JMU @ NDSU

[BDKJMU]

They were 8-1 vs I-AA in 2004 when they won the NC and 10-0 vs I-AA in 2008 when they made the semis. They were one and done in 2006 and 2007. Maybe you just don't pay attention to them in the regular season.

We're 5-0 this year (6-0 including playoffs) vs. I-AA with JustWin Thorpe as our QB.

Yep. Thorpe is 10-0 in his last 10 starts vs I-AA (last 4 of 09' and 6 this season).

[DirtyDukes]

He was on his back looking out his earhole for most of the game. If JMU gets behind and Thorpe makes it to the 4th quarter I'd be surprised. JMU needs to start strong or they are done this week.

Man, he's pretty good getting 93 rushing yards and 149 through the air if he was on his back the whole game. I thought once you were on your back you couldn't rush anymore or throw the ball?

Weird.

[Dukie95]

For "on his back", please see

Corp, Aaron.

[BDKJMU]

5dimes JMU +10.

Sounds about right.
@ JMU I'd go -4
Neutral even
@ NDSU JMU +4
NDSU off a bye -6
JMU 2nd straight road game JMU +8
JMU 3rd straight road game JMU +10

[JMUpurplehazed]

I wonder if my Dukes will have a bite t to eat at that restarant with a 40 feet tall logger in/near Fargo before they kick ass in the Fargo Dome? What is the name of that restaurant if it really exists?

MM should not allow the team to watch the movie Fargo before Sat or they may be afraid to make the trip...wood chipper nightmares...

[GannonFan]

They were 8-1 vs I-AA in 2004 when they won the NC and 10-0 vs I-AA in 2008 when they made the semis. They were one and done in 2006 and 2007. Maybe you just don't pay attention to them in the regular season.

And look who JMU had to open up with in 06' and 07' because of geography (had nothing to do with low bid, as YSU was a seed and no one except maybe Montana could outbid ASU):
-#5 ranked team in the playoffs JMU @ #4 seed YSU. Lost 35-31 when YSU scored last min TD.
-JMU @ eventual NC ASU. Lost 28-27 after fumbling the ball at ASU 9 with 22 seconds left.

No shame in losing to Appy St, but that loss to YSU was bad. Sure they were a seed, but they were very beatable. The fact that JMU let a non-passing team like YSU pass all over them was the problem. After getting to play an MVFC in the quarters, YSU was shellacked in the semis that year. No reason why JMU should've lost to that team.

[FargoBison]

I wonder if my Dukes will have a bite t to eat at that restarant with a 40 feet tall logger in/near Fargo before they kick ass in the Fargo Dome? What is the name of that restaurant if it really exists?

MM should not allow the team to watch the movie Fargo before Sat or they may be afraid to make the trip...wood chipper nightmares...

Fargo is in the treeless northern plains(no giant Paul Bunyan statues here), the movie Fargo was actually filmed in Northern Minnesota.

[Gil Dobie]

I wonder if my Dukes will have a bite t to eat at that restarant with a 40 feet tall logger in/near Fargo before they kick ass in the Fargo Dome? What is the name of that restaurant if it really exists?

MM should not allow the team to watch the movie Fargo before Sat or they may be afraid to make the trip...wood chipper nightmares...

Fargo is in the treeless northern plains(no giant Paul Bunyan statues here), the movie Fargo was actually filmed in Northern Minnesota.

The snow scenes where filmed in Northeast ND, with a temporary Paul and Babe.

[BDKJMU]

Viewing party in Bridgeforth:
http://www.jmusports.com/SplashPage.dbm ... _ID=555479" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BDKJMU]

http://www.caazone.com/2011/11/28/fcsca ... -to-nd-st/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[lakesbison]

woo hoo

CMON UP JMU

party at JT's friday, and Tailgate starts at 10 am... and then downtown after .... LETS PARTY!!

[The_Fan]

This will be an easy win for JMU

something about NDSU losing at home only two weeks ago to an UNRANKED, non-playoff team

[ODUalum78]

The JMU defense is as tough and effective as any in the playoffs. The JMU/EKU final score was weird; especially considering the blowout stats.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=313302198" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't expect JMU to have an anomalous game this week.
James Madison by double digits.

[The_Fan]

The JMU defense is as tough and effective as any in the playoffs. The JMU/EKU final score was weird; especially considering the blowout stats.
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=313302198" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't expect JMU to have an anomalous game this week.
James Madison by double digits.

Yep, James Madison by double digits easily........

[Grizaholic17]

I think NDSU thwarts them to hell.

NDSU in the fargodome will not go down easily. JMU doesn't stand much of a chance against the stanch defense if you ask me.

[DirtyDukes]

I think NDSU thwarts them to hell.

NDSU in the fargodome will not go down easily. JMU doesn't stand much of a chance against the stanch defense if you ask me.

What's the stanch defense? Is it a modified 4-3?

[pantherclaw]

NDSU by 10, hey know hey another one bites the dust.

That's cool that at JMU's stadium they are putting it up on the Board, with the Marching Band and everything else.

[lakesbison]

theFAN.

you gonna sue CS.com too?

[Darell1976]

This will be an easy win for JMU

something about NDSU losing at home only two weeks ago to an UNRANKED, non-playoff team

I just can't wait to hear the 1001 excuses on why NDSU lost by Lakes, so we can hear the fuck the FCS we are ready to go to the FBS.

[BDKJMU]

NDSU by 10, hey know hey another one bites the dust.

That's cool that at JMU's stadium they are putting it up on the Board, with the Marching Band and everything else.

Trying to make up for F'ing up the bid...

[TribeNomad]

I will take JMU on this one as well. Great run defense, and really good team speed.

[BDKJMU]

Talk about a weird coincidence:

Listed on the NDSU game notes as starting at CB for NDSU:
".....cousin, Drew Dudzik, and uncle, Mike Dudzik, played quarterback at James Madison....."
http://www.gobison.com/ViewArticle.dbml ... EASON=2011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Add on top of that his Aunt by marriage (Drew's Mom) was a JMU cheerleader.

Wonder if Drew tried to get him to come to JMU (or if JMU recruited him). He would have been a senior in HS during the 09' season. Drew was a rJr that season, started the 1st 5 games before breaking his foot in the UR game.

Not to often you see team starting a white cornerback.

[BDKJMU]

"......The old-style artificial turf the Bison play on? That prompted JMU to special order $4,000 worth of Nike turf shoes this week.

“It’s going to be a new experience,” JMU senior center Roane Babington said Monday.

Babington, a history major and self-proclaimed geography buff who hopes to visit all 50 U.S. states in his life, has never played a game in a dome. Nor has he ever been to North Dakota. That will all change Thursday when the team flies by charter to Fargo for the farthest road trip in JMU’s 39 years of playing college football.

“They have a tremendous football tradition,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said Monday during his weekly press conference. “That’s why they get great crowds. They have tremendous support. They’re isolated up there. The North Dakota State football team is like Montana. That is the big game in town.”

North Dakota State drew an average of 18,272 fans this season, filling its dome to 98 percent capacity.
Matthews – who quipped he “didn’t know there was a North Dakota” – said he spoke with former Northeastern coach Rocky Hager, a former NDSU coach, on Sunday.

“He just said, ‘It’s gonna be loud. They like their football,’” Matthews said.

To help prepare his team for that noise, Matthews said he plans to blast loud music at Bridgeforth Stadium during practice this week,.....


.....Matthews also said the team will consider employing more hand signals and even some silent snap counts to avoid potential hearing difficulty at the 18,700-seat dome on Saturday.....


.....The Dukes are 3-1 all-time playing in domes, but all of those games came between 1979-87 and were at East Tennessee State.

And while Matthews has plans to prepare his team for the volume inside the Fargodome – as well as the Bison’s I-formation offense and 4-3 defense – the feel of the Magic Carpet System artificial surface, installed in 2003, is something his players will just have to get used to.

“I didn’t know they had Astroturf still,” Matthews said. “This may be the only place in the nation that still plays on it. A lot of the coaches in their league complain about it. And they complain so much, they haven’t done anything about it. So it’s going to be different for our players.”

Matthews compared the playing surface at the dome to the old artificial turf at Bridgeforth Stadium, before the school installed FieldTurf, a popular, player-friendly version of fake grass. To play at the Fargodome, Matthews said, JMU bought special Nike turf shoes – more similar to basketball shoes than cleats.

The Dukes will have a chance to adjust to the field and new footwear on Friday, when Matthews said he plans to hold a longer-than-usual workout at the dome.

Matthews said no decision has been made about a starting lineup for JMU’s offensive line. In the fourth quarter of Saturday’s thrilling 20-17 first-round win at Eastern Kentucky, the Dukes benched right guard Matt Williams and inserted Syracuse transfer Austin Lane.

“We were struggling with a couple of their defensive linemen, to block them,” Matthews said. “So we decided to make some personnel changes up front. [Offensive line] coach [Chris] Malone felt like it was the best thing to do. He kind of has carte blanche up there, who to play.”

Babington said the insertion of Lane – a 6-foot-5, 290-pounder who redshirted at Syracuse last year – gave the offensive line a boost Saturday.

“It really helped us out,” Babington said. “Austin’s a big guy who can really help push guys. It could have been just because we were going into the wind and [Malone] knew he needed a guy who could really push forwards. It was a spur of the moment sort of thing and it definitely helped us win the game.”

Matthews said left tackle A.J. Scott (knee), who has been out since the Dukes’ loss to Old Dominion on Oct. 29, is unlikely to play Saturday.

“Well, he’s trying to get well,” Matthews said. “We thought it would be better last week. I would say at best he’s questionable this week. Easily he could be out for the year. It’s not responding to treatment at this point.”"
http://www.dnronline.com/article/colleg ... l_11_28_11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FargoBison]

“They have a tremendous football tradition,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said Monday during his weekly press conference. “That’s why they get great crowds. They have tremendous support. They’re isolated up there. The North Dakota State football team is like Montana. That is the big game in town.”

I'm sure a bunch of people on this website loved that comment.

[Longhorn]

NDSU's offense is much better than JMU's

That's not what the stats reveal. NDSU's scoring average is higher, but other stats favor JMU. JMU is a much better running team, and JMU averages more ypg than NDSU. Stats also reveal JMU's D is substantially tougher.

Methinks NDSU will have to work harder than they have in any game this year if they expect to win. And a win by JMU wouldn't be an upset IMO.