HARRISONBURG — Mike Houston isn’t concerned about his team’s offense.

James Madison ranks eighth nationally in rushing and sits in the top 20 for both scoring and total offense this season.

But since the team began its Colonial Athletic Association schedule late last month, its scoring pace has dropped from 53.7 points per game to 39.8.

“I think we’ve played a lot tougher schedule at this point in the season than we did last year,” the second-year JMU coach said. “You take a look back at our schedule last year versus our schedule this year, and it ain’t the same now.”

A year ago, JMU’s CAA schedule was backloaded with its toughest tests with road games against Villanova and Richmond. This year, JMU has played a mostly front-loaded slate having already faced two of the league’s five defenses that sit in the top 20 nationally for total defense and scoring defense in Villanova and Delaware.

Today, the top-ranked Dukes (6-0, 3-0 CAA) match up with another when they head to William & Mary (2-4, 0-3 CAA) for a 3:30 p.m. showdown at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg.

JMU is 22-17 all-time against its in-state rival.

“And it’s going to be the same this week,” Houston said. “William & Mary is a solid football program and they are really, really good on defense.”

The Tribe has lost two of three conference games by a touchdown or less and hasn’t given up more than 25 points in a CAA contest this year. William & Mary boasts the 16th best scoring defense in the FCS. It’s a unit led by a strong defensive line and three starting linebackers putting together exceptional seasons.

Sophomore linebacker Nate Atkins leads the team 52 tackles and junior linebacker Josh Dulaney has registered 38 tackles to go along with three sacks and a team-best 9.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore linebacker Arman Jones has 36 tackles.

“We’ve tried to build a brand of defense that we call the ‘Green Swarm,’” Atkins said. “It’s a relentless effort and relentless pursuit.

“But the biggest thing I look at is [JMU’s] running game. They’ve got some experienced linemen returning and talented running backs in their backfield, so that’s our biggest focus. That’s the focal point of their attack, and if we can stop that and force them to throw, we’ll be in a pretty good spot.”

Even though JMU’s scoring has been down, its offense has been able to exploit what the opponent isn’t selling out to stop.

This past Saturday against Villanova, JMU had just 45 rushing yards, but senior quarterback Bryan Schor threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns to help the unit move the ball and ultimately assist the team in winning 30-8.

In the Sept. 30 game at Delaware, the Blue Hens tried to take Schor’s passing targets away, so JMU ran the ball for 254 yards as a team and junior running back Trai Sharp rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown.

“Balance is that we have the ability to do either,” Houston said. “There are going to be games where we run for 400 yards and there are going to be games where we throw for 300 yards. I would love to see games where we do both, but that doesn’t happen very often and at least not against quality opponents.

“The thing is we have to make sure we have the ability to do both equally as well.”

Schor said his offensive teammates have embraced the challenges they’ve been presented with over the last three games.

“My favorite thing about playing quarterback is having control of the team,” Schor said. “And to go play a defense that’ll give you different looks, and you have the ability to change out of something or figure out how one play will look against that defense, it’s something I enjoy.”

And as long as Schor and company continue to put up just enough points, JMU’s defense has proven it can win games for the team this year.

The Dukes have one of the best defenses in the country, ranking near the top for every major statistical category — scoring defense (second, 11 points per game), passing defense (second, 123.2 yards per game), total defense (second, 221.7 yards per game) and rushing defense (18th, 98.5 yards per game).

Against Villanova, JMU smothered the Wildcats freshmen quarterbacks with six sacks while forcing three turnovers. William & Mary will play true freshman quarterback Shon Mitchell today against the Dukes. Mitchell made his first career start last week in the Tribe’s 17-0 loss at Delaware.

“I think it’s a challenge whether you’re dealing with a freshman quarterback or a senior quarterback going against that defense,” longtime William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock said. “They put a lot of pressure on you and they can put pressure on you with a four-man rush. They don’t need to bring people.

“And it’s a challenge for any offense, but especially when you’re in our situation on offense and struggling a little bit.”