Dukes face tall task at Furman

The Dukes look to advance to the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals for the first time in school history Saturday when they take on the Furman University Paladins in Greenville, S.C.

"If we win, this will be the best team in JMU history," coach Mickey Matthews said.

To entrench themselves as the best team in school history, Matthews and the Dukes will need to defeat a Furman team that has qualified for the playoffs five times in the last six years. The Paladins spent the majority of the 2004 season ranked among the top three teams in the country.

Matthews, however, is confident, and one reason is because the Dukes play in the strongest conference in D I-AA.

"We’re battle-tested on the road," Matthews said. "We’ve had a lot of tough conference games on the road this season."

Against Furman, that should bode well for the Dukes, who have not lost a road game to a I-AA school all season.

"You cannot underestimate the importance of our road success," Matthews said. "Especially going into a lion’s den like Furman where they’ve won between 80 and 85 percent of their games in stadium history."

Another factor is familiarity. Though the Paladins and the Dukes have not met since 1982, Matthews has history with Furman stemming from his days as a defensive coordinator and assistant coach at Marshall University.

"I’m extremely familiar with their football program," Matthews said. "Not so much their personnel, but when I was at Marshall, we played them and it was intense."

Intense could very well describe this game, matching two teams with conflicting strengths. Furman enters ranked No. 12 in the country in rushing offense, averaging 233.25 yards per game. The Dukes conversely boast the best-run defense in the nation, yielding just over 82 yards per contest.

Matthews said several other factors also may come into play, namely Furman quarterback Ingle Martin.

"He’s just a great athlete," Matthews said of Martin. "He can really run and he makes a lot of plays for them. He will remind everyone of Lang Campbell."

Campbell is one of the main reasons why JMU is on the road this postseason, after leading the College of William & Mary to a 27-24 win over the Dukes Nov. 13.

Matthews is determined to have better success against Martin.

"We have 50 sacks this year," Matthews said. "We’re going to need to put a lot of pressure on their offense and we will."

Matthews also said the Dukes have to be more productive on offense to win. That means JMU will need a strong game from redshirt junior tailback Raymond Hines and an efficient passing performance from redshirt sophomore quarterback Justin Rascati.

Last weekend against Lehigh University, Hines ran for 191 yards on 29 carries. Rascati was 14-19 for 122 yards. Both players had rushing touchdowns, accounting for all of JMU’s points.

"We need to be more consistent offensively," Matthews said. "We would like to have a 50/50 mix in terms of running and throwing the ball if possible."

The Dukes and the Paladins kick off at 3:30 p.m. at Paladin Stadium.