Posted on April 21, 2008
“Offense wins.”
Those bragging rights will be printed on T-shirts given to roughly half the JMU football team after the offense beat the defense 70-39 in James Madison’s spring game Saturday.
“We always talk about trying to get the T-shirt,” sophomore receiver Rockeed McCarter said. “We wear that around during away trips, class, everywhere.”
But the chips were stacked in the offense’s favor from the outset.
The Dukes were to able use six running backs in the intra-squad scrimmage, after being limited to three in the 2007 spring game because of injuries. The defense won that matchup 36-31.
But this year, JMU coach Mickey Matthews kept two key defensive tackles and his best safety out of the game for precautionary reasons. The offense took advantage.
“There were a lot of scrimmages this year where we would practice for 20 minutes before we made a first down,” Matthews said. “But we held out several of our top defensive kids [because of] concern about injuries and I think that really showed.
“We just didn’t want to risk an injury to those guys that had great springs.”
Sophomore defensive tackles Sam Daniels and J.D. Skolnitsky didn’t participate in the spring game, and junior safety Marcus Haywood also sat out for precautionary reasons. Sophomore cornerback Evan McCollough also sat out the game after missing the entire spring practice period due to shoulder surgery.
The defense was awarded points for touchdowns, turnovers, tackles for loss, drives that ended without a first down and forcing punts before the offense got to midfield. The offense received points for touchdowns, conversions, field goals, first downs and crossing midfield.
Redshirt freshman wide receiver Marcus Turner led the Dukes in receiving with three catches for 61 yards, while McCarter finished with two for 24.
But redshirt freshman wide receiver Kerby Long was the most dynamic player in the scrimmage. Long played as a receiver and quarterback, and rushed nine times for 75 yards running the option offense.
“I thought every time he took a snap he was improving,” Matthews said. “Every game Kerby Long plays he’s gonna get much better. …We’re gonna get him the ball a lot of different ways during the course of a game, whether it’s playing quarterback, or handing the ball or throwing it to him.”
Junior quarterback Rodney Landers went 11-of-12 for 74 yards and rushed for 30 as he wore the No. 1 quarterback’s protected red shirt, which kept him from getting tackled. Redshirt freshman backup quarterback Drew Dudzik completed 5-of-9 passes for 51 yards, while he also ran for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Both quarterbacks led their respective offenses on 70-yard scoring drives to open the game, as the offense started on its own 30-yard line each possession. Landers was nearly flawless but deferred attention to the running backs.
“We were able to go basically the whole spring holding Gene [Holloman] out, and the backs have stepped up, made plays,” Landers said.
Senior tailback Eugene Holloman sat out the game while he continues to recover from arthroscopic knee surgery. Matthews was impressed with Madison’s young running backs in Holloman’s absence.
“They’re vastly improved from last fall and I think they’re gonna push Eugene for the starting job,” Matthews said.
Freshman running back Scott Noble rushed 10 times for 98 yards and a touchdown, while redshirt freshman Jonathan Rose rushed 10 times for 97 yards. Redshirt freshman fullback Donnell Brown and redshirt freshman tailback Griff Yancey also had scores, while Yancey played as a tailback and receiver.
