College Sports
Email
Print
JMU surprises Appalachian State 35-32
Dukes rally from behind with big second half to avenge last season's playoff loss to the top-ranked Mountaineers
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: September 21, 2008
HARRISONBURG, Va.
Many James Madison fans in a near-record crowd of 17,163 at Bridgeforth Stadium last night wore T-shirts adorned with the slogan "Revenge is Sweet."
The Dukes got some revenge last night, all in the second half.
They put memories of a painful playoff loss last November behind them, storming back from a three-touchdown halftime deficit to stun top-ranked Appalachian State 35-32.
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers, whose team has won three straight NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national titles, tipped his cap to the No. 5 Dukes.
"Good teams become great teams doing what they did tonight," Moore said.
The Mountaineers dominated the first half and built a 21-0 lead. But the No. 5 Dukes charged back and took the lead with four touchdowns in the first 19:12 of the second half.
"We just made one more play at the end than they did," Coach Mickey Matthews of the Dukes said. "It was about the same thing as last year. If we play 10 times -- we'd probably win five and they'd probably win five."
The Dukes began their comeback with a momentum-swinging 99-yard kickoff return by Scotty McGee to open the second half and ignited the raucous crowd that recalled a dramatic 28-27 victory by the Mountaineers against the Dukes in last year's FCS playoffs.
"We think we have the best kick-return game, and that we can get ourselves out of a jam with that," Matthews said.
Moore said: "We just did a poor job of covering."
The Dukes (3-1) followed with a touchdown on the first play of their next possession.
Quarterback Rodney Landers faked a handoff and ran 62 yards as the Dukes closed the gap to 21-14 just 2:17 into the second half.
The Mountaineers (1-2) got a brief respite after an interception by Leonard Love led to a 30-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris, which extended their lead to 24-14 with 6:09 left in the third quarter.
But the Dukes, who gained 236 yards in the second half after producing 66 in the first half, rolled right back and scored two plays later -- getting a 35-yard touchdown strike from Landers to Griff Yancey.
JMU took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter after Darrieus Ramsey intercepted an Armanti Edwards pass at the Mountaineers' 46-yard line. The Dukes got a big conversion on fourth-and-1, and a pitch from Landers to Eugene Holloman on a misdirection play gave them a 28-24 lead with 10:48 left.
The Mountaineers threatened to retake the lead -- marching from their 26 to inside the Dukes' 20. But Robert Welton, who rushed for 92 yards after starter Devon Moore left the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter, fumbled and Gerren Griffin of the Dukes recovered at the 12-yard line. Welton was fighting for extra yardage when he was stripped of the ball by Jamie Veney.
"I try to score every time I touch the ball," Welton said. "I think the (defender) just caught me from behind and came with his hand and pulled it out."
The Dukes, getting a 47-yard run by Holloman, drove 87 yards and extended the lead to 35-24 on a 1-yard run by Landers.
The Mountaineers closed the gap to 35-32 with a drive in the final seconds that ended on a 1-yard touchdown run by Welton with 1:42 left and two-point conversion leap by Edwards. An onside-kick attempt failed, and the Dukes, with aid of a fourth-down quick kick on the final play, ran out the remaining time.
"Field position hurt them in the first half, and hurt us in the second half," Moore said. "We threw an interception, had a fumble down there deep and had (penalties) that hurt us."
Edwards said: "You go up 21-0 and you don't expect anyone to come back and outscore you like they did. They just didn't quit…. We beat ourselves with too many third-and-long situations. We just made too many key mistakes."
Edwards rushed for 109 yards on 26 attempts, and he passed for 142 yards. Landers rushed for 113 yards on 20 attempts and passed for 96 yards.
The Mountaineers started out a bit sluggish on offense -- being hampered initially by three first-drive penalties and a dose of JMU pressure -- but it didn't last long.
By halftime, the Mountaineers had churned out 223 yards, including 97 rushing by Edwards, and nearly doubled JMU's possession time.
JMU's early problems were compounded by a horrid start on offense of its own. The Dukes were intercepted on their first play when safety Mark LeGree picked off a pass by Landers.
The Dukes had just 27 rushing yards, 39 passing yards and two first downs in the first half.
The Mountaineers drove 30 yards for the first touchdown with 6:37 left in the first quarter. Devon Moore scored on a 6-yard touchdown run before being sidelined later in the quarter with a left ankle injury.
The Mountaineers drove 48 yards for their second score, getting an 11-yard touchdown pass on third down from Edwards to Josh Johnson with 6:32 left in the first half.
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at
tbowman@wsjournal.com
.
Appalachian State 7 14 3 8 -- 32
James Madison 0 0 21 14 -- 35
First Quarter
ASU--Moore 6 run (Vitaris kick), 6:37.
Second Quarter
ASU--Jo.Johnson 11 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick), 6:32.
ASU--Welton 2 run (Vitaris kick), :31.
Third Quarter
JMU--McGee 99 kickoff return (Stannard kick), 14:47.
JMU--Landers 62 run (Stannard kick), 12:43.
ASU--FG Vitaris 30, 6:09.
JMU--Yancey 35 pass from Landers (Stannard kick), 5:35.
Fourth Quarter
JMU--Holloman 4 run (Stannard kick), 10:48.
JMU--Landers 1 run (Stannard kick), 2:31.
ASU--Welton 1 run (Edwards run), 1:42.
A--17,163.
TEAM STATISTICS
App JMU
First downs 18 12
Rushes-yards 50-209 38-206
Passing 142 96
Comp-Att-Int 11-19-1 7-13-2
Return Yards 16 26
Punts-Avg. 6-40.2 6-32.7
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 8-53 5-32
Time of Possession 34:08 25:52
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Appalachian State, Edwards 26-109, Welton 17-92, Moore 5-6, Courman 1-1, Radford 1-1. James Madison, Landers 20-113, Holloman 9-73, Long 3-23, Yancey 3-10, Team 3-(minus 13).
PASSING--Appalachian State, Edwards 11-19-1-142. James Madison, Landers 7-13-2-96.
RECEIVING--Appalachian State, Jo.Johnson 4-71, Hillary 2-37, Jorden 2-12, Frazier 1-12, Courman 1-11, Welton 1-(minus 1). James Madison, Yancey 2-44, B.Williams 1-20, Ward 1-13, Caussin 1-9, McNeil 1-7, Long 1-3.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
