College Sports
Email
Print
ASU is aware that JMU is pumped up
Mountaineers have had an extra week to prepare for game
AP File Photo
Scotty McGee of JMU jumps over Armando Cuko of Massachusetts.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 20, 2008
HARRISONBURG, Va. - How big is tonight's match-up between top-ranked Appalachian State and No. 5 James Madison?
Big enough that Coach Mickey Matthews of JMU said he was concerned that his team might look past last week's conference opener against No. 3 Massachusetts and ahead to Appalachian.
"Because that's all they once wanted to talk about was Appalachian, really for the past six or seven months," Matthews said.
The Dukes no doubt have been looking forward to a rematch with the Mountaineers, who got a dramatic come-from-behind victory last November when the teams met in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The Mountaineers went on to win a third straight national title.
"It's been difficult, I'll be honest with you," said Matthews, whose program won a national title in 2004 before the Mountaineers began their three-year run. "Especially the way the game ended up last year, the fact we play them early this year and play them at home."
Armanti Edwards, the Mountaineers' quarterback, said that he and his team know that JMU has had this game pinpointed on its schedule.
"They really want to get after us right now," Edwards said. "Everybody here knows that, so we're expecting a big game."
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said he welcomes what will be his team's first test of the season against a nationally-ranked FCS opponent.
ASU, which had an extra week of preparation because of an open date last Saturday, started with a 41-13 loss to LSU, the defending FBS champion, and followed with a 56-7 romp over non-scholarship Jacksonville.
"The first one (LSU) we were considered to be overmatched, and the second one (Jacksonville) we overmatched them, so this is the first real test for us to see what we actually have," Edwards said.
James Madison opened the season with a 31-7 loss to Duke but has come on the past two weeks. It blew past N.C. Central 56-7 and knocked off Massachusetts 52-38 last Saturday in its Colonial Athletic Association opener.
Matthews said that his team has improved since a disappointing performance at Duke, but he wasn't pleased that his team gave up big plays and 38 points to UMass.
"We're just better because we've played three games," Matthews said. "I think we're probably playing a little better in the offensive line than we were two weeks ago, that's probably the biggest thing, but we didn't do anything good defensively Saturday."
Perhaps the Dukes' biggest challenge tonight will be to defend Edwards, who has rushed for 2,841 yards and passed for 4,399 in 28 games.
In November's 28-27 loss to the Mountaineers in Boone, the Dukes kept the ball away from Edwards and the Mountaineers -- building a 40-20 advantage in time of possession and converting 15 times on third- and fourth-down plays.
"We were just trying to keep the ball away from him, because he's that great of a player," Matthews said. "The guy is just a human rocket. He is really fast, and he can throw the ball. He's a very competitive youngster. We were just trying to keep him off the field."
The game plan will most likely be the same this time. And Edwards said he was impressed with how the Dukes defended last season.
"That was one of the toughest defenses we faced all year," Edwards said.
"They were really disciplined, not like other teams that tried to jump in the hole where they're not supposed to be, but JMU was doing exactly like they were taught to do."
The Mountaineers will have to contend with Rodney Landers, the Dukes quarterback who also is a threat to run or pass. Landers passed for 1,678 yards and rushed for 1,273 last season as a junior.
Moore said that although both quarterbacks are dual threats, they have different styles. He said that Edwards (6-0, 184) has receiver-like speed, and that Landers (6-1, 220) is more like a power back.
"(Armanti) is quick and can make you miss, where Rodney can run over you," Moore said. "(Landers) is a really gutsy player, a hard-nosed kid.
"I think he's a guy who has a lot of confidence, and his players I'm sure have a lot of confidence in him.
"He's a strong kid, a big kid. You're not just going to drag a guy like that down. He'll break a lot of tackles."
Tommy Bowman can be reached at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
