PURPLE vs. WHITE

Preview | Dukes hope to find answers on roster in annual spring game

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

For almost a month, JMU football has been practicing each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. This weekend, fans will get to see if that practice has paid off.

The offense will face the defense in the annual spring game on Saturday at 1 p.m. — this time, though, with a twist. Last year, the offense topped the defense 20-2, due in large part to the fact that the defense could only score on safeties and defensive touchdowns.

This year, the defense will be awarded three points for every third and fourth down stop, and six points for an interception or fumble recovery. Aside from the unique scoring system, the game will only be two regulation quarters with a five-minute intermission after the first 15 minutes.

“We’ll try to get the fans off their seats with some big explosive plays,” head coach Curt Cignetti said, “but I don’t know, our defense is pretty good, they’ve been tough this spring.”

Competition between the offense and defense won’t be new to this roster. Redshirt junior linebacker Taurus Jones said making the offense better was a goal for the defense this spring. It went about that by trying to beat its offensive counterparts every day in practice.

“We talked about that in the locker room, like, ‘If we think that we're the best and our offense thinks that they’re the best for those 11-12 games, that they are out there against somebody else. There is no way that they can beat us.’ It’s that simple,” Jones said.

Junior tight end Zach Horton backed up Jones, saying the competition “definitely” made the offense better, and adding that seeing everyone on the team compete is “what practice is really about.”

Will fans see that same level of competitiveness on Saturday? — “Oh yeah,” Cignetti said, “times four.”

All in all, the spring game can be fun for fans, players and even alumni, who’ll be returning for the game and a few golf tournaments the day before, per Cignetti.

Cignetti has said earlier in the spring he expects the team to look a lot different in the fall. There are plenty of starting spots still available — one of the biggest roster questions entering the game will be what it was this time last year: quarterback.

There are currently four quarterbacks vying for the starting spot, and Cignetti has insisted the competition has been close throughout the spring — praising both redshirt freshman Alonza Barnett III and redshirt senior Jordan McCloud at the Sun Belt coaches’ spring media availability April 6.

“Jordan’s done a nice job learning the offense,” Cignetti said. “He sees the field well and he’s had some good days and good play, but there’s a competition there, and I really do like the way Barnett has come on really all spring long, but in particular, the last three or four practices.” However, after practice Tuesday, he downplayed the idea of players in all positions moving up the depth chart before the end of spring practice.

“You know, I mentioned a few names in the past couple of weeks, but let's see what happens at the end of spring,” Cignetti said. “[We] watch a spring game and then we assess things. See where we are from a roster standpoint and move forward.”

In terms of shaping that roster, Cignetti said the spring game will be a repetition of things the team has been practicing — nothing new will be added for the game.

“It’s just another evaluation tool,” Cignetti said, adding that the team wants to get as many players snaps as it can.

When the spring game kicks off Saturday, there will be plenty to look out for in the new roster, and plenty of speculation afterward as to who’ll move up the depth chart and who won’t. But when it comes to the team’s focus, Cignetti put it simply.

“We just wanna go out there and play hard and execute,” Cignetti said.