No. 2-Seed JMU Begins Postseason With Monmouth

“You have to earn each game that you want to play,” James Madison senior safety Adam Smith said. “No game is guaranteed besides the one ahead of you.”

The second-seeded Dukes (11-1) begin their quest to reach Frisco, Texas for the third time in four seasons on Saturday when they welcome Monmouth (11-2) to Bridgeforth Stadium for a 1 p.m. second-round playoff contest.

“We understand what the history is,” JMU junior right tackle Liam Fornadel said. “We understand that there are national championships that have been won here and we understand that is our goal, ultimately, to get to Frisco and win that game. But I think our focus and mindset has been on the present and what we can do every day to continue to get better and continue to work to get ready for the next opponent that we have in front of us.”

If there was a lesson learned by members of the Dukes in last season’s stunning early exit from the playoffs, suffering a second-round loss at Colgate after winning the national title in 2016 and returning to the championship bout in 2017, it came in regard to the urgency and attentiveness each round before Texas requires.

“It’s a lot about mental toughness,” Smith said. “Last year we kind of let our guard down and thought we had the game won before we even went in there, so I think this year we’re approaching everything a little differently and understanding that each game is earned.”

First-year JMU coach Curt Cignetti explained to his players and reiterated throughout the week how dangerous the Big South champion Hawks can be.

JMU has the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 11 and Monmouth has the third longest in FCS, having won nine straight. The Hawks also have beaten two teams still alive in the playoff field – Albany and Kennesaw State – whereas JMU hasn’t faced any opponents this season that will play in the round of 16.

“I’ve been telling the team all along every game that we’ve played has become more important,” Cignetti said, “and that every play becomes more important. So this is really treated the same way.

“You don’t want to put too much pressure on the guys. They’ve got to fly around, have fun and enjoy playing and play the way we want to play, but [Monmouth has] played good competition, too. … So they’re not coming in here to lose, I can promise you that. They’re not coming into Bridgeforth Stadium to lose and we’re going to have to earn this game.”

Monmouth coach Kevin Callahan, the only headman in the program’s 27-year history, said his team’s overtime win over Albany, victory at Kennesaw State and close road loss at Montana earlier this season served as good preparation for his players ahead of the trip to Harrisonburg.

“That brings a level of confidence that they know they can be in tough games against outstanding opponents and that they can hold their own,” Callahan said.

Standout Hawks running back Pete Guerriero, who leads the FCS with 1,888 rushing yards to go along with 17 rushing scores, said: “We’re coming to win this Saturday.”

Fornadel, Smith and their teammates all agree as long as JMU’s approach and level of execution stays the same, they feel good about their chances to play in January.

The Dukes have won their last five games by an average margin of 31.8 points.

“I don’t think we change anything,” JMU senior quarterback Ben DiNucci said. “I think we keep doing exactly what we’ve been doing, and the teams that get hot in December are the ones that keep winning and keep playing, and we’re looking to do that here in these next few weeks.”

The Coaches: Callahan can recall the days not long after he accepted the job to start the Monmouth football program in August of 1992.

“There wasn’t a field to play on,” he said. “There wasn’t a football. There was nothing. Monmouth had never had football, so it really was starting from the beginning. We started as a non-scholarship program, so recruiting was challenging and there was a lot of hurdles we had to overcome, but I felt all along that Monmouth had the potential to be an FCS playoff team.”

He navigated the program’s inception, and then a move from the Northeast Conference to the Big South earlier this decade. Monmouth won for the first time ever in the postseason last Saturday with its 44-27 victory over Holy Cross. Overall, Callahan is 163-123 in his head-coaching career.

While Callahan has stayed put in one place for 27 years, Cignetti has coached at seven different schools – Temple, Pittsburgh, N.C. State, Alabama, Indiana (Pa.), Elon and JMU, with the last three all in the head-coaching position – during that span.

Cignetti is 78-27 in nine seasons as a head coach, leading a team to the playoffs for the sixth time.

The Quarterbacks: DiNucci was the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year and Monmouth senior signal-caller Kenji Bahar was the Big South Offensive Player of the Year.

During the regular season, DiNucci completed 70 percent of his throws for 2,552 yards and 22 touchdowns compared to only four interceptions to go along with four rushing scores. Bahar has a 65 percent completion rate and has thrown for 3,511 yards and 29 touchdowns compared to eight interceptions to go along with four rushing scores.

“They have a great quarterback,” Smith said, “probably the most accurate we’ve played all year with a great arm, so I think that’ll be a challenge this week.”

Series History: JMU and Monmouth have never met before so Saturday’s contest marks the first between the two sides.

The Dukes and Hawks will play in the future, though. The Daily News-Record reported Sunday the two programs have signed a home-and-home series for 2024 in Harrisonburg and 2025 in New Jersey.

Connections Aplenty: When Dukes defensive end Ron’Dell Carter chases Bahar, he’ll by trying to sack his childhood buddy.

Carter said he and Bahar played youth football together, and that is just one of many connections between players on the two sides. Carter played at Long Reach High in Maryland, just south of Baltimore.

Monmouth junior safety Anthony Budd, a Good Counsel product, said he knows fellow former Good Counsel standouts and current JMU freshman defensive end Jalen Green, freshman linebacker Julio Ayamel and freshman running back Latrele Palmer as well as Dukes cornerback Wesley McCormick, a Maryland native.

Good Counsel is a Catholic league power located in Olney, Md. - just northwest of Washington, D.C.

“We won a lot of games together – me, Julio, Latrele and Jalen Green,” Budd said. “And it’s going to be real fun to play against them for once.”

Fornadel, a New Jersey native and former Don Bosco Prep standout, said he played against many of Monmouth’s players in high schools and played with Hawks offensive lineman Tyler Williams, who also went to Don Bosco Prep.

Solidifying The Secondary: Budd and Smith are the stabilizers for their respective defensive backfields.

Budd, a first-team All-Big South selection, leads Monmouth with five interceptions. Smith, an All-CAA first-team choice, leads JMU with six interceptions, which includes five in the last six games.

“I definitely started slow,” Smith said. “I liked that I was able to pick it up later on in the season, but a lot of the credit goes to the defensive line and linebackers. Those are the guys causing wreckage back there and causing the quarterback to make bad decisions.”

Don’t Be Surprised If: Dukes wide receiver Brandon Polk becomes just the second receiver in the team’s history to eclipse 1,000 yards.

Polk made 55 grabs for 979 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season. David McLeod (1,207 yards in 1993) is the only receiver in JMU history to have more yards in a single season than Polk.

More Than Anything: Smith said JMU’s defense must slow Guerriero in order to slow Monmouth’s offense, which averages 36.9 points per game, to win the game and advance to the quarterfinals.

“I think our approach is we try to stop the run first and force them to pass the ball,” Smith said. “That’s been the approach for just about every game and if we can stop the run and force ‘em to throw, maybe [Bahar] makes some bad decisions. Hopefully we can capitalize on those.”