JMU head football coach Mickey Matthews likes to say revenge only lasts the first few plays of a game. But what about the time between when one game ends and another begins?

Judging by Matthews' comments this week, leading up to Saturday's game at
Richmond, the Dukes' loss at home to the Spiders still eats at him a year later.

"We wanted to help them," says Matthews of the 17-16 loss. "Anything we could do to try and help their cause, we wanted to do it last year. Make sure we were really good hosts."

It was last October 27, at JMU's Homecoming. The Dukes were ranked No. 6 in the country, while Richmond was 15th.

The Spiders built a 17-0 second quarter lead. They forced three JMU turnovers, then held off a second half rally to win the game.

"It was a tough loss," says sophomore defensive tackle Ronnell Brown. "It was a 17-16 game, and we had a lot of turnovers. But Richmond just came out and they beat us fair and square."

"I remember them dancing on the field when they won. I remember the last play of the game," says running back Eugene Holloman, who missed last year's game because of injury.

"It kind of hurt just to see us down after a big game like that."

"We didn't come out and play on offense," says quarterback Rodney Landers. "They did some things on defense, but we just didn't come to play like we normally do."

The Dukes will go into Saturday's game ranked No. 1 in both the Sports Network and FCS Coaches poll. Richmond is fifth in both polls.