CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—Football coaches described as "bold" also can often be described as either:
A.) Victorious, or . . .
B.) Unemployed.
Whatever the risks involved, however, some guys just seem to have an innate need to go for it. Mickey Matthews, the somewhat rough-cut Texan who has blown the big whistle on the James Madison University sidelines for the past six seasons, would qualify as one of those people.
Last night, he was rewarded with a national championship.
This was the situation facing Matthews and the Dukes with just a few seconds remaining in the first half of the NCAA Division I-AA title game against Montana:
The good news: JMU, trailing 7-3, was only 1 yard from a go-ahead touchdown.
The bad news: It was fourth down.
There were other factors that might have inspired timidity in other coaches. The first was the sorry condition of the field at Finley Stadium. Fresh-layed sod started coming up in big chunks during warm-ups and footing never was anything but questionable. Earlier in the second quarter, the Dukes had lost a shot at a touchdown when wingback Antoinne Bolden slipped and fell trying to execute a third-down reverse.
Montana wasn't stopping much, but the Grizzlies had limited the Dukes to 3 yards on three snaps after Madison had first and goal at the 4.
Since the field goal was theoretically automatic, the Big Book of Percentages probably favored waving in the kicking team and accepting a 7-6 halftime deficit.
Matthews, however, doesn't spend a lot of time reading that book. If he did, the Dukes (13-2) never would have become the first team to reach the I-AA final by winning three consecutive road games.
A fourth-down gamble paid large dividends for Matthews in last week's 48-34 win at William and Mary. When the Dukes broke from the sideline following a timeout, it was the offense rather than the kicking team that took the field.
There was no subtlety in Matthews' approach. JMU lined up with two backs and three tight ends, not a wide receiver in sight to establish even a token passing threat.
It was a good time to remember that last night's was Matthews' first championship game as a head coach. He'd been to four of them as head coach Bob Pruett's defensive coordinator at Marshall, but coordinators don't make the big calls with the big stakes on the table.
"It doesn't compare at all," Matthews said. "It's much tougher for me as a head coach . . . trying to organize every aspect of the game. I'm still pretty hands-on with the defense. I think I've been driving my assistants crazy for weeks."
History will record that Matthews rolled a winning number at the 1-yard line, although it wasn't by much. Montana linebacker Adam Hoge met Maurice Fenner slightly in front of the goal line and both players recoiled after the collision. Fenner was the first to gather himself and he lunged forward across the stripe before Hoge could administer a second hit.
Had Fenner been stopped, it's hard to tell what the effect may have been on the Grizzlies' defense. A goal-line stand might have changed the entire nature of the second half, when JMU was able to establish control of the game on the ground, with 314 rushing yards for the Dukes ultimately trumping the 371 passing yards posted by Montana quarterback Craig Ochs.
Having made one big play, the Dukes went on to make several more. In the second half, they were a 5 for 5 on third-down conversions, keeping the clock spinning and the ball away from Ochs.
Even as his players were finishing off a 31-21 win, Matthews and his staff still were keeping Montana off-balance, throwing in just enough passes, a few of which turned into productive scrambles by Justin Rascati, to maintain control.
In playoff games at any level of football, teams gain the lead and often tend to lose impetus as play-calling becomes overly conservative.
"You won't see that happen to us," Matthews said after last week's win in Williamsburg.
Now, he has a trophy to prove it.