Postcard from Boca: JMU Defense Readies for ‘Razzle-Dazzle’ in Boca Raton Bowl

By Mike Barber
JMUSports.com correspondent

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If there’s one thing Western Kentucky’s offense is known for, it’s trick plays – a dizzying amalgamation of reverses, throw-backs and flea-flickers.


So going into Wednesday night’s Boca Raton Bowl, a game the Hilltoppers had two weeks to prepare for, the James Madison defense knows it needs to be on its toes.


“We’ve spent the last two weeks really preparing for everything,” defensive back Jacob Thomas said. “Just getting all the weird stuff that we’ve seen on film out there and seeing what defenses work against it. And trying to understand what situations they like to do that stuff.”


That has meant spending more time in practice this week in South Florida working against not only the gadget plays Western Kentucky has shown this season, but also preparing for all the possible permutations and variations of those plays .


“Being a high-powered and unorthodox offense, they do a lot of everything,” defensive lineman Khairi Mann’s said. “We’ve just been trying to prepare for everything. They can change things. We put ourselves in the toughest positions so when the time comes in the game, we’ll be able to execute.”


JMU coaches Bob Chesney said his staff expects the Hilltoppers to run at least one unusual play per quarter, usually on the opponent’s side of the 50-yard line, with a good opportunity for a fifth gadget call somewhere in the contest.


“We’re going to practice all their trick plays,” Chesney said. “But the one they’re going to run will be the one they haven’t shown us before.”


What Chesney and defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill have to guard against their defenders becoming so engrossed in and worried about possible trick plays that it slows down their execution every time.


Chesney, Manns and Thomas all agreed that a successful defense of any Hilltopper trickery comes down to trusting the defensive play calls and having each player perform their prescribed responsibilities, not trying to do more or anticipating a change .


“We can’t go looking for that play,” Chesney said. “We look for that play on every play, I think it slows you down. It will find you. That play will find you. And if you keep your eyes right and stay disciplined in your technique and do what you have to do it , you’ll be fine.”


Of course, a big part of the motivation for Western Kentucky running so many unusual play designs is to give opponents more to think about – and more to spend time preparing leading up to plays.


It has become the Hilltoppers’ offensive identity.


“We’re kind of a trick play team,” Western Kentucky coach Tyson Helton said. “You’ll probably see some of that tomorrow. Everyone knows that about us.


“Anytime you’re known as somebody who’s going to do some razzle-dazzle stuff, it makes people not cut into things as detailed because they’re like, ‘When’s that play coming?'”


JMU got a taste of what it’s like to face such an unusual and wide-open offense when they played Georgia Southern, coached by Helton’s brother, Clay. That matchup gives both sides insight into the other’s approach.


And for the Dukes, they took an important lesson from that loss to Georgia Southern.


“If a big play happens,” Thomas said. “Make sure it’s not a touchdown.”

 

A championship anniversary: Frank Ridgway and his son, Josh, sat poolside at the James Madison team hotel Tuesday, flipping through cellphone photos from the same date 20 years ago.

That day, JMU won its first FCS (formerly Division I-AA) national championship in a decisive 31–21 victory over Montana.

“We’ve never experienced anything like this, being at a national championship game,” said Frank, a 1980 JMU graduate. “It was a dream come true.”

Ridgways attended the 2004 national title game in Chattanooga, recalling the strong turnout of JMU fans, the poorly covered field, the stampede of fans storming the field after the Dukes won.

“That’s one of my earliest memories, honestly,” said Josh, who was just 8 years old at the time. “The whole year is such a core memory. And I remember the chaos in the hotel lobby after the game.”

In the jubilant and packed hotel lobby, Frank took a picture of Josh with then-JMU coach Mickey Matthews and the championship trophy. It is one of the many pictures Frank has on his mobile phone.

Another shows Josh tearing up a piece of the turf from the field. The Ridgways gave the grass a new home at their former farm in Short Pump, Va., where it presumably still grows.

Now, 20 years later, father and son have traveled to South Florida hoping to witness another first – the Dukes’ first bowl victory.

Pep in their step: As more and more JMU fans arrived in South Florida on Tuesday, the bowl held a community pep rally in Boca Raton. With hundreds of supporters of both teams gathered in the Mizner Park Amphitheater, the two schools’ bands, cheerleaders and dance teams went back and forth to entertain the crowd and then joined the fans for a march around the adjacent square.

JMU Director of Athletics Matt Roan even worked in a little good-natured trash talk, drawing cheers and laughs when he looked at Western Kentucky’s mascot and said, “I had no idea Big Red was so short.”