Hey there. It's your favorite JMU alumnus/semi-professional gambler who has opinions about stuff.
You may have noticed my byline in your feed a bit less these days. That's because I'm out here writing about college football odds, and G5 win totals, and other such matters of great import. I'm a company man, after all.'
Every once in a while, though, I still have a thought worth sharing.
It is, unquestionably, the college football silly season – that wonderful time of the year when almost everybody knows almost nothing about the season to come. And in this magical land of content rumormongering, rampant speculation, and volcanically hot takes, I humbly submit the following contribution to the discourse:
JMU and North Dakota State should schedule a home-and-home football series.
Yes, I am serious.'
#RoadToFrisco | Time for a little #TBT as Tyler Gray kicked a career-long 45 yarder to put the Dukes ahead for good in the 2016 national semifinals at the FargoDome! #GoDukes #DefendTheCrown pic.twitter.com/VF2vugcsqG
– JMU Football (@JMUFootball) December 14, 2017
I don't know about you, dear reader, but I miss my midwestern frenemies. We had a fun back-and-forth for a few years!'
Who could forget that time Tyler Gray hit a 45-yarder in the FargoDome to seize control of the game? Never has a kick looked so good set to the backdrop of My Heart Will Go On. With one swing of his foot, the man earned free sticky nugs for life.
Speaking of delicious chicken, I am now reminded of a different event – JMU's crushing loss to North Dakota State in the 2019 national championship game, where a well-meaning NDSU fan I had met earlier that morning insisted I accompany him to a post-game meal of bottomless chicken tenders. My salty tears made for the perfect dipping sauce.'
My point is that these two programs have history. And it's a really fun, really weird history.'
Let's not let that die on the vine! Let's create an oddball FCS/FBS home-and-home series that's basically unprecedented in modern college football.
What's good about this plan? Let's talk about it.'
You know what I want to do? Visit Fargo and watch football when it's not -75 degrees outside. I am not encouraged that it's actually a balmy -10 inside of your Fargodome parking lot tent, sir.
You know what else I want to do? Make the Fargo-to-Frisco caravan divert east by about 1,000 miles. Sit with my friends who are NDSU alums while they drink at a Harrisonburg microbrewery.
These things are fun. Making friends with alumni from other schools is one of the best, purest things about a tailgate sport. JMU fans have a very specific kind of cross-national relationship with NDSU fans.'
With all due respect to the fine folks of Muncie, Indiana, these are experiences that virtually no one retains access to when Ball State is on the schedule.
Also: said this a ton in the marathon Twitter space/therapy session, but big ups to NDSU. Bison deserved to win.
I will greatly miss these JMU/NDSU games in the future.
– Chase Kiddy (@chaseakiddy) December 18, 2021