Does this sound familiar? Opening the season on the road, against an ACC opponent who is playing its first game with a new coach?

True, it's the story for JMU on Saturday when they visit Duke. But it's also what they were up against last year when they opened at North Carolina.

The Dukes struggled in that game, particularly in the first quarter, on their way to a 37-14 loss.

Earlier this week, Mickey Matthews called it the worst quarter his Dukes had played in years. Now, players who return from last year's team are focusing on not repeating the same mistakes.

"We beat ourselves last year at Carolina," says senior defensive end Hassan Abdul-Wahid. "We don't want to go back and do that again. We left that game completely, kind of embarrassed a little bit."

"It's imperative that we get off to a great start down there," says senior quarterback Rodney Landers, who threw a pair of interceptions at Carolina. "No mental errors, definitely no turnovers."

"We can't let them get out on us early," adds senior linebacker D.J. Brandon. "We got to come into it intense, and play Dukes football."