Dukes host Northeastern in A-10 conference opener
Transfer running back filling in nicely for JMU
By Matt McGovern, contributing writer
Posted on September 21, 2006

Eugene Holloman is a transfer tailback from Highland Community College in Kansas, who led JMU in carries against Appalachian State. The funny thing about it is that game was Holloman’s first at the Division I-AA level.

It didn’t matter though. Holloman still only had one thing in mind. 

“I plan on scoring every time I touch the ball,” the 5-foot-11, 170-pounder said.

The JMU coaching staff had their eyes on Holloman when he was in high school at Bayside in Virgina Beach where he was teammates with JMU senior tailback Maurice Fenner, but Holloman wasn’t eligible to attend JMU until this year.

“He’s a downhill guy,” JMU’s offensive coordinator Jeff Durden said. “He’s going to make his cuts while he’s moving toward you, and that’s always pretty tough to defend.”

Transfers often redshirt their first year in a new system. However, conditions sometimes call for new players to forgo that luxury. When Alvin Banks suffered from muscle spasms in his leg early this season, Holloman was eager to provide support for Maurice Fenner at the tailback position.

“I was planning on redshirting, but I knew that if Alvin or Maurice were to go down, I would have to step up,” Holloman said. 

Against ASU, Holloman had 17 carries for 63 yards while hauling in five receptions for 63 yards. 

“The longer the game played, the better he got,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. “And I really think he’s going to play well for us this year.”

When asked about his strong performance against the defending I-AA national champions, Holloman said he wished he could have done one thing better: make plays that helped put points on the board.

“I felt that if I could have scored a couple times it would have been a whole different ball game,” Holloman said.

“The other thing I can tell you about him is that he is very coachable,” Durden said. “When somebody makes a correction with him and gives him some guidance, he’s very eager to accept coaching. Sometimes that’s hard for a new player, especially coming into a new program.”

While happy to be getting that coaching here now, Holloman would’ve liked to come to the program sooner, but academics got in his way.

“I wanted to come here out of high school,” Holloman said. “It was a good program, and after they won the national championship, I really wanted to come.”

In Tuesday’s practice, Matthews named Holloman as the starting tailback for Saturday’s game against Northeastern in front of Fenner and Banks. All three backs are expected to see carries against the Huskies.