HARRISONBURG — Raven Greene was exactly where he was supposed to be when the active leader for career passing yards in FCS fired a second-quarter throw toward his favorite receiver.

The senior safety undercut Austin Gahafer’s pass intended for Jake Raymond, intercepted it and returned it 43 yards into Morehead State territory. It was one of his two takeaways and one of James Madison’s five forced turnovers in the Dukes’ 80-7 season-opening romp against the Eagles on Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium.

“I can really credit that [interception] to [defensive coordinator Bob] Trott because he was harping on me all week to make sure I knew to be in the right position on that exact play,” Greene said.

On the consequent snap, sophomore running back Trai Sharp scored on a 13-yard rushing touchdown to put JMU ahead 35-0.

Throughout the blowout win, points off turnovers became a theme. The Dukes scored 28 points off giveaways from Morehead State.

In the first quarter, Greene recovered a fumble when Gahafer mishandled a snap. The Virginia Beach native jumped on the ball at the Morehead State 14-yard line to set up a short field for the offense. Three plays later junior quarterback Bryan Schor scored his first of three rushing touchdowns on a 1-yard sneak.

The 80 points were the most scored by any Division I team — FCS or FBS — all weekend. It also set a school record for points in a single game.

“[Turnovers] play a really big role,” Greene said. “Being able to flip the field and get the ball into the offense’s hands so that they can do what they do best is great.”

Throughout three weeks of preseason camp new JMU coach Mike Houston — who earned his first win at the school — along with Trott put an emphasis on creating turnovers within the 4-2-5 scheme.

Last year, Houston’s defense at The Citadel and Trott’s defense at Richmond both ranked within the top seven for takeaways in the FCS. Richmond led the nation in interceptions.

JMU never had more than two interceptions in a game in 2015 — the Dukes recorded three against the Eagles.

Sophomore cornerback Jimmy Moreland picked off Gahafer and junior safety Marcell Johnson intercepted a pass thrown by Morehead State backup quarterback Jack Sherry.

“It’s what we hoped for,” Houston said. “The key was that we were able to come out and stop their run game.”

The Dukes yielded only 57 yards rushing, which forced Morehead State to become one-dimensional and throw the ball.

“It took that factor out of their offense,” Houston said. “We forced a few fumbles with swarm tackling and then we got pressure on the quarterback to get in position to make big interceptions. Raven’s pick got [Gahafer] rattled.”

While JMU’s defensive line couldn’t be pushed backward, Morehead State’s defensive front could. The Dukes offensive line paved the way for a record-setting rushing performance. Sharp, Schor, Khalid Abdullah, Cardon Johnson and Taylor Woods combined for 10 rushing touchdowns — a mark that set a school record for the most in a single game and now sits as the second most in the history of FCS football.

“Everything starts with how we played up front,” Houston said. “You look at the film of our front last year and the film of our front tonight and you understand why we pushed them so hard. We thought they had the potential to play like that and tonight it wasn’t a let’s just get in the way and zone block deal — we came off the ball and pounded Morehead State. That set the tone for our backs and Bryan.”

Johnson, Sharp and Schor became the first trio of JMU rushers to each eclipse 100 yards since Abdullah, Johnson and graduated quarterback Vad Lee did it last year, also against Morehead State.

Fourth-year Morehead State coach Rob Tenyer called it “a very ugly” game for his team.

“We didn’t defend anything well in the run game,” he said.

The only touchdown that didn’t come on the ground was a 76-yard punt return by senior Rashard Davis.

“I just saw open grass, so I ran,” Davis said.