For second straight week, JMU squanders potential game-winning drive with give-away
Posted on November 5, 2007
NEWARK, DEL. — Rarely in any level of football will a team rush for more than 400 yards and lose the game.
JMU (6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association) managed to accomplish this feat Saturday as senior Antoinne Bolton and redshirt freshman Griff Yancey led with 172 and 171 yards, respectively, in a 37-34 loss to Delaware.
For the second straight week the Dukes beset themselves with penalties and once again turned the ball over with less than three minutes left in a CAA game.
“We gotta quit turning the ball over,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said following the loss. “Read my lips, we gotta quit turning the ball over.”
Despite facing three separate 10-point deficits, the Dukes moved the chains to the Blue Hens’ 39-yard line with less than three minutes to go in the fourth quarter trailing by only three points.
On first-and-10, Yancey rushed up the middle on a dive-play but coughed up the ball after taking a big hit from UD sophomore safety Anthony Bratton.
The Dukes’ defense held Delaware (8-1, 5-1) on its next possession, but JMU quickly turned the ball over on four downs and left the Hens with a minute and two seconds to kneel out the clock.
“Anytime [you] look up at the scoreboard and see 400 yards against you, you wonder how you won,” UD coach K.C. Keeler said. “But at the same time, getting turnovers is huge.”
The turnover margin was four to zero in Keeler’s favor, starting with a disputed forced fumble in the first quarter.
On a first-and-10, freshman running back Scott Noble was gang-tackled by the Hens and waited for a whistle for forward progress, but the official didn’t give the Dukes the call. Instead, UD senior Matt Marcorelle ripped the ball from Noble’s grasp and returned it 28 yards to the JMU 7-yard line.
“I thought they were gonna blow the whistle,” Marcorelle admitted. “But they didn’t, so you know, why not reach in there and play to the whistle?”
Matthews was furious with what his team considered a “no-call” and exploded in the face of numerous referees, berating them up and down the sideline throughout the half.
“I was totally stunned,” Matthews said. “I saw the officials running with [Marcorelle] and I can’t tell you what I told them.”
It took the CAA’s leading scorer, senior running back Omar Cuff, just two plays to give the Hens an early 7-0 lead after the turnover. Cuff ran in his first of three touchdowns of the day, giving him 32 in nine games to tie an NCAA record previously set in 16 games. The Walter Payton Award candidate finished with 101 yards on 28 carries.
JMU was forced to play catch up for the rest of the day and entered the half trailing 16-6, after UD sophomore kicker John Striefsky added three field goals and Yancey scored on a 5-yard touchdown run.
The Dukes put up only 69 yards on the ground in the first half, while JMU junior quarterback Rodney Landers connected on five of 10 passes for only 39 yards.
Matthews elected to stick with the run and JMU enjoyed a brief lead after two touchdowns on its first two third-quarter possessions.
Yancey struck first on an 86-yard run, where he started left and bounced off a wall of defenders, taking it back to the right side to win a foot race with the UD defense.
Bolton found success all day on the dive and gave the Dukes a 20-16 lead after he burst through the middle for a 48-yard touchdown run.
JMU has been without injured starting tailback Eugene Holloman, who had knee surgery after playing only two games. Since redshirting the star back, Matthews and his staff have been waiting for one or two replacements to solidify the role.
“The guys on the team are on full scholarship so if one man goes down the other scholarship player needs to step and make plays,” Bolton said.
Bolton scored again on a 55-yard run in the third quarter, but the Hens retook the lead on two touchdowns in two minutes, 15 seconds.
Cuff punched in his second score of the game on a 9-yard run and three plays later UD had the ball when a high pass from Landers went through the hands of sophomore wide receiver Rockeed McCarter and was intercepted.
Delaware redshirt freshman Anthony Walters returned the interception 32 yards to the JMU 7-yard line. UD senior quarterback Joe Flacco rushed for a 3-yard touchdown, capping the Hens’ second 7-yard scoring drive following a JMU turnover.
“I thought [Landers] competed very well; he’s just not throwing it very well,” Matthews said.
Landers did not complete a pass in the second half and overthrew his receivers on the Dukes last possession of the game following Yancey’s late fumble.
“Being a senior, it’s definitely frustrating. I was hoping we could pull it out there at the end unfortunately we couldn’t,” Bolton said. “It brought me to tears to see another loss; I don’t like losing — no competitor does.”
The Dukes jeopardized their chance of making the 16-team playoff field, but would likely get a bid if they win out, finishing 8-3 with only two losses to FCS (formally Division 1-AA) opponents.
JMU is on the road again next week against William & Mary (4-5, 2-4) for a 7 p.m. start and will return home the following week to finish the season against Towson (3-6, 1-5).
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