Offense Peaks With No Punts

That was message James Madison left on film for its future foes as the Dukes rolled up a program-playoff record 623 yards of total offense, never punted and had six different offensive players account for touchdowns in their 66-21 romp of visiting Monmouth in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.

“I feel like it’d be hard for a team to have as many good players that can match up with our [receivers and tight ends] and then have the front seven to stop our running game,” Dukes junior wide receiver Jake Brown said. “That’s hard to find, so as long as we do what we’re supposed to do and make the plays when our number is called, I think we can play like that every time we’re on the field.”

Brown was one of eight different receivers to catch at least one pass while four running backs along with quarterback Ben DiNucci combined to help the team rush for 332 yards against the Hawks.

It was the fourth 300-yard rushing performance for JMU this season and the eighth time at least seven different receivers caught a pass for the Dukes in a game. That led to the unit’s eighth 40-point performance of the year, the fourth time it’s scored at least 50 points this campaign and second time it’s tallied more than 60 points this year.

JMU’s 44.8 points per game leads the FCS.

“I think the biggest thing for us is we want to spread the field both horizontally and vertically,” first-year offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery said. “And we’ve got playmakers on the outside, so if [the defense is] going to sit in there and try to take away the run, we’ve got to make plays on the outside. There were some things there where they started to cover down and take some things away in the passing game and we were able to run the ball, but our running backs have done a great job all year.”

Brown said: “You’ve got to pick your poison.”

Junior running back Jawon Hamilton led the Dukes with 95 rushing yards and fellow junior running back Percy Agyei-Obese added 90 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns, giving him 18 rushing scores for the year. If Agyei-Obese can find the end zone four more times before the year ends, he’ll tie former running back Khalid Abdullah’s single-season school record for rushing touchdowns (22 in 2016).

Senior wide receiver Brandon Polk, who had a 49-yard scoring grab in the opening quarter, is closing in on the school’s single-season receiving record. Polk (1,062 yards) is 145 yards shy of the mark former wide receiver David McLeod (1,207 yards) set in 1993.

Montgomery’s most difficult task is creating opportunities to get the ball to all of his personnel, according to senior wide receiver Riley Stapleton.

“I can’t imagine how tough it is on him,” Stapleton, who made seven grabs for 87 yards against Monmouth, said. “Because we have playmakers that can play at any other school in the [Colonial Athletic Association] or in the country, so it’s probably definitely difficult on his behalf. But I think he does a great job of spreading the ball and getting guys in the right position to make plays. I think that was showcased" against Monmouth.

Hamilton agreed.

“Coach Montgomery has a great sense of what we can do,” Hamilton said. “So he knows that there are certain plays that we can do. Like I can break a long one or that there are plays that Percy does better, so I think he knows us now really well at this point of the season and how to feed us.”

Montgomery said it is a challenge to get as many running backs and receivers involved in the plan as JMU did versus Monmouth, but that he tries to each week.

The offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Montgomery said DiNucci plays a role in thinning the defense and distributing touches, too.

DiNucci, the CAA Offensive Player of the Year, has been responsible for 30 total touchdowns compared to only four interceptions this season.

“He’s got all the talent in the world,” Montgomery said. “And the biggest thing in spring and in fall camp was just taking care of the football, and making good decisions. It was just let the offense come to you.

“I felt like after we watched all the film from last year that maybe he tried to do too much at times and so it’s just taking what they give you. The thing is he’s good enough with his legs that he can get out of some trouble because not everything is going to be there. All the pass plays aren’t going to be just the way we draw them up, so he’s got to make some plays and he’s done a good job with that and it’s a big reason why he’s had success.”

Montgomery, Stapleton, Hamilton and Brown all added JMU’s offensive line has stabilized pass protection and provided dominant blocking to setup runs throughout the fall.

And for all of those reasons there was no panic when Monmouth scored first or took a 14-7 lead.

“We try not to worry about what anyone is doing beside our side of the ball,” DiNucci said. “So our biggest thing is knowing whenever we get out there that we’ve got to try to score points to keep the chains moving, and we didn’t punt the entire game, so I think anytime that happens you’re probably doing a pretty good job as an offense.”