HARRISONBURG — James Madison’s opponents are trying to play keep-away from the Dukes’ potent offensive attack.

JMU tops the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring offense (44.8 points per game), total offense (527.8 yards per game) and rushing offense (339.8 yards per game). All three marks rank within the top five nationally for each category.

One way opposing coaches are beginning to combat quarterback Bryan Schor from marching his unit up and down the field is by minimizing the number of JMU possessions in a game.

Longtime William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock altered his game plan in an effort to try to upset No. 7 JMU over the weekend. William & Mary came up short, falling 31-24, but the outcome wasn’t decided until the final two minutes of play.

“We were huddling most the time as opposed to doing our no-huddle stuff,” Laycock said. “We wanted to run the football and play it that way. We didn’t want to get into a race with them.”

William & Mary ran the ball 44 times for 205 yards. Tribe senior running back Kendell Anderson netted 149 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries.

The Tribe’s 44 rushing attempts were the most it had in a game all season and it helped William & Mary win the time-of-possession battle by five minutes.

“I thought [the game plan] did well,” Laycock said. “Kendell ran the ball well and we got opportunities, but we didn’t finish when we got down there.”

William & Mary committed two second-half red-zone turnovers, including one in the final two minutes of the game. A touchdown and extra point there would have tied the contest.

“I thought it was a great strategy and that their game plan was executed well. The big difference was the turnovers,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “We felt like that’s what they would do. That’s what I would do if I was playing us and I had a team that was more of a ball-control team.”

Houston said he expects to see more opponents, depending on their style of offense, try to mimic William & Mary’s blueprint.

“The big thing with them trying to drain the clock with the way they were is we had to get stops on third down,” Houston said. “You have to get off the field because you can’t let them convert on third downs. I think that’s where we struggled a little bit in the first half. I thought we got some third-down stops in the third quarter.

“Then, on the flip side, you have to be productive when you get the ball, which I thought for the most part we were.”

JMU scored 14 points off of the two William & Mary turnovers. The Dukes also came away with 24 points in five red-zone trips.

In 38 red-zone opportunities this season, JMU has scored 28 touchdowns.

Sean McDonnell, the coach at New Hampshire — JMU’s next opponent — said controlling the clock against the Dukes will only work if his offense gets points after trying to slow down the game.

“That’s a huge part of it, but the thing you have to do is score,” McDonnell said. “You can try to keep it away from them, but look at what they’ve done in games. They are scoring a ton of points — 80, 56, 28, 31, 43 and 31. You better be able to match their efficiency.

“Your drives must be countable drives so you can score points. If you don’t, they will take advantage of it on the other side of the ball.”

McDonnell added JMU’s offense has too many weapons for a defense to completely shut down.

“Look at how efficient they are,” McDonnell said. “They keep the ball in their hands. They have very few negative plays. They have guys that break tackles, whether it’s [senior running back Khalid] Abdullah or [junior running back Cardon] Johnson running the ball or [senior wide receiver Brandon] Ravenel, [senior wide receiver Domo] Taylor or [senior wide receiver Rashard] Davis making people miss in the secondary. They are guys that can play the game of football.”