They’ve vowed to not let it happen again.
The slow start didn’t hurt James Madison in the end last week, but the top-ranked Dukes are hoping their increased inspiration during practice over the last few days allows for a less stressful experience in their Colonial Athletic Association opener today against Elon at Rhodes Stadium in North Carolina. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
“Pretty much everything,” helped create better urgency in workouts over the past few days, according to JMU senior cornerback Wesley McCormick.
“We’re running around, flying around and there’s attention to detail,” he said. “We’re paying attention to the little things because those are the differences between making the play and not making the play. Also, the whole time we’re inside the [field] we’re running and moving and finishing through the line in our drills, in our sprints. All the little things.”
The Dukes bounced back for a dominant second half to beat Robert Morris, 36-16, a week ago but they trailed by a touchdown on two separate occasions during the second quarter against the Colonials. JMU coach Curt Cignetti said he sensed a lack of energy from his team ahead of last Saturday’s non-conference clash with RMU and that complacency carried into the opening 30 minutes of the contest.
“The lessons should be learned,” Cignetti said. “They’re right there on tape. Players understand it and coaches understand it, too. Of course, you can’t take anything for granted and now Elon is a quality team, so we’ll be excited to play our first conference game.”
JMU (2-0) has plenty of reasons to be eager for its matchup with Elon (1-1). The game will mark Cignetti’s second trip to meet the Phoenix in their home venue as JMU’s coach. Prior to landing the job with the Dukes, he held the same gig for two years at Elon where led the Phoenix to consecutive FCS playoff berths.
He said he’s more concerned with the coronavirus protocols his team must successfully follow to travel safely for the first time this season than the sentiment of coaching against Elon.
But his players know the circumstances.
“The fact that Coach Cignetti coached at Elon gives us a little extra fire as well,” McCormick said, “and that probably does the same for Elon. So, there’s probably a little more fire for both teams.”
If there’s anything Cignetti made sure to take with him from his last stop to the current, it’s his desire to run the ball, and Phoenix coach Tony Trisciani said attempting to slow the Dukes’ rushing attack is a concern of his.
Even with a flat beginning to last week’s contest, JMU tallied 196 rushing yards while leaning on senior running backs Percy Agyei-Obese and Jawon Hamilton. During the Dukes’ season-opening win over Morehead State they deployed a deeper group of backs that piled up 369 yards on the ground, though, Agyei-Obese and Hamilton will likely be leaned on when the score is close, Cignetti said.
Agyei-Obese leads the team with three rushing touchdowns and Hamilton is averaging 7.5 yards per carry, the fourth-best rate in all of FCS.
“It’s a big and experienced offensive line and a veteran running back position,” Trisciani said, “so that’s where it all starts [for JMU] and that’s an area we’ve got to improve on to line up with these guys this week.”
In last season’s 45-10 victory for JMU at Elon, the Dukes rushed the ball with ease for 336 yards and six scores on the ground.
In two non-conference games – against Davidson and Gardner-Webb – over the last two weeks, the Phoenix gave up 469 rushing yards and seven rushing scores.
“I know JMU is going to want to run the football,” Trisciani said.
The Coaches: Trisciani was Cignetti’s defensive coordinator when Cignetti was in charge of the Phoenix. When Cignetti left for JMU, Elon wasted no time promoting Trisciani, who had plenty of experience in the CAA. He is a former assistant at Villanova and at New Hampshire, too.
He’s 6-7 in the role now as head coach.
Cignetti enters today with a mark of 16-2 at JMU and 83-28 in his 10 seasons as a head coach.
The Quarterbacks: As of Monday, Trisciani said he was unsure of quarterback Joey Baughman’s status for today’s game. Baughman, Elon’s second-string quarterback only elevated because of the spring-ending injury to veteran starter Davis Cheek, suffered a right leg injury in the third quarter of the Phoenix’s loss last week to Gardner-Webb. If Baughman, can’t go, freshman JR Martin will probably start for Elon.
JMU fifth-year senior Cole Johnson threw three interceptions as part of the team’s horrendous first half against Robert Morris, but he, much like the rest of the roster, rebounded for a stronger second half. From the last drive of the first half through the end of the Dukes’ win over the Colonials, Johnson was 12-of-14 for 137 yards and a touchdown without a turnover.
“But before you go out and win a football game, you’ve got to make sure you don’t lose it,” Cignetti said.
Series History: JMU is 7-1 in its history against Elon.
Johnson actually made his first career start against the Phoenix while filling in for ex-starter Bryan Schor. In a 63-14 win for the Dukes in 2016, Johnson threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
Weapon To Watch: The Phoenix have some familiar faces back on offense like running back Jaylan Thomas and wide receiver Kortez Weeks, but the addition of Connecticut transfer tight end Donovan Williams have given them another weapon.
He’s a 6-foot-4 imposing target.
“He’s got really good hands,” Cignetti said about Williams. “He’s caught quite a few balls for them already. Definitely a threat as a receiver and does an adequate job of blocking.”
Cignetti said he remembers connecting with Williams when Williams was a quarterback coming out of CD Hylton High School in Woodbridge. It was at Connecticut, though, that Williams moved to tight end.
Williams leads Elon with 11 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. Trisciani said Williams has already been voted a captain for the Phoenix.
Williams and Elon defensive coordinator Billy Crocker, previously a UConn assistant, had a connection which led to the tight end to choosing the Phoenix. They had graduated former All-CAA tight end Matt Foster from their 2019 team.
“And we felt like trying to find a more mature transfer was the way to go there,” Trisciani said, “in order to develop some of the younger tight ends in our program.”
Improved Coverage: Through the first two weeks of this spring campaign, JMU has fielded a better punt-coverage unit and kick-coverage unit than it did last season.
The Dukes are giving up just 1.33 yards per punt return this spring compared to 5.67 in the fall of 2019.
Punter Harry O’Kelly booted four punts to land inside the opponent’s 20-yard line against Robert Morris. One was downed by McCormick at the opposing 1, which led to a safety for the Dukes’ defense.
“It’s a little bit harder than it looks,” McCormick, a four-year starter on the punt team, said. “I had to learn that my freshman year. I know if you dig back, we played Weber State in the playoffs and there’s a couple of times I got pushed into the punt returner by the punt-return team and that was one of the things I had to learn about with how to maneuver once you’re down there. So, I’d say there’s an art to it, but over time you get to know it and it becomes second nature.”
McCormick said he hopes if young players see him and other veterans take special teams seriously, then they follow to do so also.
The kick-coverage team is yielding only 14.40 yards per return this season compared to 18.99 in 2019.
Don’t Be Surprised If: The Dukes’ defense continues their positive progression forward into a strong new-look unit.
In spite of replacing eight starters from last season, they’re already proving to show little or no drop off. JMU ranks first nationally for rushing defense while yielding only eight yards on the ground per game.
“I saw that they lost some good defensive linemen [from last year’s team] and then they lost some more defensive linemen [to injury] this past fall,” JMU cornerback Greg Ross, a transfer from North Carolina, said. “So I knew the back end would have to hold up even better now, just from not getting that good pass rush up front.
“But even the younger guys up front have grown and played well for us, so I’ve really tried coming in and adapting to the defense and really focusing on making that corner group better to do what we’ve got to do to be successful. But, the defense has held up well and I like what we’ve got going so far.”
