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Serving James Madison University Since 1922
Scattered T-storms 80°/ 69° chance of precipitation: 60%
Vol. 91, No. 3 Monday, September 3, 2012
FOOTBALL (1-0)
Freshman takes flight
In 55-7 triumph over St. Francis, second-string quarterback gives Justin Thorpe a run for his jersey By CARLEIGH DAVIS The Breeze
Usually after trouncing an opponent 55-7, a starting quarterback doesn’t have to worry about his job security. This isn’t the case for redshirt senior Justin Thorpe. In a game dominated by offense against St. Francis University on Saturday, head coach Mickey Matthews brought Thorpe out of the third quarter. Though Thorpe completed 15 of 27 passes for 177 yards and had three touchdowns during the night, the standout was true freshman quarterback Michael Birdsong. Birdsong, at an imposing 6-feet-4-inches and 225 pounds, made his college football debut leading the team to the redzone twice. His night consisted of one 30-yard dash to St. Francis’ 1-yard line as well as an 8-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Daniel Brown. When asked if he was scared of losing his starting job to Birdsong, Thorpe half-laughed and smiled before admitting, “Yeah.” But after handing off the reins, Thorpe watched from the sidelines, cheering Birdsong on and getting jumpy when the freshman took off with the ball for his 30-yard rush. “I was more excited for him than I was for myself
or for any of these guys,” Thorpe said. “To see a true freshman run the ball and pass the ball like that was actually amazing.” Birdsong completed six of his seven passes for a total of 48 yards. His arm, Matthews said, is his greatest asset, but he was surprised by Birdsong’s 40 rushing yards. “I was stunned he took off with it,” Matthews said. “I think he’s going to be a heck of a player.” Birdsong wasn’t at the postgame press conference for comment, but Matthews predicts Birdsong will see a similar amount of play time on Saturday against Alcorn State University. A much more experienced team played in this season’s opener compared to the last one, which saw North Carolina trample the Dukes 42-10 in a sloppy, unfocused game. Saturday’s defense stopped St. Francis’ quarterback John Kelly, who had 64 total yards, passing and rushing, on almost every play. Redshirt junior Stephon Robertson, who led the team with six tackles, thought execution could have been stronger, but was satisfied with the outcome. “I think it was about time, to be honest,” Robertson said. “It was definitely a big change … but altogether it was good for us to go out there and stop them.” see FOOTBALL, page 8
MICHAEL BIRDSONG FRESHMAN QB, 6’4” 225 LBS.
40 RUSHING YARDS 30 YARD RUSH
48 PASSING YARDS 6/7 COMPLETE PASSES SEAN CASSIDY / THE BREEZE
LEFT Freshman quarterback Michael Birdsong appeared in his first collegiate football game Saturday. His first touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter, expanding JMU’s lead 48-7. RIGHT Redshirt sophomore center Matt Williams (#53) and redshirt sophomore cornerback Ron Gordon (#30) lead the Dukes off the field after their 55-7 win over St. Francis (Pa.).
UREC to get $57 million addition
9/3 INSIDE
3 Student volunteers help NEWS Helping hands
out at the local Farmers Market every Tuesday and Saturday.w
5 Politics quiz highlights OPINION All up in my grill
how pointless family feuds are.
CALLIE TURBITT / THE BREEZE
By KELSEY BECKETT The Breeze
UREC has 20 bikes, 14 treadmills and 25 ellipticals. There are 20,032 students at JMU. When it was first built in 1996, UREC was meant to accommodate 12,800 students and a corresponding number of faculty and staff. To help meet a growing student demand, UREC officials have begun a $57 million project to expand UREC after the Board of Visitors approved it on June 1.
This project, funded using tuition bills, will take 20-25 years to pay off, according to Eric Nickel, director of University Recreation. It will add 140,000 to 160,000 square feet of space to UREC. Nickel said UREC has often had to turn away students, particularly during the start of the year. “There were many days we would need to lock the fitness rooms, and when one person came out we would let one person come in,” Nickel said. Sixteen architects received a tour of
UREC on Monday, and after reviewing résumés and talking about their ideas, UREC narrowed this number down to four. Engineers, campus planning and construction, procurement, UREC and administration met with two of the four architecture firms on Tuesday and the remaining two on Thursday. UREC wouldn’t disclose which firms are involved in the planning process. The meetings allowed time for each architect to persuade officials why they would be the best fit for the
project. UREC plans to select a firm to take on the project later this week. After the design and schematic stage, construction can take anywhere from 18 to 24 months, according to Nickel. Nickel said UREC provided the architects with two requirements for the new facility. The first is the location, which will be on the AstroTurf field directly behind UREC. The second requirement is more gym space see UREC, page 3
7 Men’s soccer ends
SPORTS Home field debut
weekend tournament with one win and a scoreless tie.
9 Bill Posey steps down LIFE Living legend
after 40 years as assistant director of the Marching Royal Dukes.