MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With a purple-wrapped club over his hand, Dimitri Holloway wasn’t bothered.
In James Madison’s season-opening loss, Holloway played like he would’ve anyway and like he didn’t miss the last two weeks of training camp after undergoing hand surgery.
“I’m good,” the JMU senior linebacker said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been through this before, so I kind of know what it’s like. It’s not good to miss practice, but I felt pretty good.”
Holloway made a team-high 13 tackles and helped the Dukes patrol West Virginia’s rushing attack. JMU held the Mountaineers to 34 rushing yards on 24 carries (1.4 yards per carry).
It was the first time West Virginia was held to fewer than 50 rushing yards since Utah held the Mountaineers to 29 rushing yards on Dec. 25, 2017 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
“It helped us to know that they were going to be one-dimensional,” Holloway said, “just knowing that they had to go to the air. If you stop the run, that’s the only thing that they can do and if you can’t stop the run, they have their whole playbook.”
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- Holloway and defensive end Ron’Dell Carter said they wish they could’ve got to West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall more often. JMU got a few hits on Kendall, but only sacked him once and the two Dukes defensive players said Kendall hung in there. Kendall threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
- Of Kendall, Carter said, “He’s a tough quarterback. I was hoping he’d stay down on one of those [hits]. I don’t wish for any injuries, but I was hoping he’d be shaken up at the least, but he’s a tough quarterback. He was behind two Heisman winners and he’s a tough quarterback.”
- Carter and Wayne Davis each had two tackles for loss on Saturday. As a team, JMU tallied eight tackles for loss.
- Running back Solomon Vanhorse’s first-quarter touchdown was the first of his career. Afterward Vanhorse said, “I just heard the noise, but I wanted to celebrate with my brothers. It was amazing to score my first touchdown in this type of environment.”
- Four running backs – Vanhorse, Percy Agyei-Obese, Jawon Hamilton and Austin Douglas – got carries for JMU just as Dukes coach Curt Cignetti said they would last week leading into the game.
- Penn State transfer receiver Brandon Polk made four catches for 66 yards in his debut. Polk said he thought the running game created more one-on-one matchups in the passing game.
- JMU is now 0-3 all-time against West Virginia. The last time the Dukes lost in Morgantown was in 2004 – the same year they won the first national championship in JMU history.
- Attendance for Saturday’s game at Milan Puskar Stadium was 61,891. It was the most for a home season-opener at West Virginia since the Mountaineers hosted Ohio State in 1998.
- There were two true freshmen – Douglas and defensive end Jalen Green – that played in the game for JMU. Former John Handley (Winchester) receiver and Dukes freshman Kevin Curry Jr. also made the team’s travel roster for Saturday’s trip to West Virginia.
- Saturday’s game captains for JMU were Carter, cornerback Rashad Robinson and center Mac Patrick.
