HARRISONBURG — No defense in college football allowed fewer rushing yards to a Power Five opponent in Week 1 than James Madison’s unit did.
“One of the things we did well was swarm to the ball,” Dukes senior linebacker Dimitri Holloway said.
JMU yielded only 34 rushing yards at West Virginia to give the Big 12 Mountaineers all sorts of issues.
In order to free Holloway, who had a team-best 13 tackles in last Saturday’s contest, to roam from one sideline to the other and corral whatever rusher carried the ball, the Dukes defensive front kept West Virginia’s offensive line occupied. And West Virginia’s offensive line is likely the biggest one JMU will face all season as the No. 2 Dukes (0-1) open their home schedule and begin the FCS portion of their slate Saturday against St. Francis (1-0) at 6 p.m.
“When they dominate up front, it makes it real easy for the linebacker to make their fits and get their reads,” Holloway said. “Because the faster they play, the faster we can play, so when they’re dominating, we dominate.”
West Virginia’s five starting offensive linemen average 317.8 pounds, outweighing the four Madison defensive linemen — senior ends Ron’Dell Carter and John Daka and junior tackles Mike Greene and Adeeb Atariwa — which average 264.5 pounds for a 53.3-pound discrepancy.
JMU won’t be disadvantaged like that the rest of the year, and if its defensive line can withstand four quarters against West Virginia, it should be able to against any other opponent this fall. First-year Dukes coach Curt Cignetti said Carter played 65 of the 66 snaps the defense was on the field last week in Morgantown, W.Va., and that Greene and Atariwa rarely needed substitution.
Today, St. Francis, coached by former NFL offensive lineman Chris Villarrial, has an offensive line averaging 288 pounds, and he said those five starters for the Red Flash can’t make mistakes with Carter and company on the other side.
“They’re very well coached up front,” Villarrial said of JMU’s defense. “They’ve got a defensive end [Carter] that you’re probably going to be watching on Sundays — very quick, powerful off the ball — and another speed guy [Daka] on the other side. They’ve got two big guys [Greene and Atariwa] filling up the middle. They’re very sound.”
St. Francis managed just 2.2 yards per carry on 31 attempts in its season-opening win over Lehigh.
Another strong performance versus the run should catapult the Dukes into the FCS lead for rushing defense. Only St. Francis, which gave up a stingy 11 rushing yards to Lehigh, and No. 15 North Carolina A&T, which allowed 19 rushing yards last Saturday to Elon, have allowed fewer rushing yards than JMU.
Dukes defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, who last year held the same role at Maine, helped the Black Bears top the country in rushing defense (79.2 yards per game) in 2018.
“One thing [St. Francis] really harps on — and you can tell — they love to give it to their running backs,” Holloway said.
The Coaches: Cignetti and Villarrial share the same foundation.
Before spending 11 seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills, Villarrial played for Cignetti’s father, Frank Cignetti Sr., at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Now in his 10th season in charge at St. Francis, Villarrial is 41-59 at the school. He led the Red Flash to their only playoff appearance in school history after winning the NEC in 2016.
Following last week’s loss at West Virginia, Cignetti is 67-27 in his ninth year as a head coach while seeking his first win at the helm of the Dukes.
The Quarterbacks: Red Flash quarterback Jason Brown won his first game as a starter last week when St. Francis rallied to beat Lehigh 14-13.
“We kept telling ourselves on the offensive side once we get one [touchdown] to go, we’re going to win the game,” Brown said.
His 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver E.J. Jenkins got the Red Flash on the board and then Brown’s 35-yard scoring strike to tight end Terrell Johnson with 1:17 to play gave St. Francis the victory.
On the other end of the spectrum, JMU senior signal-caller Ben DiNucci has started 20 games in his college career. He threw for 156 yards and rushed for 36, but also threw a fourth-quarter interception that led to West Virginia’s separating touchdown last Saturday.
Series History: This isn’t St. Francis’ first appearance at Bridgeforth Stadium. The Red Flash made trips from Loretto, Pa., to Harrisonburg in three straight years from 2012 through 2014.
JMU is 3-0 against St. Francis and has outscored the Red Flash 117-49 in the series.
In Recent Home Openers: JMU has typically dominated weaker opponents.
The Dukes beat NEC foe Robert Morris 73-7 to open up last year’s home slate. Two seasons ago, East Tennessee State, a Southern Conference member, visited for a game Madison won 52-10, and in 2016 non-scholarship Pioneer League opponent Morehead State took an 80-7 loss to the Dukes.
JMU has won 16 straight home openers.
Can’t Miss Him: One reason Brown said he feels comfortable as a first-year starting quarterback is because of his 6-foot-8, 235-pound target and buddy Jenkins.
The two were teammates at Chancellor High School in Fredericksburg before reuniting at St. Francis.
“It’s good having E.J. to throw the ball to,” Brown said. “We’ve been playing together since middle school, so we have a lot of chemistry together.”
Cignetti said it’s difficult to replicate Jenkins’ size in practice.
“[JMU wide receivers] Riley Stapleton and Davis Patterson are two tall guys,” Cignetti said. “Now add about three or four inches to those guys and about 15 pounds because that’s what we’re dealing with here [today].”
Don’t Be Surprised If: Cignetti continues to use multiple running backs.
Solomon Vanhorse, Percy-Agyei-Obese, Jawon Hamilton and Austin Douglas all had at least five carries in the season opener.
“I thought it was important to get ‘em all involved,” Cignetti said. “They all deserved to play and they all did a number of good things. And when you run the ball and want to be successful running, you’ve got to have three or four backs ready to go every single game. We always did at Alabama.”
Vanhorse had 12 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown to lead the running backs.
“It’s still going good,” Vanhorse said of him and his backfield mates. “We’re a band of brothers, so we don’t stress on anything. Next person in, they’re going to ball. Next person in, they’re going to ball. We just motivate each other to keep on going.”
More Than Anything: Cignetti said he wants his team to correct the problems that plagued JMU — three turnovers, a blocked kick and four sacks allowed — in its loss at West Virginia in order for the Dukes to get their first win of 2019.
Dating back to last season, JMU has dropped two straight contests by a combined 10 points.
“Just hungry for that first win,” Holloway said. “Coming back from last year, we’re coming off a couple of tough losses, so it’s a mindset. It’s knowing that one week at a time, we’ve got to get a win.”
