FIELD NOTES: Depth Playing Vital Role For JMU

The top-ranked Dukes are 7-0 (4-0 Colonial Athletic Association) despite losing multiple starters for year due to injuries and missing others at times due to suspension.

“We haven’t talked about it a whole lot, but we had eight kids last weekend that were slated to start this year that did not play,” Houston said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “And we’re still continuing to play at a very high level. I think that speaks to the depth that we were able to develop with recruiting and in developing our roster.”

Over the summer, JMU lost projected starting offensive tackle Tyree Chavious to an Achilles injury. In preseason camp, cornerback Charles Tutt suffered a season-ending ACL injury.

And since the regular season schedule began, right guard Gerren Butler (ACL) and running back Cardon Johnson (Achilles) have been ruled out for the season, while Houston has said linebackers Dimitri Holloway (foot) and Robert Carter Jr. might miss the rest of the year as well.

Others that have missed games for various reasons this season include wide receiver Terrence Alls, tight end Nick Carlton, tight end Jonathan Kloosterman, wide receiver John Miller and wide receiver Riley Stapleton.

“I think you continue to see that week in and week out where if Kloo isn’t there, Clayton Cheatham and Nick Carlton step up,” Houston said. “Gerren goes down and Nick Edwards or Liam Fornadel or Zaire Bethea steps up.

“You see guys that are getting their chances to play and playing at a high level, so you don’t see much of a dip in the performance of the team.”

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- JMU hosts New Hampshire on Saturday. Houston called New Hampshire a “playoff-caliber team.” The Wildcats are 5-2 (3-1 CAA) and No. 17 in the STATS FCS Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.

- New Hampshire quarterback Trevor Knight is “probably playing as good as any player in the league right now,” Houston said.

- JMU and UNH are two of the CAA’s three-best scoring offenses. Houston said this week would be the Dukes’ biggest defensive challenge yet. New Hampshire is averaging 29.9 points per game and 422.6 yards per game.

- Houston said UNH, like it always has, still uses the creative offensive schemes put in place by former Oregon, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly from when Kelly worked for Wildcats coach Sean McDonnell.

- After practice, Houston said JMU sophomore tight end Nick Carlton is out for the year and will have knee surgery tomorrow. Carlton started four the team’s first six games before missing this past Saturday at William & Mary.

- Houston is unsure if junior kicker Tyler Gray (hip strain) will play this Saturday against UNH. When asked, Houston said, “we’ll see.”

- Defensive coordinator Bob Trott said Knight reminds him of JMU quarterback Bryan Schor. Trott said Knight has been hard to tackle this season and that he’s playing with confidence.

- Senior defensive end Andrew Ankrah said the Dukes’ defensive line can’t over-pursue Knight this week. JMU is eighth nationally in sacks with 24 on the season, but Ankrah said the defensive linemen must use a level-pass rush and stay in lanes this week, so that Knight doesn’t sneak past them.

- Senior receiver John Miller said the team has watched back both games it played against UNH last year to see what it did right and what it did wrong.

- Miller said it was most important to look back at how UNH played against JMU last year. The Columbia, S.C., native said UNH was aggressive against JMU last time around and probably would be again this Saturday to force the Dukes win one-on-one battles on the outside.