Not many offenses in college football will do it or even have the manpower to pull it off, but James Madison isn’t ditching its forceful formation.
“The 13-personnel [package] is coming back for sure,” Dukes sixth-year senior tight end Noah Turner said with a smile on Sunday.
This past spring, JMU unveiled the wrinkle – a three-tight end set – successfully while featuring Turner, fifth-year senior Clayton Cheatham and fourth-year junior Drew Painter on the field at the same time. Cheatham filled the H-back or fullback role in the backfield while Turner and Painter had their hands in the ground on opposite ends of the line of scrimmage.
“You can [run] right, you can go left and the defense has no idea,” Turner said. “You can run a pass out of it and there’s so much diversification with it and with what you can do. And when you have three or four tight ends, who can play, why not do it?”
The thinking is in line with the philosophy of first-year Dukes offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, who is taking over the play-calling responsibilities this fall following the departure of ex-OC Shane Montgomery.
“Run the ball, control the line of scrimmage,” Shanahan said of his philosophy. “That’s never going to change. … Running the football is a recipe for success and something we’ve been good at here for the last couple of years. And our O-Line, they do a great job, and tight ends.”
Shanahan said he wants to create explosive plays out of the running game and passing game, too. The trio of tight ends will play a role in aiding both, and Turner said there’s plenty of room for him, Cheatham and Painter to contribute.
In his first season with the team this past spring on the heels of transferring from North Carolina, Turner caught four passes for 77 yards. He had two explosive catches, also, hauling in a 41-yard reception in the FCS semifinals at Sam Houston and a 29-yard catch against Richmond.
“We’ve got that chemistry a lot more,” Turner said. “Obviously, when you come in as a transfer, you want to earn your stripes with the guys in terms of respect. … Now, we’ve got this thing clicking, we’ve got this rotation and we’re rolling now.”
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- About sixth-year senior quarterback Cole Johnson, Shanahan said: “He’s eager. He’s very focused. He’s locked in.”
Johnson said the adjustment he’s making to Shanahan as OC and having Tino Sunseri as his new quarterbacks coach has gone well through two weeks of preseason practice. From his vantage point, Johnson said, Shanahan, Sunseri and Dukes coach Curt Cignetti work very closely when it comes to offensive scheme and the implementation of concepts.
- Shanahan, who is also the team’s wide receivers coach, said he believes the position group has developed more depth this preseason. Aside from returning starters Antwane Wells Jr., Kris Thornton and Scott Bracey, he believes Kevin Curry Jr., Reggie Brown, Josh Sims and Jamir Hudson are capable of contributing.
- The coaching staff and training staff have been cautious with senior running back Percy Agyei-Obese’s workload throughout preseason practice to this point, according to Agyei-Obese.
This past Friday, Cignetti said Agyei-Obese tweaked his hamstring and could be five to 10 days from returning.
Agyei-Obese, who carried the ball 145 times this past spring, didn’t participate in either of the team’s scrimmages the last two Fridays, but said he’d likely be ready for Week 1.
“I had a little tweak in the middle of camp,” he said, “but it’s all better now and it feels like it’s not even there. I’m ready to go and I’m excited.”
He said throughout the summer he prepared himself to withstand the workload he’d take on in the fall. He began doing yoga once a day to increase his flexibility and strengthen his muscles.
- When asked about how many defensive linemen he would use in a rotation this season, defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman responded with a laugh and said, “as many as I could get.”
He said the program made a conscious effort to upgrade its defensive line depth in the offseason, and did so by adding transfers Bryce Carter (Towson), Zaid Hamdan (Ohio State) and Jordan Funk (Army).
Carter said Hetherman told the defensive linemen the Dukes plan to travel with 10 defensive linemen.
- Defensive standouts this preseason, according to Hetherman, are senior safety Wayne Davis, safety Que Reid, defensive tackle James Carpenter and linebackers Kelvin Azanama and Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey.
- Through two weeks of preseason practice, which included a pair of scrimmages, JMU’s two-deep is a bit clearer than it was at the start of August training camp.
Most of the starting roles were always a given considering how many returned from this past spring, but there’s been some shuffling along the offensive and defensive fronts. Mostly, though, Cignetti and his staff had more evaluating to do of players battling for backup jobs. Here’s a PROJECTED look at the depth chart from the DN-R – based on practice observations and conversations with coaches and players – with 13 days to go until the Dukes’ opener against Morehead State:
OFFENSE
QB: Cole Johnson, Patrick Bentley
RB: Percy Agyei-Obese, Kaelon Black, Latrele Palmer, Austin Douglas, Lorenzo Bryant Jr., Solomon Vanhorse
TE: Clayton Cheatham, Noah Turner, Drew Painter
LT: Liam Fornadel, Ronald Altman
LG: Tyshawn Wyatt, Scott Hummel
C: J.T. Timming, Stanley Hubbard
RG: Cole Potts, Josh Toner
RT: Nick Kidwell, Tyler Stephens
WR: Scott Bracey, Reggie Brown
WR: Antwane Wells Jr., Kevin Curry Jr.
Slot: Kris Thornton, Josh Sims, Jamir Hudson
DEFENSE
DE: Bryce Carter, Abi Nwabuoku-Okonji, Antonio Colclough
DT: James Carpenter, Tony Thurston, Zaid Hamdan
DT: Mike Greene, Jordan Funk
DE: Isaac Ukwu, Jalen Green, Mike Wilcox
Mike: Kelvin Azanama, Mateo Jackson
Will: Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey, Skylar Martin
Rover: MJ Hampton, Jalen Phelps
CB: Wesley McCormick, Jordan Swann, Jamari Currence
FS: Que Reid, Sam Kidd
SS: Wayne Davis, Josh Sarratt
CB: Greg Ross, Taurus Carroll
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK: Ethan Ratke
KOS: Connor Madden
P: Harry O’Kelly
LS: Kyle Davis
PR: Jordan Swann, Jack Sroba
KR: Solomon Vanhorse, Kaelon Black
