Extra Point: Semifinal Recap - Turnovers Tell the Story
12/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - With all the coach speak and rhetoric I am privileged to hear on a weekly basis, three clich??s take the cake.
First, the famous: "We are just taking things one game at a time." Yea, right. Everyone has at least one game circled in red when the season begins. Next, a classic: "We are going to give 110 percent." I'm not even going to touch that fallacy.
Finally, there's the often accurate: "The team that makes the least mistakes will win the game." Both of this weekend's semifinal games proved at least one clich?? can ring true.
Montana and James Madison combined to score seven touchdowns off turnovers, and the ability of the defense to force mistakes has the Grizzlies and Dukes meeting for the national championship Friday night in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Montana needed the turnovers early, because the Grizzlies did not play a great first half. The offense could not find its rhythm of past weeks, and Sam Houston State marched down the field three times against the Montana defense. The Grizzlies had almost 100 fewer yards on offense, and recorded just four first downs. But two game-changing interceptions by Tuff Harris propelled the Griz to a 14-6 edge at the break.
After the first four possessions resulted in punts, Sam Houston State marched inside the Montana 10 with a mix of passing and running. On third down, Tuff Harris stepped in front of Dustin Long's pass at the goal line and returned the ball all the way to the Sam Houston State 25. Montana cashed in on the next play when Craig Ochs threw a touchdown pass to Willie Walden for the Grizzlies' initial first down of the game and, more significantly, a 7-0 lead.
Sam Houston State was hardly finished. Two of the next three Bearkat drives resulted in field goals, and the Bearkat defense continued to stifle the Grizzly attack and forced three more punts.
The Bearkats had the ball with 3:22 left in the first half with a chance to take the lead going into the break. That was until Harris, who had just two interceptions all season, made his second pick and second big return of the first half. Harris' interception and subsequent 34-yard return put Montana inside the Bearkat five. The Grizzlies capitalized again when Ochs hit Tate Hancock with a four-yard pass with 1:25 left in the half.
Montana forced two more turnovers in the second half, but might not have even needed them. The Grizzlies dominated play on both sides of the ball in the final 30 minutes. Ochs threw his third touchdown pass of the day early in the third quarter to make the score 21-6. Sam Houston State moved into Montana territory again, but Dustin Dlouhy sacked Long and forced a fumble at the 41. Six plays and just over two minutes later, Lex Hilliard jetted into the endzone and the Griz lead ballooned to 28-6. Montana was never seriously challenged from there and went on to the 34-13 win.
Forcing four turnovers was just part of the great day turned in by the Montana defense. The unit that gets better and better seemingly every week pressured Long all day. Montana sacked the Payton finalist six times, equaling the number of total sacks the Bearkats allowed in the first 13 games. Dlouhy had two sacks and Mike Murphy tallied three. Though Long threw for 375 yards, Montana stopped the running game and played great defense all day in its own territory. Three of the four Sam Houston State turnovers came in Montana territory, and two of those miscues occurred inside the 10 yard line.
Without turnovers, James Madison and William & Mary might have combined for about 100 points. The offenses combined for more than 800 yards, but the timely plays by the opportunistic Dukes' defense made the difference.
James Madison marched 73 yards in just 2:28 to open the game with a 27-yard touchdown run by Raymond Hines and earn an early 7-0 edge. After an exchange of punts, a William & Mary team with just seven regular season turnovers began to treat the ball like a hot potato.
William & Mary's Jonathan Shaw fumbled a punt at his own 25, and JMU capitalized quickly when Justin Rascati found a wide open Casime Harris for a 19-yard touchdown. On the next Tribe possession, JMU's Clint Kent intercepted Lang Campbell and wove his way through the Tribe for a 69-yard "pick-six" and a 21-0 lead.
In the second quarter and early in the third, Campbell showed why he's a Payton finalist. The quarterback from Winchester, VA completed 17 consecutive passes, and led the Tribe to two touchdowns and two field goals to close within one point, 21-20, at halftime. When Campbell found Dominique Thompson for a score from seven yards out the Tribe grabbed a 26-21 advantage and all the momentum had swung.
The momentum, and the lead, changed hands in a measly 37 seconds. After the offense struggled through the second quarter, James Madison used two huge plays to regain the advantage. Maurice Fenner busted off a 29-yard run, and Rascati lofted a perfect pass to a diving D.D. Boxley for a 34-yard score and 27-26 lead with 11:00 left in the third quarter.
With 19 minutes to go, the game had the makings of a shootout until the end. But the James Madison defense had its own ideas. Trey Townsend forced a fumble by Tribe running back Jon Smith, and Kent recovered the pigskin at the William & Mary 48. Eight rushes and two complete passes later, the Dukes scored again to claim a 34-26 edge. On the next William & Mary offensive play, James Madison's Brandon Beach got to Campbell and forced a fumble inside the Tribe 20. Rascati capitalized with a 13-yard score to Antoinne Bolton to lift the Dukes advantage to 41-26.
From there, James Madison put the game away with a devastating running attack. The Dukes' offensive line pounded the William & Mary front on a 15-play, 58- yard drive that took 8:36 off the clock and gave James Madison an insurmountable 48-26 lead. The Dukes scored 28 points off five Tribe turnovers to earn their ticket to Chattanooga with a 48-34 victory in Williamsburg.
GAME NOTES
James Madison 48, William & Mary 34
Player of the Game: Justin Rascati, James Madison quarterback Rascati isn't called on to make 30 completions a game, but he makes big plays when the Dukes need them. The transfer from Louisville completed 11-of-14 passes for 143 yards and three scores, and was not sacked or intercepted once. Rascati made a perfect throw for a 34-yard touchdown pass to D.D. Boxley to give JMU a 27-26 third-quarter lead.
Turning Point: Maurice Fenner ran for 29 yards on the first play after the Dukes fell behind for the first time. Rascati's pass to Boxley stands out because it gave JMU the lead for good, but Fenner's run is what really changed the momentum. The frenzied William & Mary fans were quieted by Fenner's scamper, and a three and out in their own territory could have fractured the confidence of a Dukes team that had already allowed 26 straight points. Instead, Fenner's run rejuvenated the Dukes and JMU never looked back.
Also of Interest: James Madison became the first team in I-AA history to advance to the title game by winning three road games. The Dukes defeated Lehigh and Furman by identical 14-13 scores in the first two rounds.
William & Mary is the final seeded team eliminated from the tournament. For the first time since the NCAA went to a four-seed format in 2001, no seeded team made it to Chattanooga.
The Dukes avenged an earlier home loss to the Tribe. William & Mary defeated James Madison, 27-24, on Nov. 13.
Campbell finished the game 30-of-39 for 315 yards and three touchdowns, along with the one interception.
James Madison played with its top three running backs healthy for the first time since early in the season. Fenner led the way with 117 yards on 22 carries, while Hines ran for 57 on 11 carries and Alvin Banks had 30 yards on eight carries.
Montana 34, Sam Houston State 13
Player of the Game: The Montana Grizzlies defense
Craig Ochs continued a month-long run as the best player in I-AA. And you could make a case for singling out Harris because of the two interceptions. But this was supposed to be a shootout, and scoring 34 points did not come as a surprise. Holding the potent Bearkats offense to just 13 points is something special. Montana's defensive line hounded Long all game, the front seven shut down the run, and the secondary kept SHSU's receivers from breaking big gainers. The Grizzlies have faced I-AA's best quarterbacks all season, and the defense has matured from the competition.
Turning Point: Harris' second interception and return inside the five-yard line really sucked the life out of the Bearkats and gave Montana a huge boost going into halftime. The first pick led to a 14-point swing, but SHSU recovered and still played well for a quarter and a half after the interception. If Sam Houston State could have driven and scored, or even just went into halftime down by a single point, who knows what would have happened. It had to be disheartening for the Bearkats to play well in the first half and still trail, 14-6, at the break. Montana came out strong in the second half, and by the end of the third quarter was on its way to putting the game away.
Also of Interest: Montana advances to the national championship game for the fifth time in the last 10 seasons. Montana won the title in 1995 and 2001, and lost in the national championship game in 1996 and 2000. Montana's five appearances in the title game are the fourth-most for a I-AA program, eclipsed by only Georgia Southern (8), Youngstown State (6) and Marshall (6).
Ochs continued his amazing playoff run. In three postseason games, Ochs has completed 65-of-91 passes for nine touchdowns and only one interception. During the Grizzlies current six-game win streak, Ochs is 131-of-176 (74 percent) with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. Against the Bearkats, he also led all rushers with 61 yards.
Like James Madison, Montana avenged an earlier loss. The Grizzlies fell, 41-29, at Sam Houston State on Sept. 18.
Dustin Long completed 35-of-53 passes for 375 yards for the Bearkats. He finished the season with 4,588 yards passing.
A semifinal and Washington-Grizzly Stadium record 23,607 fans watched the Grizzlies advance to Chattanooga.
First, the famous: "We are just taking things one game at a time." Yea, right. Everyone has at least one game circled in red when the season begins. Next, a classic: "We are going to give 110 percent." I'm not even going to touch that fallacy.
Finally, there's the often accurate: "The team that makes the least mistakes will win the game." Both of this weekend's semifinal games proved at least one clich?? can ring true.
Montana and James Madison combined to score seven touchdowns off turnovers, and the ability of the defense to force mistakes has the Grizzlies and Dukes meeting for the national championship Friday night in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Montana needed the turnovers early, because the Grizzlies did not play a great first half. The offense could not find its rhythm of past weeks, and Sam Houston State marched down the field three times against the Montana defense. The Grizzlies had almost 100 fewer yards on offense, and recorded just four first downs. But two game-changing interceptions by Tuff Harris propelled the Griz to a 14-6 edge at the break.
After the first four possessions resulted in punts, Sam Houston State marched inside the Montana 10 with a mix of passing and running. On third down, Tuff Harris stepped in front of Dustin Long's pass at the goal line and returned the ball all the way to the Sam Houston State 25. Montana cashed in on the next play when Craig Ochs threw a touchdown pass to Willie Walden for the Grizzlies' initial first down of the game and, more significantly, a 7-0 lead.
Sam Houston State was hardly finished. Two of the next three Bearkat drives resulted in field goals, and the Bearkat defense continued to stifle the Grizzly attack and forced three more punts.
The Bearkats had the ball with 3:22 left in the first half with a chance to take the lead going into the break. That was until Harris, who had just two interceptions all season, made his second pick and second big return of the first half. Harris' interception and subsequent 34-yard return put Montana inside the Bearkat five. The Grizzlies capitalized again when Ochs hit Tate Hancock with a four-yard pass with 1:25 left in the half.
Montana forced two more turnovers in the second half, but might not have even needed them. The Grizzlies dominated play on both sides of the ball in the final 30 minutes. Ochs threw his third touchdown pass of the day early in the third quarter to make the score 21-6. Sam Houston State moved into Montana territory again, but Dustin Dlouhy sacked Long and forced a fumble at the 41. Six plays and just over two minutes later, Lex Hilliard jetted into the endzone and the Griz lead ballooned to 28-6. Montana was never seriously challenged from there and went on to the 34-13 win.
Forcing four turnovers was just part of the great day turned in by the Montana defense. The unit that gets better and better seemingly every week pressured Long all day. Montana sacked the Payton finalist six times, equaling the number of total sacks the Bearkats allowed in the first 13 games. Dlouhy had two sacks and Mike Murphy tallied three. Though Long threw for 375 yards, Montana stopped the running game and played great defense all day in its own territory. Three of the four Sam Houston State turnovers came in Montana territory, and two of those miscues occurred inside the 10 yard line.
Without turnovers, James Madison and William & Mary might have combined for about 100 points. The offenses combined for more than 800 yards, but the timely plays by the opportunistic Dukes' defense made the difference.
James Madison marched 73 yards in just 2:28 to open the game with a 27-yard touchdown run by Raymond Hines and earn an early 7-0 edge. After an exchange of punts, a William & Mary team with just seven regular season turnovers began to treat the ball like a hot potato.
William & Mary's Jonathan Shaw fumbled a punt at his own 25, and JMU capitalized quickly when Justin Rascati found a wide open Casime Harris for a 19-yard touchdown. On the next Tribe possession, JMU's Clint Kent intercepted Lang Campbell and wove his way through the Tribe for a 69-yard "pick-six" and a 21-0 lead.
In the second quarter and early in the third, Campbell showed why he's a Payton finalist. The quarterback from Winchester, VA completed 17 consecutive passes, and led the Tribe to two touchdowns and two field goals to close within one point, 21-20, at halftime. When Campbell found Dominique Thompson for a score from seven yards out the Tribe grabbed a 26-21 advantage and all the momentum had swung.
The momentum, and the lead, changed hands in a measly 37 seconds. After the offense struggled through the second quarter, James Madison used two huge plays to regain the advantage. Maurice Fenner busted off a 29-yard run, and Rascati lofted a perfect pass to a diving D.D. Boxley for a 34-yard score and 27-26 lead with 11:00 left in the third quarter.
With 19 minutes to go, the game had the makings of a shootout until the end. But the James Madison defense had its own ideas. Trey Townsend forced a fumble by Tribe running back Jon Smith, and Kent recovered the pigskin at the William & Mary 48. Eight rushes and two complete passes later, the Dukes scored again to claim a 34-26 edge. On the next William & Mary offensive play, James Madison's Brandon Beach got to Campbell and forced a fumble inside the Tribe 20. Rascati capitalized with a 13-yard score to Antoinne Bolton to lift the Dukes advantage to 41-26.
From there, James Madison put the game away with a devastating running attack. The Dukes' offensive line pounded the William & Mary front on a 15-play, 58- yard drive that took 8:36 off the clock and gave James Madison an insurmountable 48-26 lead. The Dukes scored 28 points off five Tribe turnovers to earn their ticket to Chattanooga with a 48-34 victory in Williamsburg.
GAME NOTES
James Madison 48, William & Mary 34
Player of the Game: Justin Rascati, James Madison quarterback Rascati isn't called on to make 30 completions a game, but he makes big plays when the Dukes need them. The transfer from Louisville completed 11-of-14 passes for 143 yards and three scores, and was not sacked or intercepted once. Rascati made a perfect throw for a 34-yard touchdown pass to D.D. Boxley to give JMU a 27-26 third-quarter lead.
Turning Point: Maurice Fenner ran for 29 yards on the first play after the Dukes fell behind for the first time. Rascati's pass to Boxley stands out because it gave JMU the lead for good, but Fenner's run is what really changed the momentum. The frenzied William & Mary fans were quieted by Fenner's scamper, and a three and out in their own territory could have fractured the confidence of a Dukes team that had already allowed 26 straight points. Instead, Fenner's run rejuvenated the Dukes and JMU never looked back.
Also of Interest: James Madison became the first team in I-AA history to advance to the title game by winning three road games. The Dukes defeated Lehigh and Furman by identical 14-13 scores in the first two rounds.
William & Mary is the final seeded team eliminated from the tournament. For the first time since the NCAA went to a four-seed format in 2001, no seeded team made it to Chattanooga.
The Dukes avenged an earlier home loss to the Tribe. William & Mary defeated James Madison, 27-24, on Nov. 13.
Campbell finished the game 30-of-39 for 315 yards and three touchdowns, along with the one interception.
James Madison played with its top three running backs healthy for the first time since early in the season. Fenner led the way with 117 yards on 22 carries, while Hines ran for 57 on 11 carries and Alvin Banks had 30 yards on eight carries.
Montana 34, Sam Houston State 13
Player of the Game: The Montana Grizzlies defense
Craig Ochs continued a month-long run as the best player in I-AA. And you could make a case for singling out Harris because of the two interceptions. But this was supposed to be a shootout, and scoring 34 points did not come as a surprise. Holding the potent Bearkats offense to just 13 points is something special. Montana's defensive line hounded Long all game, the front seven shut down the run, and the secondary kept SHSU's receivers from breaking big gainers. The Grizzlies have faced I-AA's best quarterbacks all season, and the defense has matured from the competition.
Turning Point: Harris' second interception and return inside the five-yard line really sucked the life out of the Bearkats and gave Montana a huge boost going into halftime. The first pick led to a 14-point swing, but SHSU recovered and still played well for a quarter and a half after the interception. If Sam Houston State could have driven and scored, or even just went into halftime down by a single point, who knows what would have happened. It had to be disheartening for the Bearkats to play well in the first half and still trail, 14-6, at the break. Montana came out strong in the second half, and by the end of the third quarter was on its way to putting the game away.
Also of Interest: Montana advances to the national championship game for the fifth time in the last 10 seasons. Montana won the title in 1995 and 2001, and lost in the national championship game in 1996 and 2000. Montana's five appearances in the title game are the fourth-most for a I-AA program, eclipsed by only Georgia Southern (8), Youngstown State (6) and Marshall (6).
Ochs continued his amazing playoff run. In three postseason games, Ochs has completed 65-of-91 passes for nine touchdowns and only one interception. During the Grizzlies current six-game win streak, Ochs is 131-of-176 (74 percent) with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. Against the Bearkats, he also led all rushers with 61 yards.
Like James Madison, Montana avenged an earlier loss. The Grizzlies fell, 41-29, at Sam Houston State on Sept. 18.
Dustin Long completed 35-of-53 passes for 375 yards for the Bearkats. He finished the season with 4,588 yards passing.
A semifinal and Washington-Grizzly Stadium record 23,607 fans watched the Grizzlies advance to Chattanooga.
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