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No problem. Mickey Matthews of James Madison was happy to do it for him Saturday after the Tribe's 24-3 win at Zable Stadium.
"This is the best Jimmye has ever been since I've been in the league," he said.
Matthews was equally blunt about his own team, which fell to 2-5, and 0-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association, just a year after reaching the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
"We're just not very good," he said. "I wish we were."
The Dukes, who have dropped four straight, aren't in a slump, Matthews said.
"This is just basically where we are right now."
Where the Dukes were Saturday was on unfamiliar turf: the losing end of a game to their state and CAA rival. JMU had owned the series of late, winning five straight and seven of the previous eight. Last year, the Dukes overwhelmed the Tribe 48-24 in Harrisonburg, rolling up 540 yards of total offense.
Indications were that the rivalry could be in for a re-set, however. The Tribe (6-1, 3-1) came in ranked No.5 in the nation with a swarming defense -- a rarity for one of Laycock's teams.
JMU limped in with an injury-riddled squad, relying on a redshirt freshman quarterback, and had dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since 2005.
Considering all that, things went about according to form. The Dukes could do nothing offensively, particularly through the air. They stayed in it for a half, until William and Mary grounded them down with a relentless running attack in the third quarter.
Tailback Jonathan Grimes rushed for a career-high 158 yards. Backup Courtland Mariner, a Western Branch High graduate, chipped in with 62.
That the Tribe's offensive line was able to win up front against a solid JMU defense was probably the day's biggest surprise.
"They're down, with their record," center C.J. Muse said. "But they're still very athletic, and a good team."
William and Mary took control with a 14-play, 80-yard, six minute-plus drive in the third quarter.
The Tribe pounded JMU with Grimes and Mariner and then ran a bootleg for quarterback R.J. Archer. He rolled right, with the defense chasing, and then threw back left to Alex Gottlieb, standing alone in the end zone, for an 18-yard touchdown.
A 59-yard drive in the fourth put it out of reach. Forced to throw, JMU had little success. Quarterback Justin Thorpe went 7 for 17 and was sacked three times. The Dukes, who are annually one of the nation's top offensive teams, have scored just three points the past two games, and 34 in the past four.
"The offense, they're doing their best right now," said defensive end Arthur Moats, a Churchland High graduate. "They're having some growing pains, that's all."
William and Mary, meanwhile, seems to be coming into its own. No one on the team had ever been part of a win over JMU. For the seniors, it was especially significant.
"It was definitely a sweet one," said Archer, a fifth-year senior. "It's big-time to come out and win the way we did."
Still, Laycock was reluctant to weigh in on how this team compares to some of his other good ones.
"This is a good team right now," he finally allowed. "We're playing pretty well."
Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com
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