METTLEN: Even in another blowout, Dukes left room to improve

James Madison could still get better, and the Dukes still need to get better if theyre going to reach the lofty standard first-year head coach Bob Chesney acknowledged exists when he took over the program.

Thursday nights nationally televised 39-7 victory against Coastal Carolina JMUs third-straight blowout of the Chanticleers since joining the Sun Belt Conference was a solid bounceback from the Dukes first loss of the season last week at Louisiana-Monroe.

The fact JMU, now 5-1 and 1-1 in conference play, dominated a Coastal team whose only loss prior to Thursday was against Virginia without playing anything close to a perfect game has to be at least a little scary for the rest of the Sun Belt.

Then again, that the Dukes didnt play a particularly crisp game offensively might make JMUs fans a bit nervous.

A 22-point explosion in the second quarter, aided by a defensive touchdown, put the game out of reach and quarterback Alonza Barnett had some great moments, finishing with three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.

But the redshirt sophomore missed some throws and fumbled in the red zone for the second consecutive week.

He was fortunate not to have another turnover or two.

Last week, Chesney blamed multiple false start penalties on stadium noise while playing on the road.

But this week in front of friendly fans the Dukes didnt entirely eliminate the pre-snap mistakes and were flagged nine times in all.

So, no, its not necessarily time to label the ULM loss an aberration.

There were certainly some unique factors in that one, but the things that caused JMU to lose didnt disappear.

The good news if you wear purple and gold? That room for improvement is exactly what makes the Dukes frightening for anyone left on the schedule.

Barnett is still a relatively inexperienced quarterback who just made his seventh career start.

Hes not insanely accurate like some of his JMU predecessors, namely Cole Johnson and Todd Centeio, who rarely missed their intended target.

And yet, hes still putting up extremely impressive numbers, now with 15 touchdowns and just one interception.

We did a good job tonight, but I feel like as a group were never satisfied, JMU running back George Pettaway, who had 138 all-purpose yards, said.

Possessions where we had penalties, possessions where we dropped the ball.

We want to be an elite team, and we want to maximize all of our drives.

If JMU does that, look out.

Because the defense was dominant again.

The Dukes are allowing just 16.3 points per game, the best in the Sun Belt and lead the nation in takeaways.

And Saturday may have been the units best showing yet against a Coastal Carolina team that averages more than 33 points per game.

The Chanticleers finished with just 181 yards and Ethan Vasko, who had looked like an all-conference caliber quarterback before arriving in Harrisonburg, completed just five passes in 18 attempts for 84 yards.

Its worth keeping in mind, JMU got much better as the season went along a year ago.

The Dukes squeaked out victories in the first few weeks on the way to a 10-0 start.

The early loss hurts as JMU pursues a conference championship and, perhaps, a College Football Playoff spot.

But if JMU truly begins to click on both sides of the ball, the Dukes are going to be extremely hard to beat..

This article has been shared from the original article on dnronline, here is the link to the original article.