Posted on September 24, 2007
In the absence of starting senior tailback Eugene Holloman – who was out for his second game with a separated shoulder senior – Antoinne Bolton, freshman Scott Noble, and redshirt freshman Jamal Sullivian all stepped in and combined for 102 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Add on junior quarterback Rodney Landers’ career high 139 yards and JMU had pure domination on the ground, routing Coastal Carolina 45-10.
“Overall I thought we did a real good job on the ground filling in for Holloman,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said.
Holloman will have surgery on his shoulder this week and is expected to redshirt the season and regain one year of eligibility.
“We are hoping Eugene [Holloman] will be back by the end of the season,” Matthews said. “There is a chance that he may have another year of eligibility because of this injury.”
Along with the three-headed monster of Bolton, Noble,and Sullivian, Landers stole the show with his best rushing performance of the season. With speed off the edge and the strength to finish runs, he carried the ball 19 times with one touchdown.
Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett took notice of Landers’ punishing style.
“Their quarterback, Landers, is a good enough athlete and runs with such power. He ran over a few of our defensive backs,” Bennett said. “He reminds me of [quarterback at University of Florida] Tim Tebow. They can both run it and throw it.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the running game came from true freshman Scott Noble.
In his first taste of action this season, Noble combined for 90 yards rushing and receiving. The Baltimore, native scored his first career touchdown on a two-yard gallop midway through the 3rd quarter and scored again midway through the fourth with an 11-yard burst.
“The kid is a tough, hard runner, who is constantly improving,” Landers said. “We have all seen his potential in practice, today he just showed it on the field and made some big plays.”
Sullivan joined in on the running back by committee approach and scored two second quarter touchdowns of five and seven yards. The two freshmen accounted for over half of JMU’s touchdowns on the day.
“Some of our young runners struggled with some protection and check downs, but I was encouraged with how they ran,” Matthews said.
Coastal Carolina’s run defense has been dismal on the ground, yielding over 100 yards to a quarterback the past three games. Even with the Chanticleers’ poor performance on defense, Matthews praised the play of his catalyst at quarterback.
“Teams don’t realize till they play us how good Rodney [Landers] is. Today he was the best runner on the field and that was the difference,” Matthews said.
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