Monday morning the Colonial Athletic Association held its weekly coaches teleconference. James Madison coach Mike Houston took questions from reporters on his team’s win over Central Connecticut State and this Saturday’s contest at North Carolina.

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- Houston called his team’s 56-21 win over Central Connecticut State, “another great day at home.” The first-year coach said junior quarterback Bryan Schor’s “hot first half” helped the team get off to a strong start. Schor completed his first 12 throws and threw three touchdowns in the opening half.

- In JMU’s Week 1 win over Morehead State, the Dukes ran the ball 74 times and only threw it 13 times. Going into Week 2, Houston said he wanted to achieve more balance against CCSU. While reflecting on his team’s win, Houston said he thought his offense showed a very balanced attack in the first half. He added that JMU was able to get deeper into its playbook on Saturday than it did in the season opener.

- One of the keys to JMU’s offense on Saturday was its ability to convert on third down, Houston said. He credited tight end Jonathan Kloosterman and wide receiver Terrence Alls for making big receptions to help Madison keep scoring drives alive.

- Defensively, Houston reiterated that he thought junior linebacker Brandon Hereford played well in place of senior Gage Steele, who sat out against CCSU.

- In the first two weeks, JMU has returned three punts for touchdowns. Houston called his punt return unit, “a huge game changer.” There’s been plenty of praise for returners Rashard Davis and John Miller – Davis was named CAA Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday – but Houston took the time to praise the rest of unit during the teleconference. Houston said Curtis Oliver, Jimmy Moreland and Robert Carter have done a great job blocking to give Davis and Miller chances to make big plays.

- Last year when Houston was at The Citadel, he led his team to an upset win over FBS South Carolina. This Saturday, JMU meets its toughest opponent yet in FBS North Carolina. The ex-Citadel coach said UNC has “top-tier” FBS talent, but also said this week’s keys for JMU is no different than in any other week. Houston said if JMU could take care of the ball, drive it on offense and stay sound defensively than his team “would have a shot.” He said what would get the Dukes in trouble is if they start giving the ball away and start making mistakes that they don’t normally make.

- Houston isn’t the only one with experience beating an FBS program. Most of JMU’s starters played on the team last year that went to Dallas and beat SMU. Houston said, “At the very least, we’ve all been there.”