CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In this mountainous area, James Madison's Dukes seemed to play offense downhill last night.
With a veteran offensive line and two physical runners, JMU overpowered Montana during a 31-21 win in Division I-AA's 2004 championship game before 16,771 at Finley Stadium.
Madison (13-2) captured the national title despite four straight playoff games outside of its Harrisonburg home and gave the Atlantic 10 Conference its second straight championship. Delaware won the 2003 title.
Sophomore running back Maurice Fenner (164 rushing yards) led the Dukes on the ground with Alvin Banks (88 yards), another sophomore tailback. Sophomore quarterback Justin Rascati passed and ran effectively behind the real stars of JMU's show: the offensive linemen, who paved the way for 314 rushing yards.
Montana (12-3) took a 21-17 lead with 7:29 left in the third quarter, but Madison responded with ball control and improved defense. JMU scored TDs on its next two possessions to seal the school's second NCAA national championship. Madison's field hockey team won the 1994 national title.
The Dukes came out throwing, which was not the manner of ball-movement that got them here. JMU netted two yards in the first quarter, when it had only seven offensive snaps. Montana's start was the complete opposite. Clean, diverse and productive, the Grizzlies kept the Dukes' defense off-balance early. Quarterback Craig Ochs changed plays at the line and got enough protection to regularly find his secondary receiver against a JMU rush that established a school-record with 55 sacks this season.
Montana had outscored three playoff opponents 137-37 and shredded JMU's defense during an opening drive that scored, covering 71 yards in 11 plays. The touchdown play typified the Grizzlies' early-game suuccess: Ochs rolled to his left, saw nothing open, then came back to the right and found Jefferson Heidelberger for an 8-yard TD.
JMU's offense engaged when Rascati started handing off more and passing less. Madison turned back a Montana run out of field goal formation (would have been a 47-yard attempt) late in the first quarter, and the Dukes gained momentum. Behind Fenner, a 6-2, 220-pound tailback, and a veteran offensive line, JMU put together a 14-play, 74-yard drive to begin the second quarter. A 28-yard field goal from David Rabil sliced Montana's lead to 7-3.
The Grizzlies watched a long pass from Ochs bounce off the hands of Montana receiver Jon Talmage with six minutes left in the first half. A reception would have meant a TD. Montana missed a 45-yard FG attempt at the conclusion of that possession, and Madison commenced with another ground-based advancement. This one included a dramatic finale.
The Dukes, with a couple of completions from Rascati and 24 yards from Fenner, moved from their 28 to Montana's 1 with :21 left in the first half. With his team behind 7-3, Matthews chose to go for the touchdown rather than a chip-shot field goal. He inserted 260-pound fullback Chris Iorio, then sent him over left tackle, making way for Fenner, who scored at :16. The Dukes had a 10-7 lead at halftime and should have felt relatively comfortable.
Other than their opening drive, the Grizzlies didn't score in the first half. Also, six of JMU's last nine games were decided in the final minutes. The Dukes had a 5-1 record in games decided by a TD or less. Montana hadn't been in a tight game since a 35-32 loss at Portland State on Oct. 30.
Madison demonstrated immediately in the second half that the first-half rushing success was no fluke. Running with Fenner and Banks, the Dukes went 80 yards, using only one completion, to take a 17-7 lead. Rascati ran an 11-yard bootleg around right end and went airborne for the score with 11:58 left in the third quarter.
Montana used the same short-and-quick passing game to go 75 yards in nine plays. Ochs' 17-yard TD completion to Levander Segars was only in the air for a yard over the line of scrimmage. Segars grabbed the swing pass and split two JMU defenders on the way to the touchdown that reduced Madison's edge to 17-14 with 6:51 left in the third quarter.
Montana then got a break. Rascati's pitch to Banks on an option play ended up on the ground, in the grasp of Grizzly linebacker Nike Vella at JMU's 29. Ochs' beautifully arched pass up the middle was caught by the outstretched hands of 6-7, 275-pound tight end Willie Walton for an 8-yard touchdown that gave Montana a 21-17 lead with 7:29 left in the third period.
Back came the Dukes with a nine-play drive during which Fenner was again featured. This time, JMU didn't even try a pass and moved easily though Montana, going ahead 24-21 with 3:25 left in the third quarter. That's how these teams entered the final quarter of the 2004 Division I-AA season.
With the Grizzlies loaded up defensively against the run, Rascati played a pivotal role in the 16-play scoring drive that gave JMU a 31-21 lead with 8:00 left. The transfer from Louisville completed all five passes he attempted and ran six yards on a quarterback draw for the TD.
Montana's final comeback attempt was wrecked by JMU pressure on Ochs. His passing got the Grizzlies to Madison's 41 with about six minutes left. But Brandon Beach sacked Ochs on third and 15, then JMU's Clint Kent made an interception on fourth and 16, when Ochs was pressured by Kevin Winston.
With 6:14 left, Madison took possession at its 9 with a 10-point lead. Then the Dukes did what they had been doing so well for most of the night: pushing around the Grizzlies along the line.