HARRISONBURG — It isn’t always about breaking the long one.

“Those fair catches and even like those little four- or five-yard punt returns are big,” James Madison senior punt returner and wide receiver John Miller said.

This past Saturday against Villanova, Miller was back in the lineup after an undisclosed injury sidelined him for the Dukes’ Sept. 30 contest at Delaware. The same injury limited him the week before against Maine and even though he was used some on offense, he was kept off the punt-return unit.

But, in JMU’s 30-8 win over the Wildcats, Miller returned five punts for 44 yards and helped the Dukes capture the battle of field position — proving he is as valuable on special teams as he is on offense.

Villanova punted eight times in the contest and JMU’s average starting field position was its own 35-yard line.

“He fielded every ball except for one shank there at the end of the game,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “And you don’t realize, when he fields the ball and it doesn’t hit the ground and roll, that’s 10 to 15 yards for the offense right there in averaging starting field position.

“And when he can return a ball 10 yards, that’s maybe 20 yards of field position you don’t really see as the average fan, but all those things add up.”

JMU will try to win the field-position battle again Saturday when it plays at in-state rival William & Mary. So far this season, JMU has had better averaging starting field position than its opponent in four of the six games. Both JMU and Delaware started at its own 30-yard line and East Carolina had a two-yard advantage in average starting field position.

In the two contests — Maine and Delaware — that Miller did not field a punt, the Dukes’ averaging starting field position was its own 29-yard line and its own 30-yard line, respectively.

Against the Blue Hens, the Dukes didn’t have a punt return yard and the offense started inside its own 30-yard line following three of the five times Delaware punted.

Against the Black Bears, the Dukes started inside their own 30-yard line after a punt on six different occasions.

When Miller was out with the injury, JMU used senior Terrence Alls and freshman D’Angelo Amos to return punts.

“Our coaches always stress to us that this is a game of field position,” Miller said. “And if I can’t return it and I don’t fair catch the ball, it’ll roll down to like the five-yard line. But if I do fair catch it, say, on the 10, that’s a big difference.

“Coach [Tripp] Weaver emphasizes it a lot.”

Weaver, the cornerbacks coach, works with the punt return unit as well.

Miller has 11 punt returns this season for 151 yards and a touchdown — the second of his career, which came on a 41-yard score in Week 2 against East Tennessee State. The first punt return touchdown Miller scored was on a 56-yard return last year against Central Connecticut State.

After that game, Central Connecticut State coach Pete Rossamondo called what Miller could in the return game “a Houdini Act.”

The field position tug-o-war doesn’t only fall on Miller, though. Houston said the other three special teams phases — punt, kickoff and kickoff return — play a role as well.

JMU punters Jeremiah McBride and Harry O’Kelly have combined to pin the Dukes’ opponents inside their own 20-yard line 10 times in 21 attempts. O’Kelly, the Australian native, has done it seven times in 13 tries and is currently second in the Colonial Athletic Association for punting, averaging 41.2 yards per kick.

“I was jotting down a couple of stats and things that stuck out to me from this past weekend,” Houston said. “One of our team goals is that we win the average starting field position each week. This past weekend, Villanova’s average starting field position was the 21-yard line. That means, on average, they had 80 yards to go each time they got the football. So, you’ve got the game a little in your favor to begin with.”