On Any Given Saturday
The night before James Madison University pulled off the biggest upset of the 2010 college football season, Dukes coach Mickey Matthews asked his players if any of them made a recruiting visit to Virginia Tech.
None of the Dukes raised his hand.
"I promise you they're going to want a lot of you after tomorrow," Matthews told his team.
Matthews' promise proved prophetic as the Dukes did the unimaginable Saturday, shocking the No. 13 Hokies 21-16 at Lane Stadium. It was Virginia Tech's first home loss to a Football Championship Subdivision foe since falling to Richmond 24-14 in 1985.
"The dirty little secret is the top six to eight teams at our level can play with anyone," Matthews said. "We struggle to find guaranteed games because no one wants to play us. I don't know if we're a Top 25 team on the FBS level, but I'm sure we're better than Virginia Tech wanted us to be. They needed to play somebody they could dominate."
More and more, FBS teams are having difficulty beating FCS foes, let alone dominating them. FBS teams looking for easy victories might have more luck scheduling New Mexico than FCS teams like James Madison.
In the first two weeks of the season alone, five FCS teams have defeated FBS opponents: Jacksonville (Ala.) State stunned Ole Miss 49-48 in two overtimes, North Dakota State beat Kansas 6-3, South Dakota defeated Minnesota 41-38, Gardner-Webb beat Akron 38-37 in overtime and Liberty shocked Ball State 27-23.
It was the second time in as many seasons that James Madison had an ACC opponent on the ropes. In their 2009 opener, the Dukes led Maryland 35-28 late in the second half before losing 38-35 in overtime.
"There are great players, no matter what league or what division," James Madison quarterback
Drew Dudzik said. "We've got great players. We just don't have the same number of scholarships and don't have the depth. It just goes to show that on any given day anyone can beat anyone."
Appalachian State proved that point when it stunned Michigan 34-32 at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 1, 2007.