The plan was to pressurize the unproven.

If Robert Morris was going to hang with James Madison on Saturday, this would be how the Colonials could do it, their coach Bernard Clark Jr., said over the phone afterward.

“The JMU quarterback [Cole Johnson], he’s a good player. But he’s not as good as the one who plays for the Dallas Cowboys right now,” Clark, referring to former Dukes signal-caller Ben DiNucci, said. “And so, we figured we could disguise some things to throw him off a bit.”

Clark said his defensive staff saw and scouted on tape elements of the Dukes’ offense that they believed their own players could exploit to make it tough on Johnson.

The senior quarterback threw three first-half interceptions, but settled in after halftime and helped JMU dominate the second half on the way to a 36-16 win over Clark’s squad.

But in the first half, Clark’s recipe had the Dukes dealing with tense moments. Unexpectedly, Robert Morris led 9-2 one play into the second quarter and then 16-9 later in the second stanza.

Two of Johnson’s three interceptions set Robert Morris up inside the red zone. And following the third interception Johnson threw, JMU coach Curt Cignetti nearly benched his No. 1 quarterback for the backup, Gage Moloney.

“It crossed my mind,” Cignetti said. “And I was close to putting Gage in at the end of the first half. And [offensive coordinator] Shane [Montgomery] and I talked a little bit, but where we got the ball in the situation with the two-minute [drill] before the half, I thought it was really wise to stay with Cole.”

Said Clark: “We knew we weren’t going to go in there and outman them, so we told our guys that we had to win our individual battles because if each guy wins their individual battle then we’ll have a shot. Our guys did a good job of that early, and then we just got a little worn down in the second half.”

Cignetti’s decision to keep Johnson in the game paid off as Johnson led scoring drives to close the first 30 minutes and open the final 30 minutes.

Johnson was 17-of-24 for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. He also ran for 21 yards.

“Cole has to learn the lesson of what we need out of the quarterback,” Cignetti said. “And the first thing is we got to protect the ball because before you win a game, you’ve got to make sure you don’t lose the game. And we did a lot of things to lose a game today in the first half.”

Certainly, with Colonial Athletic Association play set to start next week for JMU, league foes – Elon, William & Mary and Richmond – will see what Clark’s blueprint was to stay competitive against the Dukes.

That means, Johnson could see some of the same concepts Robert Morris used on Saturday in the coming weeks.

“I didn’t really say much to him about [the interceptions],” Cignetti said. “He knows what he’s got to do and what he can’t do to protect the ball. … I’m sure Shane talked to him. But [Johnson] bounced back.”

Cignetti said Johnson and the rest of the roster has plenty to take away from Saturday’s contest in order to improve – including ways to avoid beginning the game flat like they did against the Colonials.

“I could detect that in every facet of our preparation this week that the urgency just wasn’t the same,” Cignetti said, “[with] coaches and players, and it showed up on the field in the first half. But it’s a win, you’ve got to learn from it and get better.”