3 Things JMU has to do to Pull off the Shocker at Autzen
Saturday evening is going to be a historic moment for the JMU football program, regardless of what the final score ends up being. The Dukes will travel to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks in Primetime in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. The Group of Five’s inclusion in this year’s playoffs has been a hot topic of debate and discussion, as there are two G5 teams this year in Tulane and JMU.
People will look at the spread of this matchup along with the G5 tag and assume the Ducks are going to blow out the Dukes. But I’m going to provide three things the Dukes can do to keep them in this game and even pull off the shocker of all shockers.
Use Wayne Knight and the Run Game
JMU needs to use the run game led by Wayne Knight to control the pace of play and the clock to their advantage. Because this Ducks offense, led by Dante Moore, is the best offense the Dukes are going to face by a significant margin this season. Knight has been the Dukes’ most consistent offensive player this season, and his production, especially in the Sun Belt Championship, could be a highlight on Saturday. Especially if the line blocks the talent of the Oregon Ducks’ front seven well.
Limit Turnovers
With the weather likely to be a wintry mix or snow, depending on the reports, and rain is expected to arrive a few days before. So the Weather might be a factor in this game, so ball control is going to be even more of a premium than it was before. Even if the weather isn’t a problem, the turnovers are going to have to be subdued for the Dukes if they want to have an opportunity to win this game.
JMU Defense has to be Opportunistic
This is a matchup between two top fifteen offenses and defenses in the country, so this is going to be a fun matchup overall, even though on paper, Oregon is the way better football team. JMU is 65th in takeaways in the country with 15, so that is going to be a tough ask, but the turnovers are going to have to happen on Saturday. The Defensive Line, led by Sahir West, Immanuel Bush, has to create pressure for Moore to make a mistake, in which guys like Justin Eaglin, Jacob Thomas, and DJ Barksdale can make the plays on the football to get those interceptions to create short fields for Alonza Barnett and the JMU offense.
Final Thoughts
I’m proud of this JMU team for making the CFP this quickly after the transition from FCS. But now it’s time to say we are for real and make some noise in the naysayers, like Joel Klatt and Josh Pate, to name a few, and make this game close and maybe win a football game in Eugene, Oregon, this weekend. This should be an entertaining football game on TNT in the evening hours of Saturday.
