Bruce Campbell Officially Out for James Madison
by Ben Broman on Sep 10, 2009 6:49 AM EDT
in Football
Email
PrintOur beloved behemoth of a left tackle, the invincible Bruce Campbell, will be taking Saturday off after suffering turf toe against Cal. That, of course, spells trouble for a line that was already ridiculously young and got manhandled by the Golden Bears. (Of course, James Madison's line isn't quite as imposing, but that's beside the point).
Looking to replace Campbell is some combination of R.J. Dill, Paul Pinegar, and Tyler Bowen. Pinegar started Saturday at right tackle, but gotten beaten badly a couple times and Dill later took his place, I believe. Dill wasn't an all-star, but he was decent. Pinegar has more experience with the left tackle position, but Dill has the natural talent advantage. Bowen, who has been injured, should also be in the mix. It'll be interesting to see which of these three come out on top on the all-important position for protecting a QB's blindside.
The bigger issue here is with Campbell's health. Turf toe isn't a career-ender and can easily be recovered from, but it's also capable of lingering and holding a player out or affecting his performance if he tries to rush back. If the injury lingers, the line will be a lot of trouble against ACC defenses.
You also have to wonder how long the coaching staff waits before dipping to talented true freshmen like Pete DeSouza, Bennett Fulper, and - especially - Pete White. Fulper already played, so his playing time might as well see an increase, but guys like DeSouza and White, though not experienced, are definitely very talented and might perform better than the slightly more experienced guys in there now. If there's another injury, don't be surprised if one of them turn out to be the replacement.
9 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
JMU Gonna setup shop in that backfield
Get ready to hear the name “Sam Daniels” all evening. The Keg will be having a party at the ball approx 3 yards behind your line of scrimmage!
by hoboken_dukes79 on Sep 10, 2009 3:17 PM EDT reply actions
Thats a nice thought "hoboken,"
but do you honestly expect to stop arguably the best running back in the ACC?….eh, doubt it. Let me think, a FCS school vs the All ACC RB…..lets just say the chances are not on your side. And we played badly against Cal, don’t get me wrong, but James Madison will not have fun in College Park saturday night!
Oh yea, anyone (or any team) with ‘Dook’ in their name aren’t welcome around here!
FEAR THE TURTLE!….& #23!
The JMU DLine is legit
No doubt about that. But FtT1 brings up a good point – DRS is very good. While the DL is just as good as our OL, your LBs and DBs aren’t good enough – IMO – to stand up against Maryland’s running game.
BTW, FtT1, it’s Dukes, not Duke…like the JMU Dukes.
i wouldn’t go talking about fcs school this and that. those fcs schools from the caa south have been taking the bottom-rung acc teams apart so far this year and you guys most certainly are a bottom rung acc team. the line is only 10.5, VERY tight for a fbs team in their home opener.
i was at our games 2 years ago vs. unc and last year vs. duke. in both a couple costly mistakes allowed the acc teams to pull away a bit and at that point, our coach (notoriously) shuts it down. get out healthy and prepare for the caa sched.
however, with w&m, richmond, and villanova all beating 1-a teams, and those 3 teams being our direct competition for a playoff spot this year, we should have an added sense of urgency in this game. losing our 1-a tilt would put us at a distinct disadvantage come playoff selection time. in this case, playing a week later could actually help us, not to mention there’s zero mystique around an “acc” school this year. every newspaper from the washington post to the poughkipsie plain dealer is laughing at your conference right now.
and while we have lost a lot from prior seasons, landers admittedly was superman, the o-lineman we have stepping in are beasts. we average something like 6’1 and 300+ lb’s up front. it’s possible both our qb’s are better pure passers than landers was, thorpe could possibly be the best qb we’ve had come into the system and is expected to assume the role of starter at some point this year as a redshirt frosh.
our d line should be able to control the line of scrimmage against you guys and get pressure with just 4. we only play 2 linebackers anyway, so we should have plenty of speedy players free on defense to help with your wr’s.
i wouldn’t look too much into the turnover at running back. holloman wasn’t the same player after a knee injury, jamal sullivan is our bruising back. we have so much depth there we moved 2 rb’s to the secondary (safety).
we are young, but so are you guys. if we can make a couple plays on special teams – don’t kick to scottie – and get out of the 1st qtr without any killer turnovers, we’ll be able to bring the heat on your qb.
our biggest strength is your biggest weakness. LET’S GO DUKES!!!!
i’ll be in one of those new suites for the game, definitely looking forward to it. here’s to a good game.
PARTY AT THE BALL IN THE BACKFIELD!
by hoboken_dukes79 on Sep 10, 2009 8:59 PM EDT reply actions
First off, we’re not on the same rung as UVA and Duke, and it’s really not even that close. We got torn apart by Cal, but that game was blown out of proportion by some stupid errors on our part, and should’ve been much closer. Plus, Cal is a top 10 team. UVA and Duke are bottom-feeders, and there’s a big jump up between them and the next tier of the ACC.
You’re DL is good, and I have no qualms about admitting that, but there is a natural talent disadvantage on your side – that’s just the nature of being an FCS school, unfortunately – and I wouldn’t be so confident that you can control the offensive line with just four guys. Remember, Cal has one of the best defenses in the nation, and – outside of twice – the only times they got pressure on Turner was when they brought 5+.
Oh, and speed =/= cover skills.
And sorry, but I can’t see a successful offense on JMU this year, at least not at the start. You have no starting QB right now, will be alternating, which almost never works, and Landers was basically your offense last year.
(BTW, I wouldn’t make fun of the ACC. Are we struggling? Yes, and I’ve admitted as much. But you’re in the FCS – if you want to match up school-to-school, I’d be happy to get a CAA-ACC challenge going, and I’m pretty sure I’d know which conference would win. Also, if you stick around to game day, please cut out the “party in the backfield” thing. You have no idea how annoying it is.)
Is this guy joking?
Let me just say this, “hoboken,” everyone is “laughing at the ACC” right? On Monday night and Tuesday morning what teams were all over sportscenter? answer- Miami & FSU (ACC teams) How about last night and this morning? answer GT & Clemson (ACC teams) You’re looking in the ACC but you’re looking in the wrong place buddy. We have several Very Good teams: Miami#20, VT#14, FSU, GT#15, UNC#19! With 3 more teams getting votes. Thats more than half the conference dude!
But rest assured that when we’re running through your defense tomorrow night i’ll be “laughing” at YOU!
Show some respect for COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Ya’ll are playing VARSITY down there!
by FEARtheTERP1 on Sep 11, 2009 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions
and nobody ranked higher than 14. quality right there. half those teams will be out of the top 25 w/ their next loss, and there will be plenty amongst that group.
i’m sure you’ve seen the story already, but i’ll just give you the headline & lede from john feinstein’s article from tuesday:
“ACC Football Leads the Nation in Irrelevance”
Here we go again.
As in here we go with another fall of hearing the spinners from the Atlantic Coast Conference tell us how balanced the league is. Sure, the ACC is balanced — apparently no one (again) is really any good.
by hoboken_dukes79 on Sep 11, 2009 2:30 PM EDT reply actions
man, i'm waisting my time
talking to a guy that follows JMU.
SEC- 5 ranked teams
Pac10- 2 ranked teams
Big 10- 2 ranked teams
Big 12- 6 ranked teams
Big East- 1 ranked team
So that makes the ACC the worst conference right?…. With the third most amount of ranked teams?….. You’re clueless! Along with anyone else that says the ACC is the worst football conference! Enjoy watching a college team play a Varsity team Saturday night. Oh and thanks for staying in the sweets, we need more people like you!
by FEARtheTERP1 on Sep 11, 2009 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions
we can both agree the big east is garbage in football. but they’ve got to fill out the top 25 somehow this early in the year which is the sole reason there’s so many acc schools.
we’ll see how many acc teams are ranked at the end of the year. my guess is 2, tops. followed by another acc championship that has less fans than a typical jmu home game (see below). the dr. needs a new prescription.
i’ll prefer to remain clueless with the likes of john feinstein than delude myself into thinking a handful of mediocre teams on the cusp of the top 25 is anything to write home about.
jmu is expanding our stadium starting this year w/ an eye towards fbs participation over the next 5-10 years. i truly look forward to the day when we’re habitually stomping out the dregs of east coast football ala maryland, uva, and duke.
all in good fun, good luck tomorrow terps, we’ll be tailgating in lot I-B. hopefully the rain holds off and we have a good one. if madison were to lose i’ll be back w/ congratulations after the game.
until then, i just received the below evite from Sam Daniels
Host: The University of Maryland
Location: Byrd Stadium, College Park
When: Saturday, September 12th, 6:00PM
Phone: 911
PARTY ON THE BALL IN THE BACKFIELD!!!!
by hoboken_dukes79 on Sep 11, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.