JMU QBs Have Relatable Resource In DiNucci
Three weeks is the last sprint in the race for a quarterback job that began 12 months ago.
James Madison’s starting quarterback will be fifth-year senior Cole Johnson or fourth-year junior Gage Moloney when the Dukes kick off their abbreviated spring schedule on Feb. 20 against Morehead State at Bridgeforth Stadium.
“Honestly, these times are so different that I haven’t given either of them a message,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti said. “I don’t think they really need one. They understand that they’re neck and neck as they enter and we’d like someone to separate themselves and that it’s a production-based business we’re in.”
Cignetti said throughout the program’s fall practices and he reiterated this week that he isn’t concerned about either signal-caller. And as he alluded to, frankly, he’s got other worries right now – like managing his team through unconventional preseason practices in January and dealing with coronavirus protocols.
He said Johnson took first-team reps on Friday during the Dukes’ initial practice and Moloney was the first-team quarterback on Saturday during the second session. They’ll rotate first-team chances until someone earns more.
The offensive staff will monitor attempts, completions, touchdown passes, interceptions, drives started, touchdown drives and drills for Johnson and Moloney, according to Cignetti, as the competition unfolds. It’s being run very similarly to how Cignetti ran the competition between Johnson, Moloney and former starter Ben DiNucci leading into the 2019 season.
DiNucci, the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year that campaign and a 2020 seventh-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys, said he’s stayed in touch with his former teammates and offered them his advice.
“I told both of them that my line is always open,” DiNucci, who played in three games and started one for the Cowboys as a rookie, said. “Both of those guys have my number. Gage has reached out a few times. Cole has reached out. It’s awesome getting to hear from those guys to catch up.
“But I just tell them, ‘Don’t worry about the guy in front of you. Don’t worry about the guy behind you.’ That’s how I handled it.”
DiNucci would know. He had to earn every start he made, participating in five quarterback competitions across two schools during his college career. Not every battle went his way, but as a junior he edged Johnson in 2018 and then held off Johnson and Moloney the following year when Cignetti reopened the competition upon getting the job as coach at JMU.
Before transferring to JMU, DiNucci started six games and played in 10 as a sophomore for Pittsburgh, only to lose his job to then-freshman Kenny Pickett.
“One thing that I learned was that you can’t look behind you and that you’ve got to focus on what you can control,” DiNucci said, “and try to get better every rep and that the rest will take care of itself.”
What could be the separating difference for Johnson or Moloney?
“They have to be great in the huddle,” DiNucci said, “and they have to be a strong leader. If they can do that, then that team will follow whoever is out there and I think whoever it is – Cole or Gage – will be more than up for the challenge. I’ve seen them the last two years and both of them are very capable of doing what they need to do to put that team in a position to win.”