(06-05-2020 08:51 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  Let the record show we have improved a bit as well since our last meeting 6 years ago.

It should also be noted that JMU is the 3rd most common opponent in our program's history. Seriously. It just makes sense to be playing each other.

I agree and believe that it could be the start of a rivalry that will be very good for both programs. I am not in the camp of those who are not excited to be playing Liberty. I am very stoked and already plan to be there, God willing.

I agree. I will go to Liberty or watch. I barely check scores on the NEC and MEAC crap dished our way as a so called "elite" fcs program.

But seriously, what is the tailgating scenario? Is it like don’t show your booze bottle and it’s fine? Or is it more like, if they suspect drinking, you get harassed by campus PD?

(06-05-2020 01:37 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 12:57 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 11:06 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 07:53 AM)Potomac Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 07:04 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  I'm wondering where are all the posters who believe we can't find FBS teams to play, even more so any G5 who are willing to give us a paycheck? Can we please stop this nonsense. In addition, NDSU can get games they simply must be willing to travel further than they'd prefer. Their pool of FBS schools, a bus ride away, is much smaller than ours.

Looks at schedule thread:

2021 and 2023 have no FBS opponents.

Reads press release on Weber State scheduling in 2021 where Jeff Bourne all but says FBS schools wouldn't schedule us that year.

Hmmm.... no clue. Definitely no evidence of FBS teams not playing us...

That's our choice. Sure, I can buy that a normal school say within a four hour bus ride might have been full, but just like NDSU has the choice to do or not do deals. Depends on cash offered and travel distance, but we can always find a FBS team.

BP: I have to call you out on this. Is this your opinion or do you know this to be fact?

I have not had the position of scheduling games so I don’t know the facts. When I spoke to Kevin White and Jeff Bourne, they both said that getting an FBS game has become tougher because of how well JMU is playing against FBS schools. FBS schools play FCS schools for a guaranteed win. Why would they want to have a competitive game against an FCS school? There is no upside to an FBS program having competitive FCS games. Might as well play an FBS school and improve their power ranking.

Liberty needs to fill out their schedule as an independent and playing JMU makes real good sense for all the obvious reasons. We likely will play more games against them.

Read your own words, "tougher". That means we are having a tougher time getting UMD, VA Tech, UNC, NC State, etc. Why sure it's tougher, nobody says it's not. We've now had to reach out to Louisville 7 - 8 hours away. Do you really think Louisville was our first phone call? I'm sure we exhausted the normal schools before landing that deal. We had to stretch our comfort zone of travel. I'm guessing that we'll still bus to that game. Even a few years ago we didn't have an FBS game the year we landed the SMU deal and secured that at the final hour.

Another thing making it difficult for us, it's fairly common for us to not reach beyond 5 to 6 seasons, these FBS teams are often booking games 10 years out. When we aren't going but 5 - 6 years out then it's certainly going to be tougher. I'm not saying schools are jumping to sign with us, we are good, and they do have to take a deep breath, but all the proof needed that there's always a deal to be had is simply look at our schedules 15 years prior to today and look at it 6 years out. We can get a game any time we want it, just not with anyone we may want.

We had a done deal with Arkansas for the same year as the SMU game, per JB and EW, in person they told me this, money was agreed upon but we couldn't get the date worked out so we let it go. We can get almost any SEC school we want, though pressure is put on USC to stay in SC if at all possible. There will be road blocks like this on a regular basis. Also, I'm sure JB wants to make as good of a pay day as possible, so often money becomes an issue. To say because we are good we can't get an FBS game is just silly.

Well thought out argument BP. Your logic makes sense. Sure, if we take less money and travel farther,we can probably find more opportunities. I will counter that a big reason coaches are willing to schedule the FBS games is because it puts money into the athletics programs budget. I promise you most coaches don’t like scheduling a loss.

There is so much that goes into scheduling. It is a real challenge when you have a good program but are not a big draw for the opposing out of conference teams. JMU falls into the category of our fans will travel better than most any FCS team but you risk losing to us. I promise you that William and Mary and Richmond have an easier time scheduling than we do.

Your posts make it sound as if it is easy and our guys don’t work hard enough at it. I don’t believe that to be true.

(06-05-2020 07:18 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 12:57 PM)JMUNation Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 11:06 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  

(06-05-2020 07:53 AM)Potomac Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 07:04 PM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  I'm wondering where are all the posters who believe we can't find FBS teams to play, even more so any G5 who are willing to give us a paycheck? Can we please stop this nonsense. In addition, NDSU can get games they simply must be willing to travel further than they'd prefer. Their pool of FBS schools, a bus ride away, is much smaller than ours.

Looks at schedule thread:

2021 and 2023 have no FBS opponents.

Reads press release on Weber State scheduling in 2021 where Jeff Bourne all but says FBS schools wouldn't schedule us that year.

Hmmm.... no clue. Definitely no evidence of FBS teams not playing us...

That's our choice. Sure, I can buy that a normal school say within a four hour bus ride might have been full, but just like NDSU has the choice to do or not do deals. Depends on cash offered and travel distance, but we can always find a FBS team.

BP: I have to call you out on this. Is this your opinion or do you know this to be fact?

I have not had the position of scheduling games so I don’t know the facts. When I spoke to Kevin White and Jeff Bourne, they both said that getting an FBS game has become tougher because of how well JMU is playing against FBS schools. FBS schools play FCS schools for a guaranteed win. Why would they want to have a competitive game against an FCS school? There is no upside to an FBS program having competitive FCS games. Might as well play an FBS school and improve their power ranking.

Liberty needs to fill out their schedule as an independent and playing JMU makes real good sense for all the obvious reasons. We likely will play more games against them.

I believe there are a few reasons Liberty wants to play us.

1. They beat us last time out and imagine that we are the same team and they will win again. Wrong!
2. We are close, in-state, a game their fans really want, and it will be a sellout.
3. They fully expect us to be FBS by then, and I think they are right, even though we have been monitoring the situation for over a decade.

Do you or anyone know who initiated the game? I'd be surprised it it was LU.

The coming six-year cycle:
JMU has had great FCS success. National champs, FBS wins, a consistent winning program, very strong attendance and team support.

LU as a FCS teams at best flirted with being a top 15 team a couple of times. One FCS playoff win. Low key FBS wins while FCS and transitioning to FBS.

It is extremely tough to maintain exceptional play. In FBS, Miami and FSU had their glory cycles only to have ups and downs. In FCS, it may be easier to maintain high quality play but it is very difficult.

In 6 years:
It will be tough for JMU to maintain it's high caliber of past play. Not impossible but tough to maintain. How much higher can the ceiling be for JMU to climb? True more FCS playoff and championships are the barometer and FBS wins help. Which is the greater value.

LU has improved more as an FBS program than it ever did as a FCS school. Granted it was a low bar to excel past, but LU has likely a better chance to incrementally get better than JMU in 6 years purely because it being FBS.

And we can hope that JMU will achieve FBS by invite, geographical conference realignment or by some after effect of the Covid19 factor. It will benefit all. As tough as it is to stomach the political and moral mush coming from the Prez at LU, they do have the program in place to succeed. And JMU is there in all ways, except the most important one.

(06-06-2020 07:17 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  I will counter that a big reason coaches are willing to schedule the FBS games is because it puts money into the athletics programs budget. I promise you most coaches don’t like scheduling a loss.

I would hope we are way past the “scheduling a loss” mentality on FBS games. Even the ones we have lost recently were competitive. We had a chance to beat WVU. We had a chance to beat NC State. And I think we very well could beat UNC this year. We are routinely landing talent that can compete at this level, and if we bring our best game can win some of them. Against the G5 we should win most.

Playing strong competition is a good thing. It’s good for the fans and the players, and I believe better prepares us for the playoffs. It also can be beneficial for SRS/seeding, particularly with a win. It’s also great for the program and the brand. NDSU and App St both built their brands by not backing down from these games.

(06-06-2020 10:39 AM)NewTimes Wrote:  The coming six-year cycle:
JMU has had great FCS success. National champs, FBS wins, a consistent winning program, very strong attendance and team support.

LU as a FCS teams at best flirted with being a top 15 team a couple of times. One FCS playoff win. Low key FBS wins while FCS and transitioning to FBS.

It is extremely tough to maintain exceptional play. In FBS, Miami and FSU had their glory cycles only to have ups and downs. In FCS, it may be easier to maintain high quality play but it is very difficult.

In 6 years:
It will be tough for JMU to maintain it's high caliber of past play. Not impossible but tough to maintain. How much higher can the ceiling be for JMU to climb? True more FCS playoff and championships are the barometer and FBS wins help. Which is the greater value.

LU has improved more as an FBS program than it ever did as a FCS school. Granted it was a low bar to excel past, but LU has likely a better chance to incrementally get better than JMU in 6 years purely because it being FBS.

And we can hope that JMU will achieve FBS by invite, geographical conference realignment or by some after effect of the Covid19 factor. It will benefit all. As tough as it is to stomach the political and moral mush coming from the Prez at LU, they do have the program in place to succeed. And JMU is there in all ways, except the most important one.

Cool story, bro. But yea, nah, not buying it.

Have you seen our recruiting the past few weeks? i wouldn’t want to be an fbs playing us in the coming 6 years.

(06-06-2020 10:39 AM)NewTimes Wrote:  The coming six-year cycle:
JMU has had great FCS success. National champs, FBS wins, a consistent winning program, very strong attendance and team support.

LU as a FCS teams at best flirted with being a top 15 team a couple of times. One FCS playoff win. Low key FBS wins while FCS and transitioning to FBS.

It is extremely tough to maintain exceptional play. In FBS, Miami and FSU had their glory cycles only to have ups and downs. In FCS, it may be easier to maintain high quality play but it is very difficult.

In 6 years:
It will be tough for JMU to maintain it's high caliber of past play. Not impossible but tough to maintain. How much higher can the ceiling be for JMU to climb? True more FCS playoff and championships are the barometer and FBS wins help. Which is the greater value.

LU has improved more as an FBS program than it ever did as a FCS school. Granted it was a low bar to excel past, but LU has likely a better chance to incrementally get better than JMU in 6 years purely because it being FBS.

And we can hope that JMU will achieve FBS by invite, geographical conference realignment or by some after effect of the Covid19 factor. It will benefit all. As tough as it is to stomach the political and moral mush coming from the Prez at LU, they do have the program in place to succeed. And JMU is there in all ways, except the most important one.

Yeah very good point and I've mentioned many times on here that this is a big factor for why I'm so firmly in the FBS at all costs(well, pretty much) camp. Not much of anywhere to go but down for JMU and especially for NDSU while FCS and when that's the case it's pretty likely that's where you eventually will go. An FBS move would give us tons more room to grow.

(06-06-2020 11:02 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(06-06-2020 07:17 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  I will counter that a big reason coaches are willing to schedule the FBS games is because it puts money into the athletics programs budget. I promise you most coaches don’t like scheduling a loss.

I would hope we are way past the “scheduling a loss” mentality on FBS games. Even the ones we have lost recently were competitive. We had a chance to beat WVU. We had a chance to beat NC State. And I think we very well could beat UNC this year. We are routinely landing talent that can compete at this level, and if we bring our best game can win some of them. Against the G5 we should win most.

Playing strong competition is a good thing. It’s good for the fans and the players, and I believe better prepares us for the playoffs. It also can be beneficial for SRS/seeding, particularly with a win. It’s also great for the program and the brand. NDSU and App St both built their brands by not backing down from these games.

Yeah I would hope Cig and staff would gladly welcome the challenge of playing any FBS team and wouldn't look at it as scheduling a loss. There are only a handful of programs where I'd consider it anywhere close to scheduling a loss when you're scheduling it several years out, and even those always have the possibility of overlooking us and/or having a down year even if down years of that magnitude are pretty much non-existent in recent years for them.

(06-06-2020 11:02 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(06-06-2020 07:17 AM)JMUNation Wrote:  I will counter that a big reason coaches are willing to schedule the FBS games is because it puts money into the athletics programs budget. I promise you most coaches don’t like scheduling a loss.

I would hope we are way past the “scheduling a loss” mentality on FBS games.

I agree. I believe we will beat the Tarholes.... IF we have good quarterback play. QB play is the lynchpin. Much depends on the COVID factor and its effect on practice and schedule also.

Withers wanted to schedule two FBS games per year

(06-07-2020 07:15 PM)Dukeman2 Wrote:  Withers wanted to schedule two FBS games per year

To be fair, Withers didn't even beat Liberty when they were FCS.

I had a good time at Liberty when I went (other than the ass beating). Nice stadium, friendly fans. I didn't get there early enough to do much tailgating, downed two quick ones before walking in. A lot of ODU fans went to the nearby BW3's I believe. My understanding is if you're discreet you won't have problems. They had a really nice & engaged student section. The home side however was maybe 1/2 full. Liberty needs to get more locals to buy in and their alum living in Roanoke to come out more.

(06-08-2020 07:58 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  I had a good time at Liberty when I went (other than the ass beating). Nice stadium, friendly fans. I didn't get there early enough to do much tailgating, downed two quick ones before walking in. A lot of ODU fans went to the nearby BW3's I believe. My understanding is if you're discreet you won't have problems. They had a really nice & engaged student section. The home side however was maybe 1/2 full. Liberty needs to get more locals to buy in and their alum living in Roanoke to come out more.

I went to our game in 09 and 11, tailgated, drank a few beers from a cup and had no issue.

We did the same BP. Just be discreet and you will be fine. Liberty is a good venue for college football.

The leadership at Liberty has been a success.

Pass. Falwell Jr. can keep his cash. Find another opponent.

Two rising Sophomore defensive backs have announced they will be transferring from Liberty as a result of the views and actions of the leadership at Liberty.

Tayvion Land
Appeared in 11 last season as a freshman with 23 tackles and a forced fumble
https://twitter.com/landtayvion/status/1...01411?s=21

Kei’Trel Clark
Started all 13 games as a freshman with 38 tackles and a sack.
https://twitter.com/_treclark/status/127...72129?s=21

A women’s hoops player did the same a couple of weeks ago. Expect more of this. Folks may agree or disagree with it or think it’s an overreaction but it’s coming and the same way HBCUs are getting interest from High level recruits schools like Liberty Will start losing players and recruits.

(06-22-2020 11:01 AM)Anders Wrote:  Two rising Sophomore defensive backs have announced they will be transferring from Liberty as a result of the views and actions of the leadership at Liberty.

Tayvion Land
Appeared in 11 last season as a freshman with 23 tackles and a forced fumble
https://twitter.com/landtayvion/status/1...01411?s=21

Kei’Trel Clark
Started all 13 games as a freshman with 38 tackles and a sack.
https://twitter.com/_treclark/status/127...72129?s=21

I think we were one of the finalists for Kei'Trel. Hope he ends up a Duke.