HARRISONBURG – Second-year James Madison coach Mike Houston jokingly answered “no” when he was asked if it mattered which one of his four running backs got the start for next Saturday in the Dukes’ opener at East Carolina.

“You know, Cardon Johnson,” Houston said. “I don’t know if I’d call him the starting running back, but certainly being a fifth-year senior with the adversity he’s been through, and the level he’s playing at right now, I’m excited to see him out there.

“But I’m not going to sit here and say that [junior] Marcus Marshall isn’t a starting a running back.”

Johnson, Marshall, junior Trai Sharp and senior Taylor Woods have all taken first-team snaps at running back over the last month.

“Who knows? We may list three, but I just think that group right there, you can’t go wrong with any of them in the ball game.”

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- Houston said Marshall is the team’s primary kick returner. “He has big-play ability,” Houston said.

- One other position battle of note is the tight end spot. Houston said both sophomore Nick Carlton and freshman Clayton Cheatham will play against East Carolina.

- Early in preparation for the Pirates, Houston said ECU’s wide receivers stand out to him. ECU senior wide receiver Jimmy Williams is on the Biletnikoff Award watch list.

- Houston said JMU’s defense would be challenged with what East Carolina can do on offense.

- Last week, JMU lost cornerback Charles Tutt for the season with an ACL injury, which means the Dukes are down from four experienced players at the position to three. Jimmy Moreland and Rashad Robinson are playing the true cornerback spots and Curtis Oliver is playing the nickel corner position.

- Freshman cornerback Wesley McCormick’s development has “accelerated” according to Houston. He said McCormick was going to play at some point anyway this season, but his role is bigger now.

- Oliver said the position group is only focused on East Carolina at this time. He said he noticed how talented ECU’s receivers are right away. He said his fellow corners must be aware of the double move those opposing receivers will try to use next Saturday.

- Linebacker Dimtiri Holloway is back to full-speed at practice and he said he’ll play against East Carolina.

- Holloway had surgery on his right foot earlier this summer, but said he’s feeling good now. He was injured in the national title game and missed the entire spring.

- Before the injury, Holloway had perhaps his best game, recording 16 tackles in the semifinal at North Dakota State. He said he understands even more about the defense now than he did in that game and that he can play both the MIKE and WILL positions, depending on what the team needs.

- Defensive line coach Jeff Hanson said he’s going to use a rotation of four defensive tackles and five defensive ends in the opener against East Carolina. He said JMU tries to do that with every game anyway, but wants to keep all his defensive linemen fresh.

- Hanson said he really likes the effort the unit has shown throughout camp and into preparation for East Carolina. Hanson said the d-line has good experience, and he just has to find a way to keep everyone rested and healthy throughout the course of a game.