The big news around the West Virginia athletic department right now is concerning the new head baseball coach in town, Randy Mazey.
Meanwhile, I will be continuing our 2012 WVU football season preview with opponent No. 2: James Madison.
After its matchup with Marshall, West Virginia will take a week off before beginning a six-week stretch with six consecutive games.
That spree will begin at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins with FCS (a.k.a. Division I-AA) foe James Madison.
The Dukes should be another beatable opponent as the Mountaineers will begin to gain some momentum heading into Big 12 Conference play.
WVU will be breaking in its new 3-4 defensive scheme under newly minted defensive coordinator (and associate head coach) Joe DeForest, early in the season.
James Madison actually has a strong running game, which bruised its way to a whopping 2,893 yards on the ground last season.
This should be a nice warm-up for some of the tough rushing offenses WVU will face in the Big 12.
Texas in particular is one team with a stable of backs that could provide a serious challenge for the West Virginia defense.
JMU's one-two-punch at running back represented by Dae'Quan Scott and Jordan Anderson won't make life easy either for the WVU run defense.
Scott ran for 1,304 yards and 12 touchdowns last season as the starter, while his backup, Anderson ran for 858 and nine scores.
The duo both have legitimate home run power, with season-long runs of 76 and 80 respectively.
Not only that, but they both averaged more than five yards per carry last season.
If they can control the possession and keep the dangerous WVU offense off the field, that could be a nightmare for the Mountaineers.
Additionally, the James Madison pass defense didn't allow a single 300-yard passer last season.
But, statistics aside, West Virginia's wild and free air raid offense should be able to buck that trend.
As I'm sure you remember, JMU has somewhat of a reputation as a giant-killer.
Back in week two of 2010, James Madison stunned No. 13 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
I seriously doubt that will happen to West Virginia, but then again, nobody predicted it would happen to VT either.
This game could be a perfect storm for WVU to crumble under its high expectations, but again, I seriously doubt that will happen.
In any event, I expect Geno Smith to put up some big numbers against an inferior opponent and his Heisman Trophy candidacy will begin to gain some momentum.
I just hope I'm not eating those words come Sept. 15.
My prediction is that I won't be and West Virginia will roll through the Dukes and be on its merry way with a 2-0 record after game two.
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