your speedy receivers behind the Griz safeties (that think they are LB'ers) like usual.
 
I expect we will get burned deep at least a couple of times. JMU appears comfortable taking the risk of throwing the ball downfield despite pretty good coverage and they catch quite a few of them based on their last game so I would say they are pretty good at it. EWU was good at throwing deep too so I think we will be ok if we can get to the QB with regularity and hopefully make them pay for taking some risk downfield by intercepting one or two.
 
ChicagoDuke said:
OL is our biggest deficiency. Due to a variety of injuries and guys unexpectedly leaving the program we're starting 3 Freshmen and 1 Sophomore on OL. They're talented, but young. They seem adept at pass protection, but almost worthless at run blocking.

RB is a huge issue for us. We lost our pre-season offensive POY mid season after only a handful of total carries. The guy who was supposed to become RB1 in 2022, Kaleon Black, set the world on fire early, but had a season ending knee injury too. Our current starting RB #5 Palmer is a bruiser, but he's not meant as an every down back and doesn't have home-run speed.

Thanks for coming over and giving us some good info on the Dukes. At first I thought you were talking about the Griz. We have some of the same problems.
 
If JMU’s offensive line is their biggest weakness, then their QB won’t be able to sit in the pocket and pick us apart. He’ll be scrambling for his life because the Griz will bring the heat all night long.
 
IntuitiveGriz said:
One more thing. Our safeties are over aggressive and forget their number one job is pass defense. Play action passes should get your speedy receivers behind the Griz safeties (that think they are LB'ers) like usual.
From what I've read, it's not entirely true that pass protection is always the top priority for a Safety. Depending upon the D scheme, their assignment(s) may be more run oriented or even part of the blitz packages. But I assume there's supposed to be some rotation to cover the "vacated" space. Somebody more knowledgeable about X's and O's please help.
 
BWahlberg said:
-------------
General Stats

Passing yards per game JMU (230 for UM vs 280 for JMU)
Rushing yards per game JMU (138 for UM vs 163 for JMU)
Total offense JMU (368 for UM vs 443 for JMU)
Passing yards allowed per game JMU (242 for UM vs 192 for JMU)
Rushing yards allowed per game UM (73 for UM vs 80 for JMU)
Total defense JMU (315 for UM vs 272 for JMU)

Not a pretty look there for UM fans, the Griz get just 1 – by 7 yards – in total rushing defense, everywhere else JMU gets the nod. It’s 5-1 in JMU’s favor.

Offense points scored JMU (31.6 for UM vs 41.1 for JMU)
Defense points allowed UM (15.3 for UM vs 15.8 for JMU)
Turnover margin JMU – (+10 for UM / +21 for JMU)
Fieldgoal % JMU (84% for UM vs 90.1% for JMU)
Punt Returns UM (12.6 yards for UM vs 7.1 yards for JMU)
Kick Returns JMU (27.1 yards for UM vs 29.3 yards for JMU)
T.O.P. JMU (27:46 for UM vs 31:40 for JMU)
Red Zone defense (touchdowns) UM (52% UM / 55% JMU)
Red Zone offense (touchdowns) UM (52% UM / 50% JMU)
3rd down offense JMU – (36% for UM / 45% for JMU)
3rd down defense JMU – (31% allowed for UM vs 25% allowed for JMU)

Not much more help here either, JMU gets 7 more, while Montana gets 4. This might be the first time where I’ve seen Montana have a better RZ offense and a worse kick return number. Final total is JMU 12 – Montana 5.

--------------------

I believe you're missing too many ST stats in your analysis that tell a lot about the game. Things like Net Punting, Net Kickoff, Punt Blocks (which might not be recorded anywhere), and PAT % help reflect the overall quality of Special Teams beyond what you have listed above. I would also like to see a few other stats which help tell the tale of the tape on Defense (Sacks By & Average Yards per Play) and Offense (Sacks Against & Average Yards per Play).
 
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