r/CFB • u/CFB_Referee /r/CFB • 2d ago
Postgame Thread [Postgame Thread] James Madison Defeats Liberty 20-13
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| James Madison | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
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u/igonnawrecku_VGC James Madison • Penn State 2d ago
For the second straight year, you’re welcome America
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u/Fruit_Fly_LikeBanana Nebraska Cornhuskers • Hillsdale Chargers 2d ago
Something fitting about the largest Christian nationalist college losing to a school named after the guy who vehemently refused to allow a religious test in the Constitution
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u/Dr_Mantis_Teabaggin Oregon State Beavers • Egg Bowl 2d ago
When Liberty loses, America wins.
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u/RookieMistake101 Miami Hurricanes 2d ago
Recently heard about that uni in a podcast. Go JMU!
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u/SplinteredBrick Texas A&M Aggies 2d ago
Gangster Capitalism Season 3?
After listening to this LU became the first school I told my kids I wouldn’t pay for and I’m OK with UT Austin.•
2d ago
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame 2d ago
I hate that we play them. It’s embarrassing
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2d ago
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u/ClaudeLemieux Michigan Wolverines • NC State Wolfpack 2d ago
I’m biased but it set them up for an even better loss the next week
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u/Mushili Virginia Tech • Tennessee 2d ago
It's bad to play Liberty, it's worse to play Liberty and lose. Not that I'd know anything about that...
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
That’s why I don’t even like playing them. It is stressful worrying about blowing a game to that team. And I really don’t like that. They have tried to give it a named rivalry game moniker.
Can’t we play each other so we can both avoid it?
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u/KruegerFishBabeblade Texas A&M Aggies • Colorado State Rams 2d ago
It's evidence of successful sportswashing that people are upset with you for saying this. Disgust is the appropriate reaction to liberty university. Do not let them try to act like they're normal
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u/Great_Fault_7231 Michigan State Spartans 2d ago
Who is upset with them for saying that? All the replies seem to agree.
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u/TrixieLurker Notre Dame • Northwestern 2d ago
On Reddit, this is not the general view of the college football fandom at large.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Link416 Indiana Hoosiers 2d ago
Houston Christian also exists but they at least have the decency to be ass.
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u/rand2365 Virginia Tech Hokies 2d ago
I’m genuinely out of the loop. Why does everyone here hate liberty?
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u/coelurosauravus Purdue Boilermakers 2d ago
You're going to get a lot of answers about the religious aspect of Liberty. And I can agree with those comments on the level of disgust from the University in terms of its general behavior.
That said and more specifically, I can live with Liberty moving up and being in the FBS if they had moved up like anybody else in the FCS had. But they didn't. they immediately insinuated that they were being bullied or that they would be discriminated against because of their religious status.
this is ignoring the fact that there are numerous religious institutional programs in the FBS. And they can be quickly identified between SMU Boston College Baylor Notre Dame TCU BYU and I'm sure I'm even leaving a few off the list, but those are the readily identifiable ones.
Instead Liberty bullied their way into the FBS when nobody wanted them because of various reasons. It's never just one thing. And as a result it kind of put extra anger on them
There is plenty of reason to dislike the institution for its behavior, my beef is just exclusively with how they went about elevating their program to the highest level. Any other concern is not something I would address here personally. Because I do have problems with the institution itself as a former Virginia resident
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u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago edited 2d ago
SMU and TCU are nominally religious, Baylor too, by and large.
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u/comenaranja 2d ago
Byu and ND are better examples
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u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago
Right. Doesn’t ND have mandatory prayer or mass or whatever they call it? And BYU has that honor code. Yeah those are proper faith-based schools
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u/CFBHurts Notre Dame • Jeweled Shillelagh 2d ago
ND has no mandatory prayer or mass, unless perhaps there's a mini-service during freshman orientation that I'm blanking on? The closest thing that I can think of to what you're describing is that all students are required to take 2 theology credits. We do also have an honor code that restricts premarital sex, but enforcement is quite lax
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u/comenaranja 2d ago
The service academies have those too but you can select non denominational/non religious
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u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago
That would be acceptable to me. I’d never attend BYU or ND because of their strict adherence.
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u/chergie1 Notre Dame • Illinois 2d ago
Obviously it's the minority but there is a significant number of non-Catholic students at ND, Boubacar Traore (very good EDGE starter for us this year) is a practicing Muslim. There is no mandatory religion-pushing from above
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u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago
Thank you for clearing that up. I went on a visit there, like 25 years ago, and they took us to the chapel and made a point to say that it’s a big part of campus life. I thought they told me that attending service is mandatory but I must have imagined that.
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u/ProbablyRickSantorum Hail Saban 2d ago
If you have mandatory religious classes or chapel, it’s not just nominal. Ex: https://spirituallife.web.baylor.edu/chapel/your-chapel-requirement
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u/Sei_Mal_Ehrlich Iowa State Cyclones 2d ago
You’re right, and I was wrong about Baylor. Yikes. Thank you!
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u/Bobcat2013 Texas State Bobcats 2d ago
This is a great point. No one wanted them... they tried to buy their way into the SBC and CUSA. CUSA might as well have taken it since they let them in anyway
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u/lhachia Cincinnati Bearcats • Purdue Boilermakers 2d ago
Liberty is a fundamentalist Christian college that engages in a lot of ultraconservative political action. Their quality of education is very low and they rely on highly predatory practices to bring in students. A significant part of why they've invested so heavily in their football program is in an effort to provide themselves a veneer of legitimacy to continue promoting a regressive political agenda. Liberty is also a very easy target for mockery because they position themselves as a moral authority and enforce a stringent moral code on students on and off campus, while their president Jerry Falwell Jr. has had several scandals for behavior forbidden to other members of the Liberty community (most notably, he and his wife Becky almost certainly engaged in a multi-year relationship with a pool boy).
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u/osfn8 Oklahoma State • /r/CFB Founder 2d ago
And they hired Hugh Freeze after he was fired from Ole Miss for hiring escorts.
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u/mcmatt93 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2d ago
They hired Ian McCaw as Athletic Director, shortly after he was punished/resigned from Baylor due to the pattern of sexual violence in Baylor football.
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u/OGConsuela Virginia Tech Hokies • Cheer 2d ago
A multi-year cuckold relationship, to further clarify.
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
But couples better not think about holding hands on campus!
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u/Requiem2371 Virginia Tech Hokies 2d ago
I went there for a visit with the church I was attending at the time for a “college for a weekend” thing. One of the first things I noticed was a great big picture hanging right at the start of the student cafeteria line, placed so that every person who walked through that line would HAVE to see it.
The picture was of the late Dr Falwell, may he rot in hell, standing at the back of his SUV. Underneath the rear end of his vehicle was the lower half of a person that was holding an Al Gore for president sign, with the implication being that Dr Falwell, may his soul burn, had intentionally run them over. He was smiling joyfully while looking down at them.
I remember thinking I’d never set foot back there, because if that’s what passed for their version of “Christianity”, I wanted no part of it. Proclaiming to the world that you’d happily murder someone for voting differently, and then having the sheer audacity to pretend you were in any way a Christian university was laughable.
Now of course it’s obvious that’s exactly what Christian nationalists like the late Dr Falwell, may his bloated corpse rot in piss, actually believe. So in summary, Fuck Liberty, and fuck the Falwell’s, may they all rot in hell.
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u/LongestSprig South Carolina • Maryland 2d ago
Do BYU now.
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u/ClaudeLemieux Michigan Wolverines • NC State Wolfpack 2d ago
BYU (and ND) are at least academically respectable. I wouldn’t trust a liberty grad to tell me the weather while they’re standing outside
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Fundamentalist founded it. The worst kind of greasy grifting televangelists.
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u/cvsprinter1 SMU Mustangs • Oregon State Beavers 2d ago
Among other things, they teach Young Earth Creationism. They are a joke of a school.
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u/Bobcat2013 Texas State Bobcats 2d ago
They are hypocritical. The students must adhere to a strict honor code. No kissing, sodas, dancing, etc. But the president is a cuck who let's pool boys fuck his wife and does coke and shit.
While they have a campus with a decent sized student body. Theyre also an online diploma mill that basically just sells degrees. They use student fees from 100k+ online fake students to give them a huge competitive advantage over their conference mates.
Theyre conservative af. Like im conservative and I think theyre too much.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Link416 Indiana Hoosiers 2d ago
It's Jerry Falwell's university. Religious fundamentals. Not as extreme as, say, Bob Jones University, but that's like saying taking a gunshot to the chest is better than one to the head.
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u/LiquidLight_ Notre Dame • Purdue 2d ago
We appreciate your service, the gift basket is on it's way!
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u/ThrowawayAdvice1800 Alabama Crimson Tide • Sickos 2d ago
Thank you for your service. Every time Liberty loses Satan pokes Jerry Falwell in the ass with a pitchfork.
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u/broccoli_d Virginia Tech • Nebraska 2d ago
You had one job, JMU.
And congrats, you did it!
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
We will ignore everything but the binary W/L outcome for sanity’s sake
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u/Introverted_Extrovrt LSU Tigers 2d ago
I don’t like your flair. 1996 is still too recent. Hurts, deep down. Hokie hi!
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u/JMUbtc James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
The first half showed we have a good foundation to build upon. The second half had me questioning our coaching. We lacked the intensity and explosive plays that JMU has become known for.
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u/therealwillhepburn Florida Gators • West Florida Argonauts 2d ago
This was kind of his thing the whole time at Florida. He very rarely ever put a game away.
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u/foreverseptember Florida Gators • Team Chaos 2d ago
Billy Napier 4th quarter clock management? Don't know her.
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u/Ethanol-Muffins Florida Gators • UT Martin Skyhawks 2d ago
And when he did it was due to self inflicted mistakes by the opponent, never anything Napier did
At least procedural stuff doesnt seem to be an issue for JMU
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u/CrookedHearts Florida Gators • USF Bulls 2d ago
If you don't like that, then you just simply don't understand Billy Ball!
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u/SportsBall1996 James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
Wait there’s another Longhorned Duke? What’s your story?
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u/JMUbtc James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
Degrees from both schools, and grew up in a UT house. What about you?
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u/SportsBall1996 James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago edited 2d ago
Went to JMU as an undergrad (class of 2019). Currently at Texas for my MA. Which degree did you get from which school?
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u/JMUbtc James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
Same as you, but about a decade earlier
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u/SportsBall1996 James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
Are you from Texas or Virginia?
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u/atra1n51 James Madison • Virginia 2d ago
My roommate at JMU went to UT Law school, so there's more Longhorn Dukes
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u/Whosebert Virginia Cavaliers 2d ago
When Liberty loses, America wins.
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u/riotmed Louisville Cardinals 2d ago
All my homies hate Liberty
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u/TheSmartDog_275 Baylor Bears • Loras Duhawks 2d ago
Why? Genuinely don’t know.
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u/grizzfan Verified Coach • Oakland Golden Grizzlies 2d ago edited 2d ago
It’s an “evangelical,” Christian Nationalist grooming factory. Not a legit university. Academically, it’s just a diploma mill that teaches “creation science.” Their student policies are straight-up out of the 1800s too.
Edit: Forgot to also add that they’re a “safe haven,” for multiple sexual predators who have been fired from staff, faculty, and coaching jobs at other universities. Remember the Art Briles scandal at Baylor? Liberty practically begged him to come coach them after he got fired.
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u/rvaskiier Virginia Tech Hokies 2d ago
Because they teach that dinosaurs roamed the earth at the same time as the Roman Empire
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u/Gatordactyl Florida Gators 2d ago edited 2d ago
"James Madison outlasts Liberty"
Get ready to hear that a lot for any wins under Billy Napier
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u/igonnawrecku_VGC James Madison • Penn State 2d ago
He does like to coast doesn’t he
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u/gogata1911 Florida Gators 2d ago
It was his bread and butter he would get 2-3 score leads and nearly choke them multiple times. Almost lost to Mississippi State last year and it took a defensive tackle getting an INT to prevent it.
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u/HeckOnWheels195 Mississippi State Bulldogs 2d ago
Don't remind me
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u/JeffGoldblumsChest Florida Gators • Billable Hours 2d ago
We're happy it happened, it led to his firing
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u/HeckOnWheels195 Mississippi State Bulldogs 2d ago
I'm sure if we won it would had led to his firing too
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u/JeffGoldblumsChest Florida Gators • Billable Hours 2d ago
He would have been tarmac'd if that happened
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u/gogata1911 Florida Gators 2d ago
There were rumors the week of the game that he was getting fired regardless of the outcome. Losing to USF sealed his fate.
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u/Sheffy8410 2d ago
I don’t know why anyone would want Napier as a coach. Even if he were to go undefeated, it is the most boring damn football in the world.
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u/Mike_with_Wings Florida • North Carolina 2d ago
And you’re gonna see some of the dumbest penalties and decision making in college sports
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
I’m hoping the fact that he isn’t calling the plays will limit this a bunch. It seemed that the number one thing Florida fans hated about him was not giving up his playcalling duties. I know yall had other complaints about him…but I’m trying to be a little optimistic
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u/Mike_with_Wings Florida • North Carolina 2d ago
I think you should be optimistic. He does a lot of things right, and giving up play calling will limit a ton of his faults.
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u/hucareshokiesrul Yale Bulldogs • Virginia Tech Hokies 2d ago
A little bit different than Cignetti
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u/aceshot10 James Madison Dukes • LSU Tigers 2d ago
Actually pretty similar to Cig in his JMU career. Dude used to go up and coast as well. Though he seemed to learn you can’t do that in FBS and started to improve before IU.
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u/hucareshokiesrul Yale Bulldogs • Virginia Tech Hokies 2d ago edited 2d ago
That coould be more true than I remember. But I remember some big blowouts. And when he left Jalen Green in a during 4th quarter blowout and he hurt his knee.
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u/igonnawrecku_VGC James Madison • Penn State 2d ago
That still hurts 3 years later. He was on pace for the all time single season sack record that year
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u/Crasino_Hunk Michigan State • Florida 2d ago
Man, I thought I couldn’t hate a coach as much as McElwain but honestly Bayou Billy made it really fucking hard not to.
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u/aguyyouprobablyknow James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Way, way more stressful than it should have been given the first half. That drive before Liberty’s TD drive pissed me the hell off; three straight runs & punt after a long drive is a fucking asinine. Not particularly impressed by Billy’s debut but every team has its down games so I’m not gonna doom over it just yet. Go dukes!
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u/atra1n51 James Madison • Virginia 2d ago
That was annoying, but at least they won
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u/MrFace1 James Madison • Virginia Tech 2d ago
I am very concerned about the defense. Scoreboard looks good at the end but the defense struggled to make tackles and allowed too many explosives in long yardage situations.
I would have been apoplectic if we lost to Liberty lol
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u/Dokkan_Lifter James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Several missed sacks, dropped INTs, and stupid unsportsmanlikes. Gotta lock in.
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u/ABagOfPopcorn James Madison • Penn State 2d ago
Tackling was awful and seemed to get worse as the game went on
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame 2d ago
The defense had to be on the field for the entire second half because the offense couldn’t get a first down
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u/No_Recognition_5266 James Madison Dukes 2d ago
People are forgetting JMU beat Gardner Webb 13-6 in Chesney’s first year. Winning bad is better than losing good
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u/RedRollsWhiteCeilin James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Kind of an eh win, expected though given an entirely new coaching staff + roster basically..
Make this the last time we see a 2 qb system again please, it has never and will never work in any level of football, as we learned last year when we lost a winnable game against Louisville
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u/SirFUBAR Florida Gators 2d ago
Spurrier did just fine playing two QBs... but comparing Spurrier to Napier doesn't really compute.
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
I think Coleman is pretty good though. I think at the very least we need to spend the next game, evaluating the quarterbacks and give both of them playing opportunities.
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u/RedRollsWhiteCeilin James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Yea I’d say so but not wowing to the point of a 2 qb system for me, it’s very hard for qb’s to catch their rhythm switching in and out
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u/SPCsooprlolz BYU Cougars • Fresno State Bulldogs 2d ago
The most important thing here is fuck Liberty
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u/A_Rolling_Baneling USC • Mississippi State 2d ago
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u/SparklezSagaOfficial BYU Cougars • Team Chaos 2d ago
Hypocrisy or not, everyone should be hating on Liberty
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u/inclass3lunacy Virginia Cavaliers 2d ago
Played golf while listening to the game. We said Fuck Liberty before teeing off on every hole. Was a good round.
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u/asinglejame James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Happy with the win but we have a lot to clean up. Silly penalties, JC Evans being indecisive with the ball, and our secondary getting worked even though Liberty’s QB wasn’t good enough to take advantage.
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u/Grouchy-Option9411 Indiana Hoosiers 2d ago
James Madison can lose every coach and player on the roster & will still end up being good the next year.
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u/aaaaaaaawwwwwwww James Madison Dukes 2d ago
And we get a new team to be interested and/or support. I guess I like ucla now we are taking down cal tn.
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u/Grouchy-Option9411 Indiana Hoosiers 2d ago
The Big 10 is just gonna become James Madison, although idk if anyone wants Napier… we will see
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Man I hope! Thing is every time you have to hire a new coaching staff It is sort of like rolling a dice. We have hit on like four or five in a row…but each time there is a chance of it coming up bad.
This is the first time we have hired a coach this way, too. Usually we get coaches from smaller teams or the FCS that have impeccable records - even if they lack FBs experience. This time we are hiring someone that has power conference experience - but not the pristine record. So it’s a little different this year. Obviously his SEC experience does provide some benefits, and I hope that we are able to tap into it…. Yet all the coaches we’ve had before are excellent “X’s and O’s” coaches, and Florida fans have made it clear that that is not Napiers strong suit.
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u/linensnwings James Madison Dukes 2d ago
I’ll take the win. That’s pretty much the takeaway from this game. Lots to work on but it was the first game so sloppiness is to be expected.
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u/HandHolder77 James Madison Dukes • Indiana Hoosiers 2d ago
It turns out in the NIL era, sunbelt billy has to rely on his coaching over his recruiting.
Sorry for doubting you Florida fans.
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u/myworld3 Washington Huskies • LA Bowl 2d ago
Liberty will have 4 timeouts next game.
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame 2d ago
The four three-and-outs in the second half were less than ideal but we'll take the dub
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u/tkdxe James Madison Dukes • Sickos 2d ago
Very reminiscent of some of those early Chesney wins where we got wins but still left feeling kinda concerned (except for a random 70 burger on UNC lmao)
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u/SlapNuts1999 Virginia Tech • James Madison 2d ago
For the first game of the Bob Chesney era, JMU almost lost to Gardner Webb. So this is an improvement
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u/aaaaaaaawwwwwwww James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Fuck Liberty
Need to shit pump Wagner (fuck Russia)
Then it's on to a tough late night game vs SDSU. But games like that are the reason we moved up so I am super pumped.
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u/Belteshazzar89 James Madison Dukes 2d ago
I don't think there is any link between the Lutheran Proseminary of Rochester and Russia.
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u/pasatroj USC Trojans 2d ago
Thank You JMU. My bestie whet to your school in the 90's. We were in L.A. and I had never heard of it. I'm a fan by approximation and I count it.
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
We Welcome you. If you are ever on the East Coast, you should swing by. Even if not to visit the school itself the area and valley are beautiful if you enjoy some outdoor activities
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u/HogsandSkinsfanripme Arkansas Razorbacks 2d ago
You guys made this Lynchburg guy's day even better. A win for team America.
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u/SportsBall1996 James Madison Dukes • Texas Longhorns 2d ago
Should’ve won by more, but a win is a win. Also FUCK Liberty!
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u/ShogunAshoka Bowling Green Falcons • Oberlin Yeomen 2d ago
Madison never imagined that 250 years later we would be cheering his name against Liberty.
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u/cartierboy25 James Madison • Virginia Tech 2d ago
Definitely felt more like 2024 jmu than 2025 in that second half, which is concerning. But ultimately still a fine result. I think the sdsu game followed by the odu game will be when we learn what this team is really about.
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u/LightningDusty Florida Gators • Orange Bowl 2d ago
Looks like a Billy Napier classic to me. Even the wins will be stressful and ugly. Best of luck, JMU.
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u/aaaaaaaawwwwwwww James Madison Dukes 2d ago
This win against liberty was our ethical offset for producing the CEO of Northrop Gruman.
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes 2d ago
Huh. Well, I’ll tell you what we need to produce: an alumni coach.
Feels like the only way we can ever be both successful and retain our coach is to grow our own at some point.
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u/optimizingutils Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2d ago
Liberty losing makes me happy for multiple reasons. Even if them making a bowl gets CUSA money I still want them to lose every game. Thanks JMU!
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u/lat3ralus65 Ohio State Buckeyes • UMass Minutemen 2d ago
Here’s to what is hopefully the first of twelve “_____ beats Liberty” posts this season
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u/goldenface4114 Florida Gators 2d ago
49 offensive plays and 20 points. I’m glad he’s not our burden anymore.
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u/Key-Barber7986 James Madison • Penn State 2d ago
Streak is now 22 straight wins against in-state teams.
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u/doubleyou-tee-hache Michigan Wolverines 2d ago
Remember when a former liberty QB made light of a natural disaster where people died to claim an opponent is "ducking" them?
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u/LightBluePhorgotten James Madison Dukes • Sun Belt 2d ago
Dukes = Shown
Liberty = Lost
America = Wins
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u/eye_can_see_you Texas Longhorns • Red River Shootout 2d ago
British tabloid journalism headline if it existed in 1776