JMU football fell to App State 34-20 on Saturday. It was a demoralizing loss that took JMU out of the Sun Belt East race. 

Here are three takeaways and observations from the defeat. 

Road game issues … again

At home, JMU has been a wagon this fall. The Dukes are 5-0 with an average margin of victory of 34 points against FBS teams. On the road, the Dukes are 3-3. The one major road success was a 70-50 win over UNC, which is the highlight of JMU’s 2024 season.

In league games, however, JMU is a woeful 1-3 in road games. The Dukes have double-digit losses to Georgia Southern and App State, and their only win was an error-filled 35-32 win over ODU.

The conference road losses have been defined by silly mistakes. JMU has a combined 30 penalties in those three games. The Dukes gave up a lengthy fumble return for a touchdown in the 21-19 loss to ULM, blowing an early 10-0 lead. In the 28-14 loss to Georgia Southern, JMU’s offense only mustered 250 yards, squandering a +4 turnover margin. Against App State, the Dukes blew a 14-0 lead as the offense fell silent and a blocked punt flipped momentum before halftime.

JMU seemingly lacks poise on the road. The penalties and special teams blunders — the Dukes have allowed blocked punts in consecutive weeks — are unacceptable for a team that wanted to win a conference title. The Dukes keep beating themselves.

At home, JMU thrives off the crowd’s energy. On the road, the noise seems to suck life out of JMU. It’s harder to win on the road, but for a coaching staff that emphasizes “testing the team in fire” to prepare for adversity and tough moments, there’s something going wrong with the approach on the road. JMU seems to spiral when things go wrong away from Bridgeforth Stadium, allowing one error to turn into a second and third.

To me, JMU seems to lack the seriousness needed to win on the road consistently. The Dukes pretended to be leashed dogs before the App State game, only to get outscored 34-6 after taking a 14-0 lead. I’m not saying the team can’t have fun, but that type of entrance was far different (and less serious) than the team’s entrance on the road against Coastal Carolina in 2023, when they slowly walked onto the field in a business-like manner.

Chesney’s version of the Dukes pride themselves on always having positive energy on the sideline. That’s admirable, but it seems like the emotions of the game sometimes overwhelm JMU.

While the Dukes’ sideline was perhaps less celebratory under Cignetti, the Dukes did well to manage a game’s emotions. They never seemed to get too high or too low, an important trait for teams. From the outside, it looks like this JMU team often gets too high or too low emotionally when on the road.

If JMU wants to get better on the road, the preparation and execution needs to be crisper. I think that starts with a more unflappable and serious attitude when visiting hostile road environments.

Running backs look great

Perhaps most frustrating for JMU was the success of the running backs. JMU ran the ball wonderfully with George Pettaway and Wayne Knight (24 carries, 144 yards, 6 yards per carry) were an effective duo. How can the Dukes run it that well and still lose?

For whatever reason, JMU seemed to abandon the run game once again in a road loss. App state didn’t have a consistent answer for the Dukes’ running backs, but they forced Alonza Barnett into an interception and fumble. The Dukes completed just 58.3% of its passes and averaged only 6.4 yards per pass attempt. Both turnovers came through the passing game.

JMU’s running game is a weapon. The team needs to use its standout backs more consistently.

The Dukes ran the ball 25 times with its running backs despite running 74 offensive plays. Some of that is needing to throw the ball given the deficit, but the game flipped with a strip sack in the second quarter with JMU leading 14-3. The Dukes started the drive with four consecutive productive runs, amassing 29 yards in the process. Then, they tried to take a deep shot and it led to a turnover that flipped momentum.

If it ain’t broke …

Fans are understandably upset

Let’s be clear: An 8-3 record is NOT a disaster. JMU lost a ton of talent this offseason, and the Dukes have notable wins over UNC, Coastal Carolina, and ODU. That’s largely a good season for any Group of Five team! The Dukes grabbed a P4 win, went undefeated against non-Sun Belt G5 teams and have a winning record in conference games. Many G5 teams would sign up for that and celebrate the accomplishment.

But JMU doesn’t claim to be an average G5.

This team is really talented — there are multiple underclassmen who will receive P4 interest this offseason and several upperclassmen will have a chance to play professionally. It feels like 8-3 should be 9-2 or 10-1 or even 11-0. The Dukes started 4-0 by putting a 70 burger on UNC. Then they dropped 63 on Ball State. Since then, they’re 4-3. That’s disappointing, given how good the team looked in those two wins.

JMU Athletic Director Matt Roan went on JMU Sound Off after the Dukes’ drubbing of Coastal Carolina and said: “There is nothing mid-major about this place. There is nothing Group of Five about this place. This is a … big-time, major college football, major college athletics department that rivals anywhere else in the country.”

If the AD says that publicly on a popular fan podcast with regular and loyal listeners, fans are going to expect a P4 caliber football program on Saturdays. Period.

JMU has looked like a G5 football team in conference play. That’s not the end of the world! It even makes a lot of sense. After all, this is only JMU’s third season at the FBS level.

But it’s different from the message coming from the top of the athletic department.

The Dukes are 4-3 in the Sun Belt with double-digit losses to Georgia Southern and App State, teams that are a combined 12-9 this season. Those two teams are 0-2 against P4 opponents (Ole Miss and Clemson) with two losses by a combined 83 points.

And look, Roan wasn’t saying JMU is Ole Miss or Clemson. But the Dukes don’t look like Boise State (a 56-45 winner in Statesboro earlier this year), Tulane (unbeaten in league play), or UNLV (two P4 wins and one-possession losses to Boise State and Syracuse). Those are this year’s G5 powers, and they all look a cut above the Dukes. All of those teams look more consistent, and both Boise State and Tulane have coaches in their first full season leading the program.

Having a new coach/roster is less of a valid excuse for losing when you start 4-0 with those coaches and roster. What’s happened in the seven games since? The team clearly has elite talent at numerous positions, otherwise they wouldn’t have 20+ point wins in six games this season. JMU’s strength of schedule also ranks 128th nationally, per ESPN. The Dukes aren’t exactly dropping games to juggernauts. 

JMU football conference losses by 10+ points:

2016-2023: 2
2024: 2

— JMU Sports News (@JMUSportsNews) November 24, 2024

So JMU started 4-0 and faced a soft schedule with a talented roster (numerous contributors are on NIL deals). Yet somehow the Dukes have a pair of double-digit defeats in league play. Heck, even ODU doesn’t have one double-digit conference loss. JMU has two!

Yes, it’s Year 1 of Chesney’s time in Harrisonburg. But the message from the coaching staff and athletic department was not that JMU needed several years to build up to a championship contender. The message was that JMU has a high standard of excellence and expects to compete for and win Sun Belt titles. The message in October was that JMU’s program was built like a P4 program. 

If that’s what fans are being told from the people at the top, of course they’re going to believe it. With that comes frustration and anger when the Dukes fall well short of their goals.

The expectations in Harrisonburg are massive. Either JMU should work gradually to lessen expectations through carefully crafted messaging or the program needs to hit those lofty standards to appease fans. You can’t expect fans to be told the program operates like a P4 team and then also want them to gladly accept finishing third in the division.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications