Madison Offense A Melting Pot

Last week, Abdullah was one of five Madison rushers to combine for a school-record 10 touchdowns and 498 yards during an 80-7 win over Morehead State.

“Basically, [offensive coordinator Donnie] Kirkpatrick married the old system that we had, which was running-based, to the new system that he brought in,” Abdullah said. “He merged it together and it’s a concoction that worked all spring, in camp and now into the fall.”

The offense that didn’t punt until more than halfway through the fourth quarter of its season-opening victory returns to action today as No. 12 JMU (1-0) hosts Central Connecticut State (0-1) at Bridgeforth Stadium. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

Kirkpatrick said he, run-game coordinator and tight ends coach Bryan Stinespring and the rest of the offensive staff each took from their past to create the fresh plan of attack.

“It’s what we did at East Carolina. We have a little Virginia Tech in there, too,” Kirkpatrick said. “Some of it is what they did here last year also.”

Offensive line coach Jamal Powell — the lone holdover on offense from the previous staff — helped keep some of the same concepts that players were familiar with intact. Additionally, Kirkpatrick already had some comfort with what Powell wanted to do because ECU hired former JMU offensive line coach Brad Davis before the 2015 season. Davis held the role in Harrisonburg just a year before Powell arrived.

“We pieced the offense together,” Stinespring said. “It was an enjoyable experience.”

Abdullah said when the staff initially installed the new offense, coaches showed players film of East Carolina and Virginia Tech to provide visual evidence that it would work.

“As a coaching staff, everyone had input in how we wanted to put together our run game and offense. It was a collective effort,” Stinespring said. “There were certainly some things that we had done over the years at Tech that we felt strong about. We didn’t do everything by a long shot, but we added a few things that were in the scope of what we were doing offensively.”

In the opener, JMU used only four or five plays throughout the whole game, Kirkpatrick said. JMU had 74 rushing attempts compared to only 13 passes.

Moving forward, Kirkpatrick said he wants to achieve balance, but if the defense won’t stop the Dukes from running the ball, then they will continue to run it.

Quarterback Bryan Schor led Madison with 129 yards rushing and three touchdowns last week. Junior running back Cardon Johnson and sophomore Trai Sharp each ran for more than 100 yards also and junior Taylor Woods scored three rushing touchdowns. Abdullah had a score, too.

JMU coach Mike Houston said it would be tougher for his team to run the ball this week.

Central Connecticut State features an All-Northeast Conference selection at defensive end in Asia Bolling. The 6-foot-3, edge player had nine tackles in the Blue Devils’ 24-10 Week 1 loss to Lafayette.

“I think we’re going to be tested,” Houston said. “They’re big upfront. From a 3-4 deal, they will bring pressure from all over the place. It’s going to be a deal where our offensive line has to execute at a high level.”

Third-year Central Connecticut State coach Pete Rossamondo said slowing Schor in the run-game is key for his team.

“The quarterback is the x-factor. He can pull it and run pretty damn good,” Rossamondo said. “We have to contain him because we can’t allow him to rip off big runs.”

When Central Connecticut State is on offense, it will try to do a better job protecting the ball than it did during its opener. Central Connecticut State was plagued by five turnovers last week.

“I loved the fact that our defense kept us in the ball game against Lafayette,” Rossamondo said. “But I hated the fact that we turned it over four times in the first half. I really hated that.”

JMU’s defense forced four turnovers a week ago, leading to 28 points off those turnovers.

The Dukes hold a 2-0 advantage in the series with the Blue Devils.