Dukes fall to #1 Richmond 21-17 in a good game. Dukes were pretty lifeless in the first quarter. We started red shirt freshman Justin Thorpe at QB and we didn't get anything going offensively. Part way into the second quarter down 14-3, enter Dudzik. He proceeds to throw a bomb for a TD. On the ensuing Richmond drive, we stop them 3 and out. We block their punt and return it for a TD. Dukes go into halftime with a 17-14 lead. Unfortunately, Dudzik gets hurt (not sure what happened). He comes back with a foot cast so he's done.
Thorpe comes back in for the second half and does nothing. He throws 2 INTs but the defense holds up until the fourth quarter when Richmond converts a 4th and 1 on JMU's 25. They score the go ahead TD to make it 21-17 with 7 and a half minutes left. I wasn't feeling real good with Thorpe having to lead from behind. We end up marching down the field with power running. With 1 and a half minutes left, we have the ball on Richmond's 25 and after a number of running plays, we fake the run and throw to a wide open Duke on the sideline. He gets pushed out at the 5 yard line with 1 minute remaining. I feel real good having a first and goal from the five with 2 timeouts and 1 minute left. What do we do? Thorpe calls play action, doesn't find the receiver and tries to run it in. He doesn't tuck the ball away and is barely holding on to it and he fumbles. Richmond recovers. Game over. SUCKS!!!
I was ticked off at Thorpe for not tucking it away but was also annoyed with the coaching staff. We had 2 timeouts and we are a running football team. Pound it. Whatever. It's over and we could have gotten back well into the top 10 rankings. Instead we are 2-3 and will have to fight the rest of the season to get into the playoffs.
We need Dudzik!
6 comments:
Sounds like the coach was a dudzik.
Wait a minute - I just realized that you are now 2-3 - the same record as UVA.
We'll see in a couple of weeks what their respective records look like.
Interesting.
JKSdad just had a terrible sports weekend. On the bright side, at least he didn't bet on either of the aweful teams that he supports.
Just catching up on this now.
JMU is also consistently in the top 10 in the country. Look at our losses:
Lost to Div I MD in OT
Lost to #1 Richmond on a last second fumble
Took a tough loss to Hofstra
JMU has one of the top FCS programs in the country. We next play #2 Villanova. I would love to see UVA go up against a Florida or a USC or an Alabama. Those would be laughers.
JMU plays in a conference where nearly every team is ranked in the top 20. I'd love to be able to put on a Div II or III team on our schedule and a couple of softballs.
JMU was ranked #1 for much of last year and regularly contends for the National title. When was the last time UVA was even in a poll?
Sounds like someone is sore.
Good luck to your team and enjoy your past accomplishments.
I'm fine with UVA and like this team and Al Groh.
Not sore at all. I love JMU. Mickey Matthews has built a consistent winner and contender for the national championship. We won the championship 5 years ago and were ranked #1 for most of last year. Even in a rebuilding year (this year), we started out at #7. That's what good programs do. JMU is expanding the stadium and there has been talk for some time about going FBS.
Good luck to you as well. Congrats on the wins the last couple of weeks. Hopefully you keep it up. I'm happy you like Groh as well. Clearly, you are in the minority but that's fine. If you like going to the Frank's Auto Peoplewouldratherdisembowelthemselveswitharustyspoonthanwatchthisgamebowl, then Groh is your guy. Good luck!!!
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