By Jack Fitzpatrick

Fall Camp begins for JMU Football in just a few days. With about one month to go before the Dukes travel down to Charlotte to take on the Biff Poggi led 49ers there are still questions swirling around this transfer heavy roster led by a coaching staff that has yet to coach an FBS game as a group. 

Will The Running Game Be Good?

Last season, JMU fans as a collective came into the year expecting big things out of the rushing attack. It didn’t live up to the hype, at all. 

The rushing attack ranked next to last in expected points added per rush at -0.135 and was the achilles heel of an otherwise exceptionally dominant offense. 

Heading into Fall Camp this year, it feels like JMU fans are saying the same things that were said 365 days ago. 

“Oh, this offensive line is experienced. The running backs are the best in the conference. The coaches value the run. The rushing attack should be amazing.” 

It feels kind of like insanity. 

Delvin Joyce came on the JMU Sports News podcast and broke down some of the issues he saw in the running game last season. 

“I think a lot of the timing was off, the vision for a lot of our backs was off, they had the bouncies,” Joyce said. “A lot of times the cutback was there and they were bouncing it outside trying to outrun people. In a lot of ways it just didn’t work.”  

I am not letting myself just assume this rushing attack will be good. I need to know through Fall Camp if the experience of the offensive line, meshed with the talent in the backfield will yield results. 

This offensive line is anchored by Tyshawn Wyatt, a returner who missed a good chunk of last season with an injury. The likes of Tanner Morris, Carter Sweazie and Cole Potts all are returners who have high end talent that should create running lanes on the interior. Then you add in Patrick McMurtrie and Jesse Ramil through the portal the line has great starters with key depth pieces across. 

Then add in Ayo Adeyi, arguably the top transfer running back in the group of five, along with George Pettaway, a former Top-150 recruit and Jobi Malary the running back room seems the same if not better than last year. 

They have to be good!  

I don’t want to be insane, though. So I will be intently watching and listening to this all camp. 

Is Dylan Morris Set To Fill The Shoes Of McCloud?

Jordan McCloud, despite not being named the QB1 to start the 2023 season, came in and lit the Sun Belt on fire. The dude was the best offensive player in the conference as he was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, and fileted defenses week in and week out. 

Well, that quarterback left JMU after the season and found his way to a Sun Belt West foe, Texas State. There, he is expected to make an immediate impact and lead the Bobcats to the Sun Belt Championship Game. 

So, that leaves a massive pair of shoes to fill that Dylan Morris will look to fit into. Morris, is a transfer from Washington where he was the starter for two years, the 2020 and 2021 season then lost his job to Michael Penix Jr.. 

Morris should be good, but the shoes he is filling are Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year good and there are some serious questions around the Puyallup, Washington native. 

In the COVID-shortened 2020 season he was a Pac-12 Honorable Mention as a true freshman, but then his sophomore season he saw a bit of slump. Morris averaged just 11.2 yards per pass (McCloud averaged 13 for JMU in 2023) and threw 12 interceptions to just 14 touchdowns across 11 games. 

Then after that? He was benched for transfer QB Michael Penix Jr. after Kalen DeBoer was hired as the new Washington Head Coach and went a different direction at QB. 

It seems Morris has the talent. But the question I am looking at is if he can fill the shoes of McCloud? Did two years behind a Heisman hopeful and the 8th overall NFL Draft Pick enhance his game? 

I’m thinking yes… 

How Is The Secondary?

This is listed as the third and final question. It is the biggest question mark though. 

A unit with five incoming transfers, one full time starter and underclassmen poised to try and show out, this unit has a ton of question marks but they have the signs of potential. 

Will it live up to its potential? 

Freshman All-American D’Angelo Ponds left late in the Spring Transfer Portal window and JMU responded by adding four new defensive backs through the Transfer Portal.

Chris Shearin from UConn, Ja’Kai Young from Gardner-Webb, Jordan Taylor from Tusculum (DII), and Ray Williams from Howard. 

That quartet of players joins Terrence Spence, a defensive back that was part of the initial transfer class, along with the returning production and freshman recruiting class. 

The secondary last year was the weak spot of the JMU defense. It was masked quite often by the stellar play up front but with nearly all the production leaving in the Transfer Portal or graduation the secondary should be tested a lot more this season. 

I am going to be watching closely how the secondary performs during camp and will over analyze anything that is said about them. 

This defense will only be as good as the secondary allows them to be. 

Featured Image Courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications