JMU Focused On Slowing WSU QB Cantwell

HARRISONBURG — A quarterback with the ability to run isn’t uncommon in college football.

What’s rare is an offense that features a significant amount of designed quarterback-run plays.

Top-seeded James Madison will see just that when it hosts Weber State and senior signal-caller Stefan Cantwell in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs on Friday at Bridgeforth Stadium.

“It’s just the fact that most people aren’t quite as committed to running the quarterback,” second-year JMU coach Mike Houston said. “We got to do a great job of accounting for him in the run game.

“And the hard thing about the quarterback-run stuff, especially the stuff that they do with him, the power and counter, it’s 11-on-11, so when they run the tailback, you’ve got an extra hat. Now all of a sudden, they run the quarterback and they can match your numbers.”

Cantwell is Weber State’s second-leading rusher with 550 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, but he’s not only dangerous when he carries the football.

He can throw it, too, as he’s completed 63 percent of his throws for 2,740 yards and 23 scores.

“There’s no such thing, in my opinion, as a good team without a good quarterback,” said fourth-year Weber State coach Jay Hill, whose contract was extended through 2023 on Wednesday. “He’s got to be a manager. He’s got to be a leader. And our guy, we think is very good.

“He gets us in the right run game. He doesn’t make mistakes in the throw game. He’s been very efficient this year.”

In Weber State’s second-round win over eighth-seeded Southern Utah, Cantwell threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards and a score.

JMU defensive coordinator Bob Trott said he’s equally concerned about what Cantwell can do throwing and taking advantage of the designed run plays.

“Both because he’s pretty good at both,” Trott said. “He manages the game well and the fact that he does run the ball puts an extra dimension on their offense. He’s been real effective doing it and once you key in on that, it opens up some of the passing things.

“The thing about run defense is that it’s 11 people. It’s not just the front, so they’re the first ones in their gaps and linebackers have to fit in their gaps and the secondary. Everybody has responsibility against the run and everybody has got to do it to stop a good run attack and then keep their eyes open for play-action passes.”

The positive for JMU is that no opposing quarterback this season has found a way to succeed against the Dukes, whether through the air or on the ground.

Only one opposing signal-caller, Richmond’s Kyle Lauletta, threw for more than 300 yards against JMU, but he also threw an interception. The most rushing yards JMU has allowed to a quarterback was the 46 rushing yards Delaware’s Joe Walker had on Sept. 30.

The JMU defense tops all of FCS for scoring defense (8.8 points per game), interceptions (24) and passing-efficiency defense (78.96 rating).

“You look at the teams we played this year with dual-threat quarterbacks with New Hampshire, Norfolk State and even Kyle Lauletta at Richmond,” JMU senior defensive end Andrew Ankrah, a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, said. “We played a lot of dual-threat quarterbacks who had the ability to throw it very well and hurt you on the ground, but we’ve come up with game plans to contain these quarterbacks in the past and I feel like if we continue to trust in one another to be where we’re supposed to be at the right time, then we’ll be all right.”

JMU senior safety Raven Greene said it’s important for defensive linemen, linebackers and even the two safeties stay in their gaps when Cantwell takes off running.

Houston circled back to point out that JMU can’t get outnumbered when the 6-foot-2 quarterback starts moving straight ahead.

“We have to do a good job of getting the numbers at the point of contact,” Houston said. “Which means we’ve got to do a great job with alignment and seeing formations with our keys and it’s going to be challenge.

“He’s a big kid, so if you’re not there before he is, and he gets downhill on you, he can be effective. The first thing we have to do is stop them from running the football.”