Dukes look to cage Tigers

JMU hits road in attempt to rebound after deflating loss to William & Mary Tribe at home Saturday

FILE PHOTO / Redshirt junior Raymond Hines breaks through the hole in Saturday's 27-24 home loss to the College of William & Mary. The Dukes travel to Baltimore this weekend to challenge Towson University in their final regular season game of the year.

JMU looks to rebound after last weekend’s 27-24 loss to the College of William & Mary when it takes on the Towson University Tigers Saturday in Baltimore.

The Dukes, ranked No. 9 in the SportsNetwork and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today are 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the Atlantic 10. They need a win over Towson to have a chance at hosting a playoff game.

"I think this game’s big for all the obvious reasons," coach Mickey Matthews said. "We can’t go up there and lose and we can’t afford to have a poor performance because it could cost us a first round playoff game."

JMU can still earn the A-10’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. A JMU win over Towson and a William & Mary loss to the University of Richmond will result in the Dukes getting the automatic bid.

However, this means JMU will need help. If JMU, William & Mary and the University of Delaware hold serve, the Tribe gets the automatic bid.

"If everyone wins, we’ll all tie for the conference championship," Matthews said. "William & Mary will get the automatic invite from the Atlantic 10 because all of it’s wins are against I-AA programs. One of our wins was against a Division II team and the same goes for Delaware."

Even if the Dukes do not earn the automatic bid, Matthews said his team deserves at least one home game if it beats the Tigers.

"We’d be 9-2," Matthews said. "We lost to a potential BCS school [West Virginia University] and we lost on a 46-yard field goal into the wind. If we beat Towson, I think we deserve two home games."

Despite needing help from the Tribe to earn the automatic invite, Matthews said his team is focused on the task at hand.

"The only thing we have control over is our game Saturday," Matthews said. "We’re going to focus on that."

In doing that, Matthews said the Dukes will not underestimate the Tigers, despite their 3-7 record.

"They’ve struggled as of late," Matthews said. "But they have enough speed on offense to concern you. They have some receivers that can run and their quarterback can throw the ball."

Towson also sports two talented defensive backs in P.D. Moore and Allante Harrison.

"Towson leads the A-10 in pass defense," Matthews said. "They have two defensive backs, Moore and Harrison, who can play for anyone in the country at any level."

The Dukes and the Tigers kick off at 1 p.m. with JMU playoff implications on the line.