Posted on September 24, 2007
Two years ago, JMU’s defense of its 2004 national championship was derailed when the Dukes lost to Coastal Carolina in their second game of the season. Saturday night Madison helped erase those memories by routing CCU 45-10.
“We were more athletic up front defensively than they were on their offensive line,” Matthews said. “It was obvious from the sideline [that] their quarterback got rattled. We were getting what we call vertical pressure on him.”
JMU scored at least 40 points for the third straight game and had 395 yards of total offense to CCU’s 178. Madison led CCU 163-131 in passing yards for the game, and 232-47 in rushing yards. The Dukes imposed their will on the Chanticleer defense with an attack led by two freshman running backs and junior quarterback Rodney Landers.
Senior wideout L.C. Baker scored a 45-yard touchdown on Madison’s second play of its second drive, on a screen pass from Landers. With the touchdown reception, Baker moved into a tie for sixth all-time in career receiving touchdowns for JMU. He had four receptions for 97 yards in the game.
Madison forced Coastal Carolina to guard three running options with the frequent use of zone-option plays, in which two running backs flanked both sides of Landers. The young backs had some blocking miscues, but the JMU offense was able to adjust.
“We saw that they did a lot of things on defense that would create some lanes,” Landers said. “We wanted to come out and try to take advantage of that by throwing a lot of sets at ‘em, and throwing some motion and hopefully get them to have a mental error.”
Redshirt freshman Jamal Sullivan scored his second career touchdown for JMU when he rushed for five yards to cap a 12-play drive. He rushed seven times for 28 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
Landers showed once again that he is a dual threat by rushing for a season-high 129 yards on 19 attempts and going 9-13 in the air for 163 passing yards. He dived for JMU’s third touchdown with 7:03 left in the second quarter, notching his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
A stingy Dukes’ defense smothered the Chanticleers as Coastal struggled to advance the ball into JMU territory. CCU faked a punt in desperation on fourth-and-10 with 4:07 remaining in the first half, only to have their freshman punter Ben Erdman absolutely pummeled to the ground as he scrambled to the sidelines. Sullivan rushed for his second touchdown on the ensuing drive.
“They just took our young guys and jacked ‘em up,” coach Bennett said. “When [they] can put pressure on your quarterback with the four man rush, you’re usually in for a long evening.”
The Dukes went into halftime with a 28-0 advantage and 158 rushing yards to CCU’s 29, despite senior tailback Eugene Holloman’s absence. Holloman sat out for the second straight week with a separated shoulder, and plans to redshirt this season following arthroscopic surgery this week.
The Chanticleers started out with the ball in the second half and marched down the field for their first score. CCU junior quarterback Will Richardson completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to finish a 12 play, 69-yard drive.
JMU responded when freshman running back Scott Noble scored his first career touchdown two plays after a 45-yard Baker reception. He would score again in the fourth quarter, and finished with nine rushes for 55 yards to complement his two scores. Sullivan and Noble accounted for over half of Madison’s offensive production in the game.
“Our team is much different than it was in 2005,” Landers said of the rematch with Coastal. “Half [of] our team wasn’t even here. But when we were watching tape of the ’05 game, some of those emotions and the feelings came back.”
The highly-charged atmosphere was enhanced in the first half when the Duke Dog mascot flashed an obscene gesture to security officials as he was escorted out of Bridgeforth Stadium. Chants of “We want Duke Dog!” soon followed, and resurged throughout the game.
“It’s a great atmosphere here that James Madison has [and] a great commitment to the football program,” CCU head coach David Bennett said. “This is playoff environment right here, that’s what it was.”
Madison will prepare for its fourth straight home game next Saturday against Villanova. JMU lost to the Wildcats in their second to last game of 2006, losing the opportunity to host a playoff game at Bridgeforth Stadium.
flanked both sides of Landers. The young backs had some blocking miscues, but the JMU offense was able to adjust.
“We saw that they did a lot of things on defense that would create some lanes,” Landers said. “We wanted to come out and try to take advantage of that by throwing a lot of sets at ‘em, and throwing some motion and hopefully get them to have a mental error.”
Redshirt freshman Jamal Sullivan scored his second career touchdown for JMU when he rushed for five yards to cap a 12-play drive. He rushed seven times for 28 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
Landers showed once again that he is a dual threat by rushing for a season-high 129 yards on 19 attempts and going 9-13 in the air for 163 passing yards. He dived for JMU’s third touchdown with 7:03 left in the second quarter, notching his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
A stingy Dukes’ defense smothered the Chanticleers as Coastal struggled to advance the ball into JMU territory. CCU faked a punt in desperation on fourth-and-10 with 4:07 remaining in the first half, only to have its freshman punter Ben Erdman absolutely pummeled to the ground as he scrambled to the sidelines. Sullivan rushed for his second touchdown on the ensuing drive.
“They just took our young guys and jacked ‘em up,” coach Bennett said. “When [they] can put pressure on your quarterback with the four man rush, you’re usually in for a long evening.”
The Dukes went into halftime with a 28-0 advantage and 158 rushing yards to CCU’s 29, despite senior tailback Eugene Holloman’s absence. Holloman sat out for the second straight week with a separated shoulder, and plans to redshirt this season following arthroscopic surgery this week.
The Chanticleers started out with the ball in the second half and marched down the field for their first score. CCU junior quarterback Will Richardson completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to finish a 12 play, 69-yard drive.
JMU responded when freshman running back Scott Noble scored his first career touchdown two plays after a 45-yard Baker reception. He would score again in the fourth quarter, and finished with nine rushes for 55 yards to complement his two scores. Sullivan and Noble accounted for over half of Madison’s offensive production in the game.
“Our team is much different than it was in 2005,” Landers said of the rematch with Coastal. “Half [of] our team wasn’t even here. But when we were watching tape of the ’05 game, some of those emotions and the feelings came back.”
The highly-charged atmosphere was enhanced in the first half when the Duke Dog mascot flashed an obscene gesture to security officials as he was escorted out of Bridgeforth Stadium. Chants of “We want Duke Dog!” soon followed, and resurged throughout the game.
“It’s a great atmosphere here that James Madison has [and] a great commitment to the football program,” CCU head coach David Bennett said. “This is playoff environment right here, that’s what it was.”
Madison will prepare for its fourth straight home game next Saturday against Villanova. JMU lost to the Wildcats in their second to last game of 2006, losing the opportunity to host a playoff game at Bridgeforth Stadium.
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