Alonza Barnett isn’t a problem for JMU football. And a vocal minority of fans should stop calling for his benching.

Barnett, a redshirt sophomore, has created an unusual divide among JMU’s fans. Some love the quarterback’s athleticism and potential, while others believe Washington transfer Dylan Morris would give JMU a better chance to win.

I’m firmly in the camp that Barnett deserves more time – much more time – as JMU’s starting quarterback.

Gardner-Webb breakdown

It’s really easy to point fingers at a starting quarterback, especially when the Dukes only scored 13 points against an FCS opponent. The 13-point showing against Gardner-Webb wasn’t a good offensive showing, but it also wasn’t all Barnett’s fault.

Yes, he missed a couple throws and reads. Most notably, he airmailed Yamir Knight on a short pass on his first pass of the game. The play could’ve gone for 15+ yards, given how wide open Knight was.

But JMU’s wide receivers didn’t exactly help Barnett out in Week 2. Logan Kyle dropped a catchable fourth-down pass that would’ve gone for a first down and 20+ yards and perhaps led to a second-drive touchdown.

“I think if we get that first fourth down and you go right down the field and score, this game is very different,” head coach Bob Chesney said Tuesday. “We didn’t do that.”

Omarion Dollison dropped another third down pass that likely would’ve gone for a first down. Dollison and Kyle are both solid players, and they’re going to eventually come down with those plays. Dollison scored a touchdown in Week 1, and Kyle later had a 20+ yard catch against Gardner-Webb.

Even with two brutal drops, Barnett completed 14 of his 22 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers. That’s not spectacular by any means, but JMU focused much of its attention on underneath and intermediate throws, which led to a lower passing yardage total. Barnett took care of the football and made accurate throws. His only interception through two games came when Barnett believed Charlotte jumped offsides, so he took a shot downfield expecting a flag. 

Bob Chesney was asked about this INT by Alonza Barnett. Per Chesney, Barnett thought he had a free play, thus why he threw it up for grabs.

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Barnett was sacked three times against Gardner-Webb, but only one of the sacks could be considered Barnett’s fault, and even that one is debatable.

Gardner-Webb’s first sack came early in the game when Barnett couldn’t find an open receiver and tried to tuck it down and run, losing only a yard.

The second sack was also a coverage sack, with Barnett leaving the pocket on a third down in the second quarter and eventually taking a sack while trying to run for yardage. You could argue he should’ve thrown the ball away on this sack, but him trying to scramble for a couple yards wasn’t an outlandish decision.

The final sack came with a middle linebacker beautifully reading a play-action pass and getting to Barnett immediately. The App State transfer linebacker was unblocked.

I’m not putting those sacks on Barnett. Twice, receivers failed to create separation on third-and-long. Another time, Barnett was immediately under pressure from a good linebacker.

Benching Barnett doesn’t change the fact that the wide receivers need to do a better job of consistently shaking off defensive backs so JMU can avoid coverage sacks. It also doesn’t change the issues with drops, of which JMU has four through two games.

It’s easy to blame the starting quarterback for offensive woes, but Saturday wasn’t Barnett’s fault.

It’s Time for Patience

Against Charlotte, Barnett flashed elite traits. He did so against Gardner-Webb, too.

A third-and-17 completion to Yamir Knight was put on a rope. He threw a dart to Knight to move the sticks. He was accurate and on time with his later pass to Kyle, which went for a 20+ yard gain over the middle of the field. 

He also ripped off a 23-yard run late in the fourth quarter to move the chains and help ice the game. On the run, he intentionally slowed down to allow his receiver to throw a block, which led to the run going for 23 yards instead of about 10.

Dylan Morris cannot run like that.

Through two games, Barnett is one of only two Group of Five quarterbacks (USF’s Byrum Brown) with three runs of 20+ yards, according to cfbstats.com. He’s an explosive runner, bringing an element to JMU’s roster that will prove valuable throughout the year.

“I thought he did a fine job,” Chesney said Tuesday. “He’s a guy that gives us good options in the run game, I think he’s a good leader, and I think he’s a good football player. I think he’s right where he needs to be.”

Barnett has been far from perfect through two games, but he was excellenet in the second half against Charlotte, and his receivers let him down a few times against Gardner-Webb.

The quarterback only has three games of starting experience at the collegiate level, and those starts span two different offensive coordinators. It’s going to take a little bit of time before he reaches his full potential, and that might include growing pains. Those lulls will be worthwhile when starts consistently using his elite athletic traits.

He earned JMU’s starting quarterback gig, and he still deserves the job going into Week 3. He’s JMU’s best chance to win games this year and in future seasons.