The weather, the short week and the Boise State hangover all conspired to derail Virginia Tech’s season — and with it, perhaps Boise State’s national title hopes — Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg. Interestingly enough, however, is that the fatal blow in the Hokies’ 21-16 loss to James Madison was a shot of gamesmanship courtesy of JMU offensive coordinator Jeff Durden.
The Dukes opened their season Sept. 4 with an uninspiring 48-7 shellacking of FCS cream puff Morehead State. They looked sluggish, turned the ball over four times and appeared to be walking into another patented 45-0 drubbing at the hands of the Hokies.
JMU is no pushover, mind you. The Dukes took Maryland into overtime last year, won the 2004 I-AA national championship and are 63-26 since 2003. But the Hokies are like that Kanye West song — better, faster and stronger than the Dukes — so a lot of things have to fall into place for an FCS powerhouse like JMU to beat a BCS powerhouse like Virginia Tech.
That’s where Durden comes into the equation. These programs know each other well enough that there usually aren’t any surprises when they meet. But against Morehead State, Durden convinced JMU coach Mickey Matthews to dump the Pistol offense the Dukes have been running all spring and summer — the logic being that the Hokies would be caught off guard when JMU unveiled the Pistol in Blacksburg.
“Durden convinced me to go through the Morehead game and not show it,” Matthews told reporters following Saturday’s game. “We didn’t run the Pistol a down against Morehead. The plays we ran we only practiced for three days.”
Hence the sputtering JMU offense in Week 1. Hence the Pistol’s effectiveness Saturday against Bud Foster‘s young defense. Hence JMU getting the drop on big, bad Virginia Tech.
Ingenious.
“Obviously I didn’t tell Bud before the game we’d be in the Pistol,” Matthews deadpanned. “I have to ask him as time goes along if they prepared for the Pistol at all.”
The Dukes won this game for several reasons. They won the turnover battle 3-0. They allowed the Hokies only one touchdown on five trips inside the red zone. They received remarkable poise from senior quarterback Drew Dudzik. But most importantly, they waited for the perfect time to drop the hammer.
