Miscue in the mountains
JMU’s sloppy play continues into second week of season
Posted on September 11, 2006
By Brian Hansen, sports editor

BOONE, N.C. — They were sloppy. They made mistakes. They didn’t execute. And in the end, they lost 21-10.

The JMU football team played another game where it looked like a team in the preseason. This time the other team was good enough to make them pay.

“We just didn’t execute,” JMU senior quarterback Justin Rascati said. “You need to minimize mistakes, and we didn’t do that.”

The Dukes had two turnovers, one interception and one fumble, seven penalties for 61 yards, missed a 29-yard field goal and were just six of 16 on third down.

“We knew it was going to be a tight defensive game,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. “We made mistakes and they didn’t. That’s the difference.”

The Dukes also didn’t step up on defense when they really needed it.  After senior kicker David Rabil missed a field goal with less than three minutes to play, ASU marched the ball 80 yards on nine plays to score just before the half.

The key play on the drive came with Mountaineer quarterback Trey Elder hit a wide-open Hans Batichon for 35-yard completion. Batichon fumbled the ball while fighting for extra yards, but the Dukes were unable to fall on it before it bounced out of bounds.

“It’s hard to beat someone when you don’t get turnovers,” Matthews said. “They didn’t make many mistakes and we didn’t capitalize on the ones they did.”

ASU, on the other hand, was very good at turning JMU mistakes into points. They scored 14 points off JMU miscues. Aside from the missed field goal, JMU also threw an interception that ASU turned into a touchdown.

On the play, Rascati was looking for freshman wide receiver Rockeed McCarter, who got held up. Rascati threw it where he thought the receiver would be, which put it right into the arms of ASU safety Jeremy Wiggins. Five plays and 26 yards later, ASU led 14-3.

“We had our chances, we just didn’t make plays,” Matthews said.

The Dukes also killed themselves with penalties. On their first offensive series of the day, the Dukes had the ball second and goal from the Appalachian 3-yard line when senior left tackle Corey Davis moved early, pushing the Dukes back five yards.

“The first period was a little shaky,” Matthews said. “The little plays can kill a drive.”

While the errors killed the Dukes in this game, they did show a vast improvement from the team that escaped Bloomsburg 14-3 last week. In the second half, JMU out gained the Mountaineers 177 yards to 67 but failed to convert on their best opportunities.

“We have to come together as a team and get on the same page,” Madison junior wide receiver L.C. Baker said. “We need to come together as one unit. We do that, we’ll be hard to stop.”

The Dukes’ next chance to improve will be in two weeks when the Northeastern Huskies come to town to open up the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule.

“We need to keep our heads up,” Rascati said. “It’s a long season. We need to watch the film and get ready for the next one.”