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The Breeze's look at the upcoming football season.
Citation preview
2011 Football Overview
theSTAGEisSET
Justin Thorpe’s comeback
A3
Athletic trainers in action
A9
Do FBS games really matter?
A4
A2 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FOOTBALL PREVIEW
A3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thorpe’s recoveryA4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First game analysisA5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Starting lineup
A8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stadium photo tourA9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Athletic trainersA11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Football photo collage
Index
ROBERT BOAG / THE BREEZE
breezejmu.org football Thursday, September 8, 2011 a3
by Carleigh DavisThe Breeze
Though injuring his knee in the second quarter of last year’s opening game against Morehead State University, redshirt junior quarterback Justin Thorpe is JMU’s own comeback kid.
Earlier this month, Thor-pe was introduced as JMU’s starting quarterback. Despite hyper-extension and severe bone bruising to his knee, Thorpe said he has had no difficulties or pains.
“I just hyper-extended my knee,” Thorpe said. “I went to do a move and unfortunate-ly my leg got caught in the ground and my body went forward.”
Head coach Mickey Mat-thews isn’t concerned about
the hit this will have on Thor-pe’s performance.
“He’s going to take some shots; anyone is,” Matthews said. “But his knee is fine, and we’ll just have to take it one game at a time.”
During his rehabilitation period, Thorpe could not focus on his speed or agili-ty, so he turned his attention toward increasing his pre-cision in his passing game. With the Dukes passing for roughly only 120 yards a game in 2010, Thorpe’s focus on the strength of his arm could greatly improve JMU’s offense.
“When I couldn’t walk or run I started throwing more … so my arm got better,” Thorpe said.
Although a stronger arm will help JMU produce a
better game offensively, Thorpe is better known for his ability to make plays by running the ball.
“As far as running, that’s what I’ve done my whole life and that’s the easy part of football,” Thorpe said.
In last year’s game against the Eagles and shortly before his injury, Thorpe ran the ball three times for 31 yards, an average of 10.3 yards per rush. That was the highest average with more than one carry during that game.
What fans can expect from Thorpe this year is a more experienced game, one that comes with maturity and seniority on the team.
“It’s my third year I’ve been here and the guys look up to me, the guys respect me,” Thorpe said. “I’m just going
to try and lead the team.”After changes in the coach-
ing staff, Thorpe will now be receiving play calls from Mat-thews, a switch from previous years when offensive coordi-nator Jeff Durden made the decisions.
“I just want to make plays,” Thorpe said. “I don’t have to win the game; I just want to conduct the game and man-age the game.”
Redshirt freshman quar-terback Jace Edwards has full confidence in his teammate.
“He wouldn’t be out here if he wasn’t 100 percent,” Edwards said. “He’s running strong and throwing the ball well, and I definitely think he’s ready to play.”
In the season opener last weekend against the Univer-sity of North Carolina, Thorpe
threw for 152 yards and com-pleted 11 of 15 passes, but was sacked five times.
“Hopefully [I] get in the end-zone and [we] can take down some of the sacks, which can take away from our rushing yards.”
In regards to these five sacks, Thorpe did not express doubts about the improve-ment of the offensive line.
“It was just it being our first game, and we have two new tackles, and they will get bet-ter every week, just as well as I will — and everybody else on the team,” Thorpe said.
For Saturday’s game, Thor-pe hopes to have a defense that blitzes, allowing him to gain yards on option plays.
“UNC played a defense where they didn’t crash their defense in, so I didn’t get a lot
of pull-reads on the option plays,” Thorpe said.
In this weekend’s home opener against Central Con-necticut State, Thorpe hopes to show fans his leadership in the newly renovated Bridge-forth Stadium. He is also anticipating seeing some school spirit to back up the team.
“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Thorpe said. “I can’t wait to see the stadium filled up with purple shirts.”
Hopeful ly this atmo-sphere can lead the Dukes to a win and put them one step closer towards the team goal: the Colonial Athletic Association championship.
ContaCt Carleigh Davis at breezesports@gmail.com.
A year after injuring his knee, Justin Thorpe is ready to lead JMU as starting quarterback
comeback kid
during preseason practice, redshirt junior quarterback Justin Thorpe analyzes the progress of the offense. Thorpe said he hopes to improve his passing accuracy and that his injury actually helped with this.
RobeRT boAg / The bReeze
A4 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FootbAll preview
by MAtt SutherlAndThe Breeze
Lightning rarely strikes twice in the same place — especially if that place is a JMU Dukes game against a Football Bowl Subdivision team.
As the final score was plastered on Kenan Memorial Stadium’s scoreboard and the players walked back to their locker rooms, Dukes fans finally got their first glimpse of this year’s talent. And, hopefully, the Dukes got a glimpse of reality after the 42-10 loss to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
The reality is it doesn’t really matter.
In fact, the matchups against FBS teams have never actually mattered.
I know this is practically blasphemy after last year’s triumphant 21-16 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies. But that was last year, and last year didn’t turn out to be as hopeful as the VT win led us to believe. After starting 2-0 in 2010, the Dukes lost their step and eked out a win against Liberty University two weeks later. That next Saturday, JMU would suffer a nail-biting 13-10 loss to the University of Delaware, the first of five Colonial Athletic Conference losses.
The playoffs, a typical goal and expectation of this football program, were just out of reach.
Now, many of you probably don’t need a history lesson, but let’s look at what happened three years ago. JMU suffered an embarrassing 31-7 loss to the Duke University Blue Devils, a 4-8 (1-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference play) joke in their
own division.The Dukes would reach
the FCS semi-finals. The Blue Devils couldn’t even make a pre-Christmas bowl.
Or how about seven years ago? After three great opening matchups against East Carolina University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Maryland, the then-No. 6 West Virginia University Mountaineers hammered JMU in a 45-10 win.
That was 2004. JMU would finish the postseason with a 13-2 record (7-1 in regualr season CAA play) and a FCS national championship. That is nothing to sneeze at.
Meanwhile, WVU lost to the Seminoles in the Gator Bowl.
What’s my point? As Mickey Matthews said perfectly in an Aug. 29 press conference, “If they had asked me five minutes after the Virginia Tech game last year, I would have told them I
don’t want to play a Division I game. I have no interest in playing them. Zero.”
Although Matthews probably felt a tad different after the game (he compared the win over Tech to the ’04 championship on Sept. 13, 2010), the truth is these games rarely — if ever — predict a team’s subsequent success for that season.
However, many might argue that “The Horror,” Appalachian State University’s 34-32 win over the University of Michigan Wolverines in 2007, was a decisive moment for FCS football. It was a win that would later determine that truly anybody can win on any given Saturday.
These critics would be right, but they might fail to recognize hard, consistent evidence that App. State won two consecutive championships before that game and would go on to
win a third that season by mortifying UD in a one-sided 49-21 win. For three years, this team was playing in a league with little-to-no challenge. That school is practically part of the FBS already, as evidenced by its Aug. 23 vote to recommend a move to that subdivision.
The facts are there; instead of expecting a win over our FBS opponent every year, maybe fans should
reconsider history and the Sept. 11, 2010 anomaly as just that — a completely unexpected occurrence.
So, if any JMU fanboy is hugging their purple-and-gold comforter late at night, fretting over the success of the pride of Madison, I bring good tidings: They’ll probably do just fine.
ContACt Matt at breezecopy@gmail.com.
Saturday’s 42-10 loss to the University of North Carolina won’t determine the Dukes’ success this season
CoMMentAry
Learning to forget the Tar Heel tarnishpreviouS FootbAll
bowl SubdiviSion MAtChupS
2011 University of North Carolina,
42-10 loss
2010 No. 13 VirginiaTech, 21-17 win
2009 University of
Maryland, 35-38loss in overtime
2008 Duke University,
31-7 loss
2007 UNC, 37-14 loss
2004 No. 6 West
Virginia University, 45-10 loss
2003 No. 9 Va. Tech,
43-0 loss
The Dukes’ secondary allowed for two passing touchdowns and 277 yards at Saturday’s game against the University of North Carolina.
JMU starting quarterback Justin Thorpe threw for 152 yards Saturday.Photos by RobeRt boag / the bReeze
breezejmu.org FOOTBALL Thursday, September 8, 2011 A5
Kerby Long#23
WR
A.J. Scott#76
LT
Earl Watford#70
LG
Roane Babington#55
C
QB
TB
Matt Krout#74
RG
Josh Wells#71
RT
Brian Barlow#84
TE
Daniel Brown#10
WR
X
X
X X X X X X X
XArlandis Harvey
#18
XWR
Justin Thorpe#7
Dae’Quan Scott#11
FS
MLB
DTDTDE DE
SS
WS
WLB
CB CB
Jakarie Jackson#15
Stephon Robertson#27
Dean Marlowe#16
Pat Williams#24
D.J. Bryant#13
Leavander Jones#8
Nick Emmons#49
Sean O’Neill#98
Tyler Snow#95
Mike Allen#1
Vidal Nelson#6
00
0 00
00
0000
GAMEDAY GUIDE
JENA THIELGES / THE BREEZE
A6 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FOOTBALL PREVIEW
great location - walk to class + on shuttle bus route + private bedrooms & bathrooms + individual leases + fully furnished apartments
good luck dukes
apply online @ stonegatehousing.com540.442.4496 | 1820 putter court
scan me
apply online today
breezejmu.org FOOTBALL Thursday, September 8, 2011 A7
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WE DELIVER THE CHIKSParty Wings! 10, 20, 30, 50 Party Pack. 5 different sauces available
Regular Hours and DeliveryMon thru Sat: 11am - 10pmSun: 11am - 9pmFri, Sat: Late Delivery till 3am
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Burgers, BBQ, Subs, Chicken Wings, and MORE!
Preorder your tailgate now!
A8 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FootbAll preview
Just the facts: Touring the new stadiumBridgeforth Stadium was built in
1975.
The stadium’s total area is
268,888 square feet.
The scoreboard is now an
HD videoboard, which will play a
60-minute pregame show before
every game.
The two concourses have identical
facilities including first-aid, concessions,
bathrooms and a team store.
New food will be offered, such as hot wings and barbecue
sandwiches.
There will be fireworks at the first
game on Saturday.
On oct. 4, there will be a
movie night.
The club lounge is 8,000 square feet.
There is an elevator which moves at
300 feet per second.
The stadium, a $62.5 million project, was completed two weeks ahead of schedule, according to John Martin, assistant athletic director. PhOTOS By JameS mOOre / The Breeze
The club lounge will feature a dining area and big-screen TVs. In the expanded Bridgeforth Stadium, 1,006 club seats were installed.
breezejmu.org football Thursday, September 8, 2011 a9
by Scott Nickleycontributing writer
The center snaps the ball. The quarterback drops back and looks for a receiver. He finds an open man and con-nects at the back of the end zone before an opposing cornerback brutally tackles the receiver on his way to the ground.
But for one group of people at the game, the play hasn’t ended yet. The athletic train-ers can’t celebrate until all the players have come safely back to the sideline.
“I don’t watch the game like a normal spectator does,” said Scott Cook, a JMU foot-ball athletic trainer.
Cook is in his ninth season as an athletic trainer at JMU. Before coming to Harrison-burg, he worked with the University of Illinois. During his extensive education and career, Cook has learned to watch football games with a more watchful eye than most fans. With a number of important responsibilities, he and the rest of the athletic training staff must be at the top of their game — no matter how the team performs.
Almost any type of injury can occur during a game, so athletic trainers need to be ready for anything.
“We see anything from muscle strains to ankle sprains, shoulder injuries, concussions,” Cook said. “A wide variety — that’s what makes football so unique.”
This wide variety of injuries requires much preparation and constant addition of new knowledge. Students in the Athletic Training Educa-tion Program at JMU must complete at least 800 clini-cal hours, a large number of practical exams and pass a national test to become a certified athletic trainer,
according to Cook. Not to mention they’re taking a full course load.
Three certified athletic trainers, two physicians, an orthopedic specialist and six athletic trainers line the side of the field during every foot-ball game.
Junior Jessica Colborne and senior Craig Mason are both ATEP students who are doing their clinical hours with the football team.
“We spend between six and seven hours a day here,” Col-borne said during practice.
Students training for this career can’t be on the side-line until they have passed preliminary exams and been accepted into the program.
“Classes are mostly prac-tical,” Mason said. “We have practical tests, too. We have to show our skills in order to actually do them.”
The students will be highly involved in the sideline rou-tine and in any emergency situations during the game, so there is no room for stu-dents who are unsure or not ready, Cook said.
Dr. Kent Diduch and Dr. Mark Miller oversee both Cook and the students on the sideline and make the final call about players’ abil-ity to get back in the game after an injury. The decision to continue playing is also up to the player, but gener-ally, Cook said, the doctors are more conservative than the players.
The football staff places a strong emphasis on concus-sion recognition. And athletic trainers aren’t the only peo-ple watching for concussions; so are coaches and even other players.
“If we are suspecting a con-cussion,” Cook said, “they’re going to be out of the game until Dr. Diduch, who will make the call, feels that they
can return safely.”In an emergency situation,
athletic trainers must have a specific emergency action plan and are responsible for crowd control, obtaining player medical history, per-forming first-aid and assisting Emergency Medical Services with getting players to the hospital, if necessary. They must also alert campus police to assist with the process.
As busy as the athlet-ic trainers are during the games and practices, their job doesn’t end when these do.
Injury rehabilitation takes up a large portion of the time athletic trainers spend off the field. Some injuries require surgery either by a special-ist or Miller, Cook said. After surgery, players receive a timeline of their projected recovery, and rehabilitation begins as soon as possible.
Junior Sean O’Neill, a defensive tackle, sustained an injury to his left knee and immediately sought Dr. Diduch’s advice.
“They’ve been great … most of the time I’m with the same trainer,” O’Neill said. “They like to do that so that they become familiar with the injury.”
When injuries do arise, Cook said Coach Mickey Mat-thews remains involved with both the players and the ath-letic training staff.
“C o a c h M a t t h e w s i s great,” Cook said. “He asks questions. He’s genuinely concerned about the well-being of the players.”
Though thousands of peo-ple will watch the first home game on Saturday, some pairs of eyes will linger a little longer on every play.
coNtact Scott Nickley at nicklesf@dukes.jmu.edu.
More than spectatorsAthletic trainers keep eye out for football injuries
tom kusterasst. athletics
Director for Sports Medicine
Jackie Downarassociate athletic
trainer
Scott cookassociate
athletic trainer
John kaltenborn
associate athletic trainer
chris Smithassociate
athletic trainer
lisa friesenasst. athletic
trainer
Nell Morganasst. athletic
trainer
Jon leonardasst. athletic
trainer
Paula Maxwellathletic training
faculty
Jamie fryeathletic training
faculty
connie Petersonathletic training
faculty
Meet the Athletic trAiners
Photos courtesy of JMu sPorts
A10 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FOOTBALL PREVIEW
breezejmu.org football Thursday, September 8, 2011 a11
new stadium, new season
top left Redshirt junior tailback Lee Reynolds returns a punt against the University of north Carolina Tar Heels. top Right Redshirt freshman weak safety Eric Magruder (left), redshirt junior free safety Ryan Smith and junior weak safety Isaiah Wright take a knee during practice. Middle Right Senior quarterback Justin Thorpe discusses strategy with Jeff Durden, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.
Photos By RoBeRt Boag and Paul Jones / the BReeze
A12 Thursday, September 8, 2011 breezejmu.org FootbAll preview
MARK YOUR CALENDARSRenting begins for the 2012-2013school year on October 3, 2011!
Sour Cherry Court
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