DURHAM, N.H. – In 2008, as James Madison’s football team pulled off miracle finish after miracle finish, coach Mickey Matthews repeatedly said that the Dukes recruited their luck by attracting dynamic players like quarterback Rodney Landers and explosive return man Scotty McGee.
Apparently, there hasn’t been much of that luck in JMU’s recent classes. It’s lost nine games the past three seasons by seven points or less. It missed the Division I-AA playoffs the last two years and could be on its way to making it three in a row after Saturday’s 28-10 loss at New Hampshire.
“We’re just going to continue doing what we’ve been doing since we were little boys, and that’s play football,” senior defensive end D.J. Bryant said. “Let’s not think about the pressure. Let’s not think about the playoffs. Let’s just think about playing one game at a time.”
The truth is, this year’s Dukes don’t have a McGee, who sparked a dramatic comeback against Appalachian State by taking the opening kickoff of the second half back for a score and later beat Richmond with a game-winning punt return in 2008.
They don’t have a Landers, whose long scoring run after McGee’s touchdown turned momentum in the App State game that year, and whose Hail Mary touchdown pass to Bosco Williams gave the Dukes a stunning road win at Villanova.
No, this year it’s the opposing teams that seem to have recruited all the luck.
Maine got a thrilling 25-24 overtime when at JMU when its backup quarterback flipped into the end zone on a gutsy two-point conversion.
Old Dominion won a 23-20 thriller thanks in part to a long fourth down prayer-of-a-touchdown-pass by its freshman quarterback.
And Saturday, New Hampshire jumped out to a big lead thanks to two long kickoff returns in the first quarter (both aided by JMU penalties) that gave the Wildcats firm control on their way to a 28-10 win.
“Those were huge plays,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews said. “You can add 100 yards to their offense because of those two runs. Those were utterly ridiculous.”
JMU? It made more mistakes than big plays, committing eight penalties for 73 yards and scoring one touchdown on four trips into the redzone.
It’s biggest offensive play of the game – a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jace Edwards to Brian Barlow that would have cut UNH’s lead to 25-17 in the third quarter -- was called back for a holding flag on left tackle Matt Cunningham.
“It was divine intervention,” said Matthews, whose team has suffered nine of its 14 losses the last three years by one touchdown or less. “It’s the third straight week New Hampshire has had an opponent with touchdowns called back.”
If the Wildcats appear to have been rolling in a patch of four-leave clovers or been sprinkled with fairy dust, the Dukes look decidedly snake bit. A rash of injuries have left them depleted on the offensive and defensive lines and their starting quarterback was suspended the past five games.
And, more than all that, they’re not making the big plays that win tight games.
Maybe the best example came on JMU’s failed fourth-and-1 try in the fourth quarter.
On third-and-14 at the UNH 15-yard line, the Wildcats lined up offsides. The Dukes ran the play and completed a 13-yard pass to Barlow.
Matthews declined the penalty, opting for a fourth-and-1 inside of the two instead of a third-and-9 at the 10, an understandable decision given the Dukes’ prowess for rushing the ball.
And not out of character. Matthews has always had a somewhat unnerving confidence in his team’s ability to get that one yard.
In 2008, JMU was 23-for-31, converting fourth downs at a mind-blowing 74-percent rate, including a big fourth-quarter one in the comeback win over Appalachian State.
In the national championship season of 2004, the Dukes were 15-for-25 (60 percent) on fourth down, and converted one in each of its four playoff games.
But Saturday, on fourth-and-1 at the 2, JMU handed the ball to banged up running back Dae’Quan Scott, who went nowhere.
And now, it looks like that’s where the Dukes may be headed.
