Landers takes over down the stretch to help Dukes advance

By John Packett

Published: November 29, 2008

HARRISONBURG -- James Madison quarterback Rodney Landers wasn't prepared to play his final game in a losing cause at home.

So the offensive player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association made sure the top-seeded Dukes will live to see another day in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Landers capped another superb effort when he carried tacklers into the end zone on a 6-yard run with 3:21 left that gave JMU enough of a cushion to withstand a final push by Wofford in the closing minutes.

Thanks in large part to the running and passing of Landers, the Dukes held off the Terriers 38-35 in a first-round game yesterday for their 11th straight win before 12,826 at Bridgeforth Stadium.

JMU will meet fellow CAA member Villanova (10-2) on Saturday in a quarterfinal game here.

"They have an array of weapons, but the difference-maker in the game was their quarterback," said Wofford coach Mike Ayers.

Landers ran for 166 yards and the game-clinching touchdown. The 6-1, 220-pound senior also passed for 126 yards and three scores. Just another day at the office for JMU's offensive sparkplug.

"At the end of the game, I just like to take over, if I can," said Landers, who teamed with tailback Eugene Holloman (116 yards on 19 carries) to account for all of the 65 yards on the final drive.

"At the end of games, I want to make plays."

TD instead of field goal: The decisive play in this one came on third and goal. Had the Dukes (11-1) not scored at that juncture, they likely would have gone for a field goal, which would have given them a six-point advantage instead of 10. That would have allowed Wofford to take the lead with a TD.

But Landers scurried around the right side, broke a couple of tackles and lunged across the goal line with defenders hanging onto him.

"It was a stretch play for us," Landers said. "Try to create some seams up the field. It was a play that allows me to make reads and try and get vertical.

"I was just fortunate enough to have some momentum. I saw the goal line, and my mindset was to get in the end zone. The drive before we had stalled and had to settle for a field goal, so I wanted to do whatever it took to get the touchdown."

Dave Stannard's PAT put the Dukes up 38-28, but the Terriers (9-3), runners-up in the Southern Conference, drove right down the field -- as they had most of the game -- and closed to three points on a 12-yard run by Mike Rucker with 1:02 left.

Wofford tried an onside kick, but the ball bounced to Bosco Williams. The wide receiver caught it at the Terriers' 39, and JMU ran out the final 62 seconds.

"We were lucky to come out with a victory," said Landers. "We needed this from a confidence standpoint and to establish ourselves as the No. 1 seed."

Close on fourth down: Before JMU's last scoring drive, Wofford had a fourth-and-6 from the Dukes' 40 and almost made it as halfback Dane Romero was stopped about 6 inches short as the measurement showed.

"They were going vertical with their edge guys when we started throwing the ball, so we were hoping to hit the crease up the middle," Ayers said. "We ended up a fraction short. [The spot] was not in our favor, I'll put it like that.

"In games like this, those guys [officials] are out there doing the best job they can do. We had our best guy carrying the ball, and I thought we had a shot. He gave great effort. If the spot is on the front foot, we make it. The guy [linesman] came running over and his right foot is down, then all of a sudden, he puts it on his left foot."

First-half advantage: After going three and out on their first series, the Dukes scored on their next four possessions to take a 28-14 halftime lead.

Landers had three TD passes in the opening half, including a fake-spike play that resulted in a 23-yard scoring strike to Rockeed McCarter :20 before intermission.

But the Terriers weren't deterred, coming back to even the score at 28 in the third quarter on a pair of short TD runs by Romero. Stannard's 24-yard field goal gave JMU a 31-28 edge early in the fourth period.

"Any time you don't turn the ball over and you don't get any penalties, it's very hard to beat a team," JMU coach Mickey Matthews said of Wofford, which had no turnovers and only two penalties for 10 yards.