JMU seeking third win in a row

Maine enters Saturday tied with Dukes in standings

Standing strong with a 4-3 overall record (3-2 in the Atlantic 10 Conference), JMU enters Saturday's game against the University of Maine riding on a two-game winning streak.

Last weekend, the Dukes defeated the College of William & Mary, 24-17, in Williamsburg, building off the strong Homecoming win it had the previous weekend over the University of Richmond.

JMU earned the seven-point win, despite not playing nearly as well as coach Mickey Matthews would have liked.

"I think we played harder against Villanova [University Oct. 4]," Matthews said. "I think we played smarter … [but,] I think any road win is big."

Red-shirt freshmen tailbacks Alvin Banks and Maurice Fenner combined for 213 yards rushing and two touchdowns to help lead the Dukes to the conference victory.

"There was a lot of little things that I didn't do, that if I would have done, [then] I would have had over 200 yards," Banks said.

On the other side of the ball, JMU was able to minimize the Tribe's running game and mobile quarterback Lang Campbell (35 rushing yards) to a combined 114 yards on the ground.

Matthews said that he thinks the best defense against Campbell is to have him standing on the sidelines, and that's why JMU tried to run the ball more — to control the time of possession.

That strategy worked to some extent as Campbell and the Tribe still managed to burn the Dukes' defensive backs for 258 passing yards.

"I don't know if [William & Mary was] playing a perfect game against us, but they were close," Matthews said. "Anytime you can play that long and not turn the ball over and have no major penalties, it's difficult to beat some one like that."

With the win last weekend, there is a buzz going around the team of trying to go undefeated the rest of the season.

Dropping two conference games to Villanova and the University of Massachusetts, the Dukes lost a little confidence, but Matthews said that the last two victories really have put the wind back in the sails of the team.

To make the postseason a possibility and win out the rest of the games on the
schedule, defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Dick Hopkins said the team has to stay focused and take it one game at a time.

Saturday in Orono, Maine, the Dukes take on the Black Bears who also are 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference. According to Matthews, it will be one of the most important games of the year.

"They (Black Bears) have a good defense," Banks said. "They have the same record as we do, so we're trying to pass them in the conference [standings]."

Recent history shows JMU has not been very successful on the road, but Matthews does not see going to play in Maine that big of a deal. He made it clear that the Dukes are not bothered about playing away from Zane Showker Field at Bridgeforth Stadium.

"I am more worried about their wide receivers, defensive line, mobile quarterback and star tailback," Matthews said. "All those things concern me more than it being a road trip.

"I guess the most difficult thing is you do dress in a hockey rink. So when you're changing clothes, you change in a hurry," Matthews said. "To be ‘cool' is the understatement of the year."

In preparing for the Black Bears, the coaching staff has tried to key in on the wide receivers and quarterback Ron Whitcomb of Maine. After facing other mobile quarterbacks in the past two weeks, JMU is concentrating on containing the scrambling ability of Whitcomb, who posted 42 yards rushing against Northeastern University.

"We can't let him get out of the pocket," red-shirt senior defensive end Jerame Southern said. "We can't give him too much time back there. If we do that, we have a good chance [at winning]."

Hopkins said, "[Whitcomb's] ability to make something happen after the routes are taken away [is a big issue]. He does a good job in finding those little seams and gets a lot of extra yardage. So, we're concerned about that."

The wide receivers for the Black Bears have drawn some attention this week in practice because most of them are taller than the Dukes' defensive backs.

"We're working on [covering] the long ball," Hopkins said. "It's just athleticism there. We have to mix the coverage up and play some zone and man [coverage], not to get locked into one thing."

JMU's offense must do a better job as well if it is going to be successful against the Black Bears' tough defense. Maine has forced 17 fumbles and holds its opponents to under 300 yards total offense and less than 20 points a game.

"[I'm upset because] we've got to break some long runs," Matthews said. "And that's because we are [consistently] blocking the wrong guy, and backs are making poor cuts.

"We've got to correct that. We have too much speed in our backs to not break some long runs," Matthews said.

Saturday's game will offer another opportunity for the backs and offense to get back on track, as JMU will try to come one game closer to ending the season in perfect form.

"Our guys have all been ready as soon as the games are over with to get on to the next game," Matthews said. "All [the team] wanted to talk about was Maine as soon as the William & Mary game was over with.

"We consider ourselves in a contending position. I think we are right in the middle of [the playoff race]," Matthews said.

Matthews is not sure if this is a must-win game, but he realizes that it is a big game, and every win counts at this time of the year.