Special Teams Kept JMU Alive Against Bison

FRISCO, Texas – Mike Houston didn’t do anything other than trust the unit that had been most reliable for him throughout Saturday’s FCS National Championship Game.

The second-year James Madison coach turned to his special teams to keep the Dukes’ title hopes alive.

“It was called by the coaches,” JMU freshman punter Harry O’Kelly said. “But, I was confident.

“I just kept asking the coaches to play it every time I went out to punt. It means a lot though because they trusted me and I trusted them.”

O’Kelly, the Australian native who entered the showdown against North Dakota State having already executed two fake punts earlier this season, was tasked with doing it again as all 19,090 screaming fans at Toyota Stadium were looking at him.

On a fourth-and-9 with the clock dwindling toward the 3-minute mark, O’Kelly took the long snap and broke to his left before using his Aussie Rules skill set to turn up the field for a 24-yard gain and first down.

“The opportunity arose and I wanted to give the offense a last chance at the game,” O’Kelly said. “I was fortunate in the end because the blocks were real good for me and I just did the easy part of running it.”

Houston said he was waiting for the correct situation to call on O’Kelly.

“We felt like we’d get that look from them,” Houston said. “As we worked that fake for the last couple of weeks, we saw it on the first punt that it was there. I just wanted to wait until the right time because you only get one shot at it.

“Fortunately, we had the opportunity right there, and [linebacker] Landan [Word] made a great block. [Linebacker] Brandon [Hereford] blocked down, Landan kicked it out, and Harry made the play.

“Gave our offense a chance to win the ball game right there.”

The Dukes’ dreams of back-to-back championship seasons were dashed a few plays later when the offense turned the ball over on downs, giving NDSU a 17-13 win.

But from start to finish on Saturday, positive plays provided by JMU’s specials teams like O’Kelly had, enabled the Dukes to stay in the game.

Defensive tackle Simeyon Robinson blocked NDSU’s field-goal attempt from the 38-yard line with 4:37 to play. If NDSU kicker Cam Pedersen converted the kick, the Bison would’ve taken a seven-point lead over the Dukes.

O’Kelly played a role in helping JMU control the battle of field position, too.

Before his fake punt, he booted the ball five times for 201 yards, flipping the field all five times and pinning NDSU inside its own 20 twice.

“I just go out there catch the ball and kick the ball,” O’Kelly said.

O’Kelly added that in the moment of his punts, he doesn’t think about changing the field position, but that it happens, which is very different from freshman punt returner D’Angelo Amos.

Amos returned four punts for 87 yards and had a long return of 37 yards. Amos fielded two punts on JMU’s side of the field and returned it into NDSU territory.

He said he is aware of the field position battle.

“We did know that the field position is big, especially in a game like this,” Amos said. “We need the field position and I feel like I did pretty good doing that.

“[Cornerbacks] Coach [Tripp] Weaver told me they were probably going to pin me like other teams do just with scheming, so just to get vertical, but of course, if we can run our regular returns then to just do that. But, really my job is to catch the ball and put our offense in good position to score.”

On a day when JMU’s offense committed two turnovers and only amassed 241 total yards and the defense allowed a 50-yard touchdown pass, it was the Dukes’ special teams that kept the team in the game.

Amos’ 37-yard punt return setup a field goal, the Dukes’ first points, to cut NDSU’s initial lead to 7-3.

“That’s what special teams does for our team,” Amos said. “If you look back at our games, we always make a big play most of the time and get the momentum especially when we’re struggling offensively or defensively.

“Special teams gives us that big jump to get us going.”