Went 1-0, again.

Football Cliches and an Honest Coaching Assessment

If I’m being honest, I find a lot of football cliches to be kind of annoying. Coaches talk about controlling the controllables, game of inches, players talk about ignoring the outside noise…you get it. Is it psychological gymnastics sometimes? Sure, and it certainly isn’t the only sport or profession that engages in mind games/trying to create patterns in the brain to optimize performance. 

That is why when Georgia State Head Coach Shawn Elliott was so honest in his assessment after the team's 42-14 loss to JMU yesterday, I found it refreshing. I don’t know the copyright laws on this site, so I’ll just encourage you all to find the clip on YouTube. But I will give you some of the best talking points and what stuck out to me. 

He said more than one time they got their asses kicked. The score might indicate as such, but very rarely does a coach ever admit to that sort of thing in public nowadays. He talked about the coaching staff not being prepared and how it translated, or lack thereof, to the players. He also spoke on the players seemingly passive attitude towards the game and how that missing fire was the difference in the contest. And while this may be low hanging fruit, it is important to mention that he did briefly, but passionately and poignantly mention the lack of fan support considering the team they were playing was undefeated and a top 25 ranked team.

In a conference that prides itself on passionate fan bases and schools with winning traditions, we do tend to overlook that there are a couple programs that are fairly young in comparison to others. And to be fair to Georgia State, while yes, their team is having a great season, they are in a market and a region where many fandoms have been ingrained in families for generations and football allegiances have been taken up. Kennesaw State has the same problem in the Atlanta Metro area. Georgia was playing a top 15 Missouri and Georgia Tech playing UVA at the same time. I’m not saying all of this to rag on Georgia State and make excuses for the lack of support I saw in the stadium. I’ll leave that to others. But it does highlight that there are some stark differences even within the conference of certain programs that do have that tradition of success and expecting to win.

That is precisely what JMU is, and I’ll likely write an article at some point talking about the national championship pedigree the Sun Belt Conference football teams have as a whole. But once again, JMU went 1-0 this week, and did so without playing what they would consider a complete game. Two big plays accounted for Georgia State’s scores and a lot of their yards, but other than that, this game was all JMU. Jordan McCloud once again had a stellar performance accounting for 4 touchdowns through the air and 2 on the ground. Only going in at halftime up 7 with some miscues in the first half the Dukes could have come out doubtful and scared in the second half, but instead imposed their will.

That’s the difference between a team that expects to win and expects to play for championships, and a program that is still building towards that. Both JMU and Georgia State could have been hungover from their games the week before. While JMU did win a close game against in-state rival ODU, Georgia State lost in pretty convincing fashion to Georgia Southern. But the Dukes did the stupid cliche football thing and went 1-0 moving onto the next assignment. Apparently, Georgia State did not, and that along with the factors Coach Elliott mentioned caused his team to show little interest/fight in a game which they were absolutely in at halftime. Perhaps the best direct comparison is this. When JMU came out in the second half against ODU last week on defense, they forced a safety which would help be a major difference in the game. Georgia State, in the same situation, allowed the Dukes to score on two consecutive touchdown drives. 

So yeah. JMU went 1-0 and once again continued to put two massive middle fingers up towards the NCAA. The ESPN broadcast went so far as to show a side-by-side comparison of other teams that have transitioned in recent years compared to what JMU is doing. Spoiler, the comparisons aren’t even close, and didn’t even account for the fact that JMU is doing this without a transition in which other teams played a half FCS half FBS schedule. JMU is unique in making the jump without that buffer. 

But y’all know me, I am not here to beat that particular drum. I leave that for others to do with their 280 or so Twitter characters or troll Facebook posts. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, maybe it’s because these last few years have put a lot into perspective in life, or maybe it’s because I am aware of my diagnosis of severe anxiety and depression. But I don’t like to brag. Hell, I rarely if ever tweet my way through games. I let the team do the talking. 

I do like to engage in back and forth, but especially recently with discourse becoming so personal and unhinged that has even lost its luster. What’s the fun in having a back and forth if the “person” on the other side of that screen just wants to spout untruths or take what a few fans said out of context and use it as their jumping off point to stereotype your whole fan base. Despite JMU not having a losing season in over 20 years, a common theme for most JMU athletic teams, I will always remain humble and hungry as a fan. I will appreciate the good times. I’ll laugh and like when other fans peacock and revel in the team's success. Perhaps there’s a time I’ll do so as well. 

Until then, I’ll just continue to do a nice side smile. I’ll have a mischievous grin on my face while I write on Sunday morning or whenever. And I’ll appreciate this pretty stupid football cliche that, to be fair, works on and off the field as I think you can look at each day in life this way. JMU went 1-0 yesterday. It’s time to move on to UCONN. Go Dukes.