JMU Duke Dog
September 12th, 2005, 09:11 PM
http://www.dnronline.com/sports_details.php?AID=578&CHID=3
Mickey: ‘We’re Just Not Very Good’
James Madison’s football team, ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA, fell to Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
By Mike Barber
CONWAY, S.C. – The "boys" toppled the men, and Mickey Matthews wasn’t happy.
Tyler Thigpen found Perry Parks for an 8-yard touchdown with 30 seconds to go to give Coastal Carolina, a third-year program, a 31-27 win over reigning Division I-AA football champion James Madison on Saturday.
Matthews, the top-ranked Dukes’ coach, criticized his team afterward.
"We’re not very good," an obviously angry and disappointed Matthews said. "I was concerned about that. We’re just not a very good football team. We can’t play pass defense, we jumped offsides.… We’re just not very good. I was very discouraged."
JMU’s offense, defense and special teams all deserved part of the blame on a breezy evening at Brooks Stadium.
The Dukes’ backup kicker missed a field goal and extra point, offensive tackle Corey Davis committed a costly false-start penalty, and Adam Ford, who struggled in coverage, dropped an easy interception that could have sealed the win for the Dukes (1-1).
Thigpen went 24-for-36 for 287 yards and three touchdowns, and wide receiver Jerome Simpson had 10 catches for 164 yards and two scores for the Chanticleers (2-0).
The loss will no doubt knock JMU out of the top spot in The Sports Network’s Division I-AA poll, a position it has held since winning the 2004 national championship.
Going into the game, Coastal coach Dave Bennett cleverly downplayed his team’s chances against the Dukes all week long, saying, "Them’s men. We got boys going to play men.… We ain’t played none like we about to play."
But Saturday, it was Matthews’ insistence that the Chanticleers were a dangerous opponent that proved more prophetic.
"The boys did all right," Bennett said, standing in the end zone – just feet from where Coastal’s students had torn down the goalposts – with players, fans and media members swarming around him.
JMU’s offense looked a little crisper than it had a week ago against Lock Haven, but the defense was a mess from start to finish. Neither Leon Mizelle nor Ford could slow down Simpson.
"They just wanted it better than we did," a visibly distraught Ford said.
Coastal scored first, going up 7-0 when Thigpen hit Jerome Simpson for a 21-yard touchdown with 5:53 to go in the first quarter. Thigpen fired a jump-ball to the pylon and Simpson out-leaped Mizelle for the catch, energizing the school-record crowd of 8,553 fans.
JMU answered in the second quarter with the first of two Alvin Banks touchdown runs, a 1-yarder that tied the game at 7-7 less than three minutes into the second quarter.
Banks’ second touchdown – a 6-yard run – tied the game at 14-14 with 1:44 to go in the half, but Coastal added a 32-yard field goal with nine seconds left to take a 17-14 lead at the break.
Coastal Carolina started strong and finished stronger, but what may have been most impressive was its ability to take shots from Madison in the third quarter, the only period where JMU came close to resembling its I-AA championship form of a year ago.
"We wanted to win in the fourth quarter," Bennett said. "We just had to be patient. I knew the third quarter was going to be rocky and it was rocky."
In the second half, JMU seemed to come to life briefly, taking its first lead on quarterback Justin Rascati’s 10-yard run with 3:03 to go in the third and then pushing the margin to 27-17 when Maurice Fenner ran for a 1-yard score with 9:52 to go in the game.
Banks rushed for 88 yards and the two touchdowns on 24 carries, while Fenner added 74 and a score on 12 touches.
It could have been a bigger lead, but kicker Paul Wantuck, playing in place of the injured David Rabil, missed a 37-yard field goal and an extra point.
"Paul’s really shaky," Matthews said. "I don’t know what to do about it. If I had another guy, I’d kick him."
The final 9:52 showed just how far the Dukes have fallen from their 13-2 championship season.
First, Thigpen and Simpson hooked up on a 23-yard jump-ball touchdown similar to their first, except this one came against Ford.
Later, Coastal’s surprisingly athletic defense forced JMU to punt, but Nick Englehart pinned the Chanticleers just inside their own 10-yard line with 2:13 to go. Thigpen converted both a fourth-and-three and a third-and-10 to keep the drive alive, both times hooking up with Simpson.
The big play came with less then a minute left in the game. Thigpen lofted a 27-yard pass over Ford that a diving Simpson hauled in with one hand to give Coastal the ball at JMU’s 13-yard-line, setting up the winning score.
"I think when Jerome Simpson’s out there, it’s a mismatch any time," Thigpen said. "He’s just one outstanding athlete. That was amazing."
The play almost never happened. On a second-and-10, Thigpen tried to hit a streaking Perry racing up the sideline, but overthrew him. The ball sailed right to Ford – and went right through his hands.
"He threw us the ball and we dropped it," Matthews said. "We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now…
"The whole thing is, if you intercept the ball, the game’s over. When they throw you the ball in a tight game, you have to catch it. Last year, we did that. And right now, we don’t make the key plays to win a tight game."
With hundreds of students poised to storm the field from both the end zone and bleachers, Rascati’s last-ditch attempt to save the game – a heave inside the 10-yard-line – fell incomplete.
Even after the win, Bennett labeled his team major underdogs, in part because of JMU’s intimidating offensive line, particularly 300-plus pound tackles Corey Davis and Harry Dunn.
"I quit looking at their offensive tackles," Bennett said. "They gave me diarrhea. I went to the bathroom three times before the game tonight. I ain’t done that in a long time."
JMU’s star players agreed with their coaches’ assessment that they didn’t play hard in the first half.
"They’re big old boys and they came to play today," All-American safety Tony LeZotte said. "They came to play more than we did in the first half and that really set the tone for the rest of the game."
But LeZotte couldn’t give a reason for the Dukes’ team-wide malaise. He said he didn’t take the Chanticleers lightly and didn’t think his teammates did either.
"I really don’t know," LeZotte said.
Rascati didn’t have any answers either.
"We were sleepwalking in the first half," Rascati said. "I don’t know what we were doing."
After the loss, which snapped JMU’s seven-game I-AA win streak away from Bridgeforth Stadium, Matthews wasn’t looking for his players to simply put the loss behind them.
"They need to be worried," Matthews said. "They need to be real worried about it. Because we didn’t play very well. I’m not even a little bit happy with the way we played or coached tonight."
Mickey: ‘We’re Just Not Very Good’
James Madison’s football team, ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA, fell to Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
By Mike Barber
CONWAY, S.C. – The "boys" toppled the men, and Mickey Matthews wasn’t happy.
Tyler Thigpen found Perry Parks for an 8-yard touchdown with 30 seconds to go to give Coastal Carolina, a third-year program, a 31-27 win over reigning Division I-AA football champion James Madison on Saturday.
Matthews, the top-ranked Dukes’ coach, criticized his team afterward.
"We’re not very good," an obviously angry and disappointed Matthews said. "I was concerned about that. We’re just not a very good football team. We can’t play pass defense, we jumped offsides.… We’re just not very good. I was very discouraged."
JMU’s offense, defense and special teams all deserved part of the blame on a breezy evening at Brooks Stadium.
The Dukes’ backup kicker missed a field goal and extra point, offensive tackle Corey Davis committed a costly false-start penalty, and Adam Ford, who struggled in coverage, dropped an easy interception that could have sealed the win for the Dukes (1-1).
Thigpen went 24-for-36 for 287 yards and three touchdowns, and wide receiver Jerome Simpson had 10 catches for 164 yards and two scores for the Chanticleers (2-0).
The loss will no doubt knock JMU out of the top spot in The Sports Network’s Division I-AA poll, a position it has held since winning the 2004 national championship.
Going into the game, Coastal coach Dave Bennett cleverly downplayed his team’s chances against the Dukes all week long, saying, "Them’s men. We got boys going to play men.… We ain’t played none like we about to play."
But Saturday, it was Matthews’ insistence that the Chanticleers were a dangerous opponent that proved more prophetic.
"The boys did all right," Bennett said, standing in the end zone – just feet from where Coastal’s students had torn down the goalposts – with players, fans and media members swarming around him.
JMU’s offense looked a little crisper than it had a week ago against Lock Haven, but the defense was a mess from start to finish. Neither Leon Mizelle nor Ford could slow down Simpson.
"They just wanted it better than we did," a visibly distraught Ford said.
Coastal scored first, going up 7-0 when Thigpen hit Jerome Simpson for a 21-yard touchdown with 5:53 to go in the first quarter. Thigpen fired a jump-ball to the pylon and Simpson out-leaped Mizelle for the catch, energizing the school-record crowd of 8,553 fans.
JMU answered in the second quarter with the first of two Alvin Banks touchdown runs, a 1-yarder that tied the game at 7-7 less than three minutes into the second quarter.
Banks’ second touchdown – a 6-yard run – tied the game at 14-14 with 1:44 to go in the half, but Coastal added a 32-yard field goal with nine seconds left to take a 17-14 lead at the break.
Coastal Carolina started strong and finished stronger, but what may have been most impressive was its ability to take shots from Madison in the third quarter, the only period where JMU came close to resembling its I-AA championship form of a year ago.
"We wanted to win in the fourth quarter," Bennett said. "We just had to be patient. I knew the third quarter was going to be rocky and it was rocky."
In the second half, JMU seemed to come to life briefly, taking its first lead on quarterback Justin Rascati’s 10-yard run with 3:03 to go in the third and then pushing the margin to 27-17 when Maurice Fenner ran for a 1-yard score with 9:52 to go in the game.
Banks rushed for 88 yards and the two touchdowns on 24 carries, while Fenner added 74 and a score on 12 touches.
It could have been a bigger lead, but kicker Paul Wantuck, playing in place of the injured David Rabil, missed a 37-yard field goal and an extra point.
"Paul’s really shaky," Matthews said. "I don’t know what to do about it. If I had another guy, I’d kick him."
The final 9:52 showed just how far the Dukes have fallen from their 13-2 championship season.
First, Thigpen and Simpson hooked up on a 23-yard jump-ball touchdown similar to their first, except this one came against Ford.
Later, Coastal’s surprisingly athletic defense forced JMU to punt, but Nick Englehart pinned the Chanticleers just inside their own 10-yard line with 2:13 to go. Thigpen converted both a fourth-and-three and a third-and-10 to keep the drive alive, both times hooking up with Simpson.
The big play came with less then a minute left in the game. Thigpen lofted a 27-yard pass over Ford that a diving Simpson hauled in with one hand to give Coastal the ball at JMU’s 13-yard-line, setting up the winning score.
"I think when Jerome Simpson’s out there, it’s a mismatch any time," Thigpen said. "He’s just one outstanding athlete. That was amazing."
The play almost never happened. On a second-and-10, Thigpen tried to hit a streaking Perry racing up the sideline, but overthrew him. The ball sailed right to Ford – and went right through his hands.
"He threw us the ball and we dropped it," Matthews said. "We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now…
"The whole thing is, if you intercept the ball, the game’s over. When they throw you the ball in a tight game, you have to catch it. Last year, we did that. And right now, we don’t make the key plays to win a tight game."
With hundreds of students poised to storm the field from both the end zone and bleachers, Rascati’s last-ditch attempt to save the game – a heave inside the 10-yard-line – fell incomplete.
Even after the win, Bennett labeled his team major underdogs, in part because of JMU’s intimidating offensive line, particularly 300-plus pound tackles Corey Davis and Harry Dunn.
"I quit looking at their offensive tackles," Bennett said. "They gave me diarrhea. I went to the bathroom three times before the game tonight. I ain’t done that in a long time."
JMU’s star players agreed with their coaches’ assessment that they didn’t play hard in the first half.
"They’re big old boys and they came to play today," All-American safety Tony LeZotte said. "They came to play more than we did in the first half and that really set the tone for the rest of the game."
But LeZotte couldn’t give a reason for the Dukes’ team-wide malaise. He said he didn’t take the Chanticleers lightly and didn’t think his teammates did either.
"I really don’t know," LeZotte said.
Rascati didn’t have any answers either.
"We were sleepwalking in the first half," Rascati said. "I don’t know what we were doing."
After the loss, which snapped JMU’s seven-game I-AA win streak away from Bridgeforth Stadium, Matthews wasn’t looking for his players to simply put the loss behind them.
"They need to be worried," Matthews said. "They need to be real worried about it. Because we didn’t play very well. I’m not even a little bit happy with the way we played or coached tonight."