JMU, YSU Paved Road To Frisco With Gut-Check Wins

In the eight previous games JMU has led at the break this season, it hadn’t allowed any of its opponents to tie the score or take the lead in the second half. In those situations, the Dukes simply extended their leads and went on to rack up the wins.

But North Dakota State had stormed back, tallying 17 straight points to even the score in the third quarter of Madison’s FCS playoff semifinal win on Dec. 16.

Without any momentum, coach Mike Houston’s team was put to test.

“We knew it was a game that was going to be very tight,” Houston said. “We knew it would have momentum swings. In our final meeting before we went to the stadium, we talked about the fact that there would be a point in the ball game where [North Dakota State] would have all the momentum and we’d be struggling.

“I’ve equated that third quarter to us being a heavyweight boxer and all of a sudden you’re in trouble, up against the ropes and the time is running out at the end of the round. All you’re trying to do is get to the end of the round to get to your corner and regroup.”

JMU made it out of the third quarter in Fargo without surrendering a lead to North Dakota State. The game was still tied at 17 entering the fourth. The Dukes would go on to win 27-17.

“We had to have something positive happen,” Houston said. “After they tied the game, we had the turnover, they take over in our territory and it was close to getting away from us.”

But the JMU defense made a stand to get the ball back to the offense early in the fourth quarter.

“Then the fourth quarter starts and we get in range and [kicker] Tyler [Gray] hits the kick,” Houston said. “We have the momentum back.”

Houston’s team managed to overcome a situation it hadn’t been involved in since games at Richmond and Villanova in mid-November, but even in those two games neither the Spiders nor the Wildcats had momentum on their side like the Bison did.

In the second round and quarterfinals of the playoffs, the Dukes blew out New Hampshire and Sam Houston State like they had dominated most of their competition in the regular season.

To get to the title game, JMU showed it could fight through the giant momentum swing at the FargoDome, a place Houston called the most challenging environment he ever coached in.

Youngstown State — JMU’s opponent in the FCS national title game in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 7 — did something it hadn’t all year during its postseason run.

The Penguins won close games against some of the top-ranked FCS teams.

“We lost to North Dakota State, who’s obviously pretty good. We lost to South Dakota State, who’s pretty good and we lost to West Virginia, who’s pretty good,” Youngstown State assistant coach Brian Crist said of his team’s regular season.

“But, we talk about the process and continuing to get better. And if we do the little things throughout the week, we have a chance to win on Saturdays. We’ve been doing that a lot better lately.”

Youngstown State won at third-seeded Jacksonville State in the second round and at second-seeded Eastern Washington on the final play of the game in the semifinals.

Houston, who coached Lenoir-Rhyne to the Division II national championship game in 2013, said for both JMU and Youngstown State, the national-championship setting would make the game different.

“We have to make sure the kids are prepared for the stage because it’s going to be different than any of the playoff games,” Houston said. “There’s going to be so much electricity. There’s going to be so much intensity.

“The other thing is to make sure we’re getting enough rest in the couple of days before that. When we went in 2013, there were so many activities surrounding the national championship. They have you going here and going there and doing this. I remember getting to our Friday night meeting and I remember all our players just wanted to get a little extra time to sleep and that resonated with me.”

JMU players resume practice in Harrisonburg on Wednesday after having the past 11 days off for the holidays.