When James Madison won its national title in 2016 — the only one since 2011 that FCS superpower North Dakota State hasn't won — there were three close CAA contests that nearly cost the Dukes the No. 4 seed they earned that year. William & Mary, New Hampshire and Richmond were all within a touchdown of ruining the Dukes' run. During the postseason run, though, nobody touched JMU.
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To me, this JMU team seems similar. The program once again has an accomplished first-year FCS coach who previously has won at a program that wasn't historically a winner, at least for awhile.
Also similar, the current Dukes players recruited by a previous coach were told to hit the reset button and come on board for a new ride, and it appears that for the second time since 2016, the kids have nodded in agreement. That worked pretty well last time around.
The past two weeks have been CAA tests, one on the road versus a team that could make the playoffs (Stony Brook) in which the Dukes needed to overcome slippery fingers to win in overtime on Long Island. And this weekend? They faced the only 6-0 team in the FCS, who happened to come in limping a bit with one of the nation's top rushers out (Villanova's Justin Covington) … and the Dukes were still outproduced in yardage thanks to a stellar effort from 'Nova QB Daniel Smith. Yet JMU still scraped and "big-played" its way to a win. And it didn't commit a bunch of turnovers.
It's like the program has found a way to win against potential playoff teams when the issue is turnovers or on the flip side when the issue is being out-produced, yet winning by forcing turnovers. Whatever poison you choose, it seems to work. Now, if this team can combine no turnovers with out-grinding a team like it did in Week 1 in Morgantown? That's the complete team first-year coach Curt Cignetti is looking for.
Have you ever had your "boss" at work tell you, "Don't tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby"? That's how the JMU faithful feel about "how" the wins come, but Cignetti would undoubtedly like to fine-tune this rough and tough and talented program. If you've spent even 10 minutes talking with this JMU coaching tactician, you know he's focused on identifying all the "labor pains," eliminating them, and if it means the delivery could be gentler? That's the whole idea. Hey, he's only halfway through the season folks.
Stay tuned.
FCS COACHES CORNER: JMU's Curt Cignetti
The heroes for JMU on Saturday came from several different avenues within the program. There were veterans like Riley Stapleton (2 TD catches) and Rashad Robinson (multiple big plays) who had arguably their best games since 2017. They were both instrumental in the run to the national title game in 2017.
Robinson was injured all of 2018 and missed some time this year but Saturday's game replanted him in the lineup and he was mega-active — recovering a blocked kick, recovering a fumble, intercepting a pass, etc.
Stapleton had a solid 2018 but off-the-field issues cost him the first three games of this year, and he admittedly took the punishment for the off-the-field transgressions, has paid the price, wants to move on and is really just cranking the engine for his 2019 campaign. He was absolutely key to the Villanova win. If Riley doesn't get it cranking with his connection with QB Ben DiNucci early, Villanova may have been able to run away with this game early.
Then you get into the play of the defensive line, starting with the hands-down national defensive player of the week John Daka, of five tackles-for-loss fame, two sacks, a forced fumble, a broken up pass, a hurry, co-leader in tackles and a partridge in a pear tree … and we're nowhere near Christmas yet, not that the retail stores care. Just ask his partner-in-havoc up front, JMU unofficial spokesman Ron'Dell Carter, if Daka was active. He stepped up to the post-game mic on behalf of his quieter "colleague" on the D-line.
Then there were the clutch fourth-quarter stars that you might not have expected to blow up when the Dukes needed it most. M.J. Hampton was the big-time recruit from a few years back who had to take over for D'Angelo Amos, who was ejected on a call that just a few JMU fans disagreed with. Hampton put JMU ahead in the fourth quarter Saturday with an 83-yard pick-six. And Latrele Palmer is a true freshman running back who earned his "big play stamp" on Saturday with a 69-yard run, and was the hit of the postgame press conference, drawing a universal chuckle when he humbly admitted he was nervous and asked for a repeat of the question asked.
Welcome to the big leagues, Palmer, you made a big-time play so you probably should practice the talking-point lines you want to make. It won't be your only post-game presser in front of the cameras.
Regardless of how the past two weeks have been won, they've been won. Good teams do this in multiple ways. Oh, and North Dakota State nation (trust me, they're paying attention on line one and understand FCS Nation chat like nobody's business … and have earned that right) …
… closed circuit, oh Bison, a collision course seems to be forming. The Frisco Chamber of Commerce is already smiling at the potential.
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Listen to this week's episode of B-Mac and Herd's FCS Podcast, which is also available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart, Stitcher and Spreaker.
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