Homecoming powwow
Madison plays host to rival Tribe for Homecoming
By Matt McGovern, contributing writer
Posted on October 19, 2006

The eighth-ranked JMU football team is set to play its Homecoming game against William & Mary with momentum fully in its favor. Coming off a crucial win in their second try against a top-ranked opponent, the Dukes are poised to earn a playoff berth.

Earlier in the year, they struggled against then top-ranked Appalachian State, but last week against the University of New Hampshire, JMU put its struggles aside and dropped the Wildcats 42-23.

UNH fell from No. 1 to No. 7 in The Sports Network’s Division I-AA poll, while JMU moved from No. 13 to No. 8 in the rankings. Appalachian State reclaimed the No. 1 spot.

“I think the key to success was stopping their offense,” JMU senior defensive tackle Chuck Suppon said. “Our secondary covered well, our linebackers covered well, and our defensive line just did our job; we rushed all our lanes and all our gaps, and that made it hard for their offense to move the ball.”

Suppon was named The Sports Network’s I-AA national defensive player of the week with a six-tackle performance, which included three sacks and one for a loss.  Senior linebacker Akeem Jordan also had a strong performance with a career-high18 tackles.

The Dukes’ offense was firing on all cylinders as they put up 42 points on the road against then-No.1 UNH. Madison’s offensive unit has averaged 43.5 points per game in the past four games, with a majority of those points coming from the running game.

“You can tell our offensive line is playing well and I anticipate that they will play better each week,” Matthews said.

JMU has moved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Atlantic 10, JMU is now the only undefeated team in the South Division. With five conference games left, including W&M this weekend, the Dukes know the season is far from over.

“We’re taking it game by game because the Atlantic 10 is so tough,” senior quarterback Justin Rascati said. “We know that William & Mary will give us their best game, and right now we’re just really focused on them. Come Sunday, we’ll focus on Richmond.”

W&M is 2-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play. However, two of the conference losses were by a combined five points. The Tribe is coming off a non-conference 14-13 win against Liberty University.

Last year, JMU won at W&M in a nail-biter, 30-29. The game was decided by a 44-yard field goal with three seconds left.  In 2004, JMU played W&M twice, with the Tribe winning 27-24 in the regular season at JMU and the Dukes winning 48-34 at W&M in the playoffs.

“We have vivid memories of William & Mary two years ago when they beat us at home, and their fans all came out of the stands,” Matthews said about the rivalry. “They had a big party on our field and we haven’t forgotten it. If it’s that important to us, we’re going to play well on Saturday.”