James Madison picked up its third Colonial Athletic Association win of the season by beating William & Mary, 31-24 on Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium.
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- For the fourth time this season, James Madison’s offense accumulated more than 300 yards rushing in a single game. The Dukes rushed 52 times for 329 yards against the Tribe.
- Senior running back Khalid Abdullah rushed for more than 100 yards for the fifth straight game. Abdullah tallied a career-best 194 yards on the ground. He also had three touchdowns. Abdullah now sits sixth all-time for rushing yards at JMU with 2,666. He also became fourth player in school history to reach 30 career rushing touchdowns.
- Abdullah capped his big day with a 73-yard touchdown run on a speed option. Abdullah said he probably should’ve dropped down to the ground after he passed the first-down marker in order to keep the clock moving. There was less than a minute left in the contest and William & Mary was out of timeouts.
- On the touchdown run, Abdullah credited Duke transfer receiver Terrence Alls for setting him up with a great block to reach the end zone.
- Abdullah said him and his teammates knew Saturday’s win over William & Mary would be a “dogfight” from start to finish. Abdullah said CAA wins are so hard to get because every opponent is a quality opponent.
- The NCAA’s leading rusher picked up 113 of his 194 yards in the second half. Abdullah said JMU had to make adjustments upfront at halftime because William & Mary showed more BEAR defense in the first half than the Dukes had anticipated. JMU junior running Cardon Johnson echoed Abdullah’s thoughts too. Johnson ran for 90 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
- From the third quarter into the fourth quarter, JMU put together a 19-play, 88-yard drive, spanning more than eight minutes. Johnson capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Johnson said he thought that helped swing momentum in JMU’s favor, at the time.
- Senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds recorded an interception in the end zone, which setup Abdullah’s long run. The pick for Reynolds was JMU’s second turnover forced in the red zone. Reynolds said he was able to pick off William & Mary quarterback Steve Cluley’s pass because he knew the Tribe were going to run a fade or slant to wide receiver DeVonte Dedmond. Reynolds said he played his technique and the ball was there.
- Reynolds said creating turnovers and getting stops in the red zone was key for JMU’s defense. Reynolds also had a tackle for loss when William & Mary had a third-and-goal opportunity from the one in the first quarter. The stop made by Reynolds forced William & Mary to kick a field goal.
- JMU coach Mike Houston said the turnovers were the difference in the game. Houston said JMU’s ability create turnovers in the red zone, “derailed” two potential scoring drives for William & Mary.
- Houston said he was really proud of how his team competed throughout the game. He said JMU made some mistakes that it has to get fixed, but he was happy with how his players stayed resilient after mistakes.
- Houston called Abdullah, “a special player,” following his 194-yard performance. Houston said Abdullah breaks tackles, between the tackles and shows breakaway speed.
- William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock said the difference in the game was turnovers. Laycock said whenever his team had opportunities to score it needed to because he knew JMU would score a lot.
- Laycock also said JMU’s run game is terrific with Abdullah and Johnson, but said quarterback Bryan Schor’s ability to navigate the offense helps the run game too. Laycock said he’s really impressed with how good Schor has been throughout the season.
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