HARRISONBURG — Cole Johnson was more prepared the second time around.

His coaching staff also dissected a plan with very few flaws and he executed to an almost-perfect performance.

In his first career start, Johnson completed 12-of-13 throws for 274 yards and two touchdowns, leading James Madison past Elon 63-14 in its regular-season finale Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium.

The true freshman quarterback looked more calm and collected than shaken and rattled, which was not the case a week ago when he had his redshirt pulled to replace injured starter Bryan Schor, in a surprising debut at Villanova.

“The game just slowed down,” Johnson said. “And as a quarterback when the game slows down, it just helps a lot. I think I was able to make my reads this week. Then I was able to find my receivers.”

Against the Wildcats, Johnson threw two interceptions and completed only 5-of-12 passes for 43 yards.

He needed only six throws to complete five passes against the Phoenix. His third completion of the game resulted in a 70-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Domo Taylor — JMU’s longest passing play of the year.

“I was able to rep with the ones in practice this week and it helped a lot,” Johnson said. “I also knew in my mind that I was going to start. I watched extra film and took all the extra reps that I could.”

JMU scored on its opening drive when sophomore running back Trai Sharp capped a six-play series with a 23-yard touchdown run. Taylor’s touchdown catch gave the Dukes a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

“I think for a freshman, [Johnson] operated really well and had a lot of poise,” Elon coach Rich Skrosky said. “I give credit to [JMU] coach Mike Houston and his staff for putting him in positions to be successful, too.

“He threw a couple of hitches and out-cuts. From a drop-back perspective, the best ball he threw was a seam route to the tight end, but other than that it was a lot of screens and timing throws. He’ll be a good player.”

Johnson’s pass to tight end Jonathan Kloosterman hit the big-bodied pass-catcher in stride during the third quarter. It was a 48-yard play, which eventually led to Taylor’s second touchdown catch of the game.

Johnson and Taylor connected on a 21-yard touchdown to give JMU a 35-14 lead.

“Since I got here, I felt like I always had a good connection with Domo,” Johnson said. “It showed off today. I like targeting him.”

Taylor had a game-high 114 receiving yards and the two touchdowns on four catches.

“We’ve always had a good connection,” Taylor said.

When JMU wasn’t moving the ball through the air to score, it was aided on the ground with a wildcat formation.

Junior running back Taylor Woods took direct snaps out of the shotgun. He had a 59-yard run, a 5-yard touchdown run and a 9-yard touchdown pass out of the formation.

Houston said the offensive staff implemented and unveiled the wildcat against Elon to take some pressure off of Johnson.

“We just thought we needed something a little extra after last week,” Houston said. “Now Cole is going to be great, but it was his first college start, so we wanted to have something prepared to take some heat off of him.”

Woods said he had played as a wildcat quarterback during his senior year at Havelock High School in North Carolina.

“It felt like I was back in high school,” Woods said. “It felt great throwing that touchdown pass.”

The win for JMU (10-1, 8-0) gave the program its first unbeaten season in Colonial Athletic Association play since 2008. It was also just the second time since 2010, when the league shifted to a one-division format that a team went through the league slate without a loss.

Elon (2-9, 1-7) got a good effort from freshman running back De’Sean McNair, who ran for 87 yards and a touchdown in the loss.