James Madison (5-1) at Delaware (3-3)

By Andy Walter
Posted 10/23/21

WHEN: Today, 3 p.m.

WHERE: Delaware Stadium (18,077), Newark.

RADIO: 94.7-FM, WDSD (Scott Klatzkin, Bill Harman).

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphiaa.

STREAMING VIDEO: FloSports (fee …

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James Madison (5-1) at Delaware (3-3)

Posted

WHEN: Today, 3 p.m.

WHERE: Delaware Stadium (18,077), Newark.

RADIO: 94.7-FM, WDSD (Scott Klatzkin, Bill Harman).

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphiaa.

STREAMING VIDEO: FloSports (fee required).

TWITTER: DSNSports.

COACHES: Delaware — Danny Rocco (29-20, 5th season at UD; 119-62, 15th season overall); JMU — Curt Cignetti (26-4, 3rd season at JMU; 93-30, 11th season overall).

NATIONAL RANKING: JMU is No. 7, Delaware is ranked No. 23 in Stats FCS poll.

CAA: Delaware — 2-2; JMU — 3-1.

LAST WEEK: Delaware lost to Stony Brook, 34-17; JMU beat Richmond, 19-3.

SERIES: Series tied, 12-12.

LAST MEETING: JMU won, 20-6, in 2018 FCS playoffs for its fourth straight win in the series. Delaware hasn’t beaten the Dukes since 2014.

KEYS TO THE GAME: What looked like a marquee matchup when the season started has lost a lot of its luster over the past couple weeks. The injury-plagued Blue Hens limp into Homecoming having lost two in a row. The news that standout LB Colby Reeder (ribs) is now out gives Delaware one less top-flight player to look to under already-tough circumstances. JMU leads the league in both scoring offense (38.2 ppg) and scoring defense (15.5) among other things ... With that being said, the Hens are only a couple plays away from perhaps winning each of the last two games. And while that’s often true for most teams, the big plays that Delaware has given up lately just seem huge. Last week, it was a 99-yard TD run. The week before, it was a blocked punt for a TD on a play where there wasn’t that much pressure. If the Hens want to think about pulling off an upset today, making JMU earn all its points would be a good place to start. ... With Delaware’s own offensive issues, the Hens have to hope that they see the Dukes’ offense that scored only 23 points against New Hampshire and not the one which put up 55 on Maine earlier in the fall. The trouble is, Delaware hasn’t tallied more than 20 points itself in its past three FCS games. That doesn’t leave any margin for error and it’s shown. Forget making the FCS playoffs. Right now Delaware looks like a team that faces an uphill climb to a winning record.

NOTES: Today’s contest starts a stretch of three straight home games for the Hens, who play four of their final five games in Delaware Stadium. Delaware hosts first-time foe Dixie State next Saturday at 1 p.m. ... The Hens are 18-6 at home under Rocco with six wins in a row. ... With 2,195 career rushing yards, Dejoun Lee needs 220 to move into 10th place on UD’s all-time list.

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