SportsQuest and the Richmond Revolution indoor football team announced yesterday that they have signed former James Madison University quarterback and Dudley Award winner Rodney Landers to a contract for the 2010 season. Landers, from Virginia Beach, was the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association offensive player of the year and a finalist for the Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He led the Dukes to a 12-2 record last season. They lost in the FCS semifinals to Montana after Landers sprained his ankle late in the first half.

HARRISONBURG - James Madison coach Mickey Matthews lost his star quarterback late in the first half of Friday night’s Football Championship Subdivision semifinal game. His defense was unable to contain the well-balanced attack of fourth-seeded Montana for most of the evening. But Matthews was adamant about what cost his top-seeded Dukes most dearly in a 35-27 loss that ended their season.

Unfortunately for the top-seeded Dukes last night, Rodney Landers went down with a sprained ankle late in the first half, and with him went JMU’s chances of reaching next week’s championship game.

All of the players have changed. The game is being played in a different location. Not to mention it is a different round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. But one thing remains the same when top-seeded James Madison (12-1) meets No. 4 seed Montana (13-1) tonight in Harrisonburg in an FCS semifinal. The coaches.

For the first time in a decade, the Dudley Award winner is not a Hokie or a’Hoo. He’s a Duke.

JMU senior quarterback Rodney Landers has passed for 21 touchdowns and rushed for 16 more. For the first time in a decade, the Dudley Award winner is not a Hokie or a ‘Hoo. He’s a Duke, and he’s having one of the greatest seasons in the history of college football in this state. SLIDESHOW: 2008 Dudley Award Winner

We’ve grown accustomed to seeing them in shoulder pads and helmets. But tonight, many of the state’s best college football players will be wearing coats and ties for the annual Dudley Award banquet.

Question: Who are Theo Sherman, Arthur Walker, Scott Lemn, Dorian Brooks and Terrence Apted? Answer: While their names aren’t mentioned often, these are the starting offensive linemen for James Madison, and the guys who are chiefly responsible for most of the exploits of quarterback Rodney Landers. “I don’t think I’m the player I am without them,“ said Landers, who is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the best player in Football Championship Subdivision. “They’re tremendous.

James Madison coach Mickey Matthews got a scare on Sunday when he looked up and saw quarterback Rodney Landers limping into the team meeting. “There’s nothing like getting ready to watch the tape on Sunday night and Rodney walks into the room on crutches,“ Matthews said yesterday. “I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, you know what I mean?‘

So which team really has the psychological advantage in today’s Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinal between James Madison and Villanova in Harrisonburg?

Dave Stannard could have completed his degree at James Madison earlier this year and entered the business world. Instead, he stuck around for one more season as JMU’s kicker, and the Dukes were more than happy to have him.

Whooooosssssh. That was the air going out of a football in a team meeting room at Villanova University on Oct. 26, the day after the Wildcats lost to top-ranked James Madison. In an effort to get his players to forget about the excruciating 23-19 defeat—which came on a last-second, Hail Mary pass that was batted in the air by a Villanova defender in the end zone and into the arms of JMU’s Bosco Williams—Wildcats coach Andy Talley had plunged a knife into the pigskin.

The Walter Payton Award, given to the best player in Football Championship Subdivision, appears to have come down to two quarterbacks: Rodney Landers of James Madison and Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State. Running back Herb Donaldson of Western Illinois is also among the final three for the award, which is chosen by a nationwide panel of sports information directors, writers and broadcasters.

Wofford finished with 431 yards of offense, including 301 on the ground. The Terriers averaged 5.8 yards per play with their confusing wingbone offense, which utilizes three backs as well as an effective passing game on occasion. James Madison had all kinds of trouble dealing with the variety of formations and at times simply couldn’t stop Wofford from gaining big yardage.

James Madison quarterback Rodney Landers wasn’t prepared to play his final game in a losing cause at home. So he made sure the top-seeded Dukes will live to see another day in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.