WHAT IT WAS WAS FOOTBALL ... JMU 70-50 OVER UNC

 

How bad could it have been at Chapel Hill Saturday had not 

James Madison been penalized eight times for 85 yards in 

the FIRST HALF, for crying out loud? By then the Dukes led 

53-21 … and had lost a fumble deep in UNC territory … 

“Maybe a little bit stunning,” said ACCNetwork halftime 

host TAYLOR APPLEBAUM. Maybe? A little bit? Where 

do they get these people from anyway? … Thank goodness 

for former Virginia Tech wideout EDDIE ROYAL who said 

what needed to be said: “Just sloppy football ... They’re 

getting out-coached … It’s frustrating to watch. BAD 

FOOTBALL!” … By the time the teams returned for the 

second half, most of the Carolina faithful had left Kenan 

Stadium … leaving about 47,000 empty seats to watch JMU 

complete the rout 70-50 … despite remaining undisciplined 

… and finishing with 12 penalties for 105 yards … Granted, 

the Dukes had reason to wonder about some of the decisions 

by the ACC officiating crew … like roughing the passer 

(negated by intentional grounding) at the Madison 15 , and 

Carolina scored on the next snap to close to 60-32 midway 

of the third quarter… but moving well before the snap on 

fourth and two was an easy call … one of six for illegal 

motion against JMU ...“What do make of this stunning 

event?” asked play by player Jorge Sedano … to which 

analyst (of the obvious) Orlando Franklin said, “The guys 

aren’t doing their jobs.” Who would have known? … Click!

Lingering impressions from JMU/Carolina … Despite JMU 

having the all-time most points (60, midway through the 

third quarter) against a FBS opponent, first-year coach BOB 

CHESNEY should not have been in a mood to celebrate 

afterwards. Aside from the myriad of penalties, his defense 

against the pass was shoddy, and the tackling even worse … 

Also, the Dukes spent too much time and energy hot-

dogging, especially when things were going well in the first 

half … and could have picked up even more flags for delay 

of game as well as taunting. Then again that is what football 

has become … Hey, everybody. LOOK AT ME!  … and Big 

Boo of Week to ACCN for switching to Rutgers/VaTech 

with more than six minutes to go … an amateur move … 

unlike most networks which will start the new game on 

another outlet. What if you were a forever James Madison 

fan … and had something more important to do than 

watching a kid’s game Saturday and had to tape JMU/UNC? 

Bush! … I know, I know … it isn’t difficult to find a game 

replay … but it is after the fact, and not the same. Still 

BUSH!

Finally, let’s hear it for Carolina’s Mack Brown, who told it 

like it was … and didn’t cut short his post-game press 

conference like so many coaches do after an exceptionally 

bad day at the office. To paraphrase … he said everyone was 

embarrassed and that he was responsible. The fans should 

have booed and walked out at halftime (which they did) ... 

when their team plays that poorly, especially against an 

opponent they were better than ... and should have beaten. 

(We’ll have more on Brown, an old "friend" from long ago, 

later.)

Until next time ...