Richmond Recap

First things first, we'll cover the Dudzik controversy, since that's what all the rest of the media wants to cover. Thorpe was named the starter, but Dudzik came in during the second quarter and did indeed provide a spark on offense. Then, after he had already driven for a touchdown and was possibly on his way to a second one, he went to throw the ball away. But, when he planted his foot, something went wrong. A stress fracture that had previously bothered him finally gave way to a break. He stayed in through the next couple plays, but then hobbled off to the locker room. This injury, for awhile, seemed to get into the heads of the JMU team as it took awhile to get back into the swing of things, but was also showed why there has been a "QB battle" going on for so long. Dudzik had been struggling with a stress fracture for quite some time. Drew knew it and the coaches knew it. Dudzik had also suffered a concussion during the Spring Game and got another minor concussion during the Hofstra game. That's two fairly serious injuries that were on the brink of getting much worse.

Knowing that your "game-changing" quarterback that the media and fans had proclaimed the #1 was one bad step or hit from going down for the season...what would you do as a coach? Choice one: play that partially-injured quarterback until he gets fully injured, then have a redshirt-freshman QB step in with absolutely no experience. Choice two: rotate QB's to keep the offense upbeat with Drew and also get Thorpe some experience in case the worst happens. Plus, resting Dudzik every other drive and not having him play for long stretches at a time would have helped extend the time that he could play with the stress fracture. The safer choice is obviously two. This wasn't planning for the future; this was covering your bases for this year so that if Dudzik goes down, Thorpe has had in-game experience to go off of.

Before anyone says that Dudzik was able to step in during the Montana playoff game and play without any experience...you've got that last part wrong. Drew had been getting playing time during garbage time of games since the VMI game of 2007. He had been the backup to Landers for two full years and had played plenty of time. To expect the same thing out of Thorpe with no experience would have been ridiculous. And it wouldn't have just been a couple games in the playoffs with potentially a max of 6 quarters left in the season, it would have been for almost a whole season.

Not only that, but even though Dudzik may have had the "intangibles," Thorpe still had stats close to matching him and had thrown less interceptions coming into the Richmond game (stats according to ESPN.com before the game). He had a better completion percentage and had better rushing stats.

Thorpe: 158.8 efficiency
Passing - 13-19 (68.4%); 189 yards. 1 TD and 1 INT
Rushing - 43 attempts; 225 yards (5.2 avg); 2 TD

Dudzik: 162.4 efficiency
Passing - 25-44 (56.8%); 404 yards, 5 TD and 2 INT
Rushing - 33 attempts; 155 yards (4.7 avg); 1 TD

And for those wondering why Mickey wouldn't say whether Dudzik would have played the end of the game or are frustrated with him not admitting that Dudzik was playing better...think about it from Thorpe's point of view. You just fumbled the ball on the six yard line that would've given your team the lead and potentially the win over the #1 team in the nation. And then your coach goes into the press conference and tells everyone that your team was in a worse position with you at QB and you put the team at a disadvantage. Even if Mickey believed that stuff to be true, it would be awful for him to say that. Coach Matthews may not always say the right thing, but I think he made a good decision by saying what he did, as well as keeping Thorpe away from the "press" who is obviously out to hang him high and dry. Now is not the time to crucify Thorpe and call the season over. Now is the time to rally around OUR quarterback.

He had surgery Monday morning at UVA that inserted a screw into his foot. Everything seems to have gone well and he will potentially be back in four to six weeks.

So now onto the game...

The defense during the first quarter didn't have much of an answer for Ward and the Richmond offense. The Spider receivers were getting some space and Ward was getting the ball in perfectly to them. In the first quarter, Richmond racked up 132 yards of offense and two touchdowns. Then something for the Dukes' defense seemed to shift into gear. In the remaining three quarters Richmond would gain only another 132 yards and one touchdown. JMU also got two sacks on Ward, who only had gotten sacked once so far this season. Sam Daniels and Arthur Moats had sacks of eight and nine yards, respectively. JMU also held a Richmond offense to only 21 who had previously scored 24 points at Duke, 16 points at Delaware, 47 against Hofstra, and 38 against VMI. It was also the first time this year that Richmond had been held two consecutive quarters without scoring. For a defense with such a young secondary it was very impressive. Jakarie Jackson had a great first game as a true freshman starter and is looking to be a great addition to this team. He could easily be an All-American in the coming years.

Offensively, we are still rather spotty. Thorpe started the game very well, coming out and making big plays. He made two long pass plays for first downs: a 17 yard pass to McCarter and a 43 yard pass to Noble after a costly holding penalty. But the drive then stalled out and Dixon Wright came in to knock in a 42 yard field goal (after a bad start to the season, Dixon has been money). The next drive was set back by an illegal blocking penalty and a sack on Thorpe. Justin then rushed for four yards to get some space for Goff to punt as a third down and 30 to go seemed a little tough to overcome. This gave Richmond great field position who quickly capitalized with a touchdown to make it 14-3.

After a couple more unsuccessful drives by both teams, Dudzik was put in at QB along with Griff Yancey moving back onto the offensive side of the ball at tailback. They were immediately successful and Drew passed his way to a touchdown with a couple bombs to Acker and Rock. The JMU defense then stopped the Richmond offense on the Spider's 28. D.J. Bryant was then able to block the punt, which fell right into the hands of Acker who ran it in for the touchdown, giving the Dukes the lead (17-14).

Dudzik's injury occured during the first drive of the second half. Thorpe then seemed to have the pressure hit him at once as he lost focus and threw an interception while jumping over one his own lineman lying on the ground. JMU's defense was up to the challenge though and stopped the Spiders at the 24 and they missed the 41 yard field goal.

The fourth quarter was where it really fell apart for Thorpe and the Dukes. Less than three minutes into the final quarter Thorpe threw his second interception (third of the year). Richmond took that momentum and drove down the field and took the lead, 21-17.

Then Thorpe seemed to have that killer instinct take over. He became the leader we all hoped he'd be. Aided by Griff and Sullivan's running, the set of three ran the ball down Richmond's throat to their 24. Thorpe then completed an 18 yard pass to Julius Graves. Thorpe from the six then went to rush the ball on first down and goal. He went to his left, saw the hole close, backed up and tried down the middle, holding the ball one-handed out to the side away from his body (a cardinal sin, Michael Vick-esque move). Richmond defender Parker saw this and slapped it out of Justin's hand. McBride fell on it to basically seal the win for Richmond.

This was not an unfamiliar feeling for the Dukes. It's actually almost exactly what happened in the first round of the 2007 playoffs at Appalachian State. And earlier that year when Landers threw an interception at the end of the Richmond game to ruin any chance of a comeback...or when Yancey fumbled with 5 minutes left at Delaware while driving down the field for the winning score. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Oct. 15, 2005 at UMass to find an FCS game JMU has lost where we also didn't lose the turnover battle (both teams had 2). Turnovers are JMU's weakness especially late in big games. The key for Thorpe, and was for Landers, Griff, and Sullivan, will be to learn from his mistakes and learn to protect the ball over everything else.

Even though JMU is now 2-3, there is a lot of good that came out of this game. JMU took the #1 team in the nation and defending national champions to the very end and had a great chance to win. Griff looked great back at tailback and Noble/Acker looked great running some routes as "inside" receivers and catching passes for decent gains. Coach Matthews has stated that because the run was so effective at the end of the Richmond game that JMU will probably run more than they have so far this year, so this group of backs and short-route receivers will be key. Thorpe also showed flashes of greatness to the point where if he can make some better decisions in taking care of the ball he can be an outstanding quarterback. Our defense also looked outstanding after the first quarter with a lot of young guys complimented by our All-American defensive line. The year is not over and we still have a chance at making the playoffs. Keep in mind this is the youngest team JMU has had since 2001, so they're just going to get better and better as the year goes on. Now is not the time to give up on the Dukes. Homecoming week is here and it's time to get excited and show your purple pride!

Windbreaker photos
Game stats