HARRISONBURG — James Madison junior quarterback Bryan Schor will not play Saturday in the regular-season finale against Elon, coach Mike Houston said Friday.

In his place, true freshman Cole Johnson will start against the Phoenix.

Schor suffered an injury early in the second quarter during JMU’s 20-7 win at Villanova last weekend and was spotted on the sideline with his left arm in a sling later in the game.

Even though Schor won’t play today, Houston said, “We do expect him back fairly quickly.”

Houston said Johnson took most of the first-team reps throughout the team’s week of practice.

The coaching staff elected to pull Johnson’s redshirt last Saturday when Schor went down. When Johnson entered the game, he threw two interceptions, but finished 5-of-12 for 43 yards. He also led the offense during a late fourth-quarter scoring drive, setting up Khalid Abdullah’s touchdown run, which gave the Dukes a two-score lead over Villanova.

Offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said JMU wouldn’t change its offensive plan too much to accommodate the freshman.

“Cole’s gotten a lot of good work and obviously we had to throw him into the fire the other day,” Kirkpatrick said. “No matter how much you tell him that he has to be ready, it’s never the same. That was a tough situation against a great defense in a tight game that turned out to be the championship game. He came out of a winner and I’m proud of him for that.

“He didn’t play good, but it’s not something I hid from him because he’s really special. He could be the best that’s ever been around these parts. He’s that good, talent-wise.”

Houston added South Carolina transfer Connor Mitch will dress and be the backup to Johnson.

Mitch has not dressed for a game since JMU played at New Hampshire on Oct. 15. The South Carolina transfer got hurt with a non-football injury during the bye week and was unable to practice until this week.

“He probably was better than we expected,” Houston said. “I feel like by the time we get to the playoffs, he will be fully prepared.”

Kirkpatrick echoed Houston’s thoughts and said Mitch performed well in practice this week, despite missing nearly a month.

“I was really impressed with how much he retained,” Kirkpatrick said. “Not just knowledge-wise, but the timing, too, because you lose the timing when you don’t go through things or make those reads, but he didn’t look like he lost anything from his time out.”

Madison also has redshirt sophomore quarterback Hunter Etheridge on its roster.

Earlier this week, senior wide receiver Brandon Ravenel said if someone had to start for Schor, whoever it was would be ready.

“All of our quarterbacks do an amazing job in practice,” Ravenel said. “They take every rep they get like it’s a rep in a game and that’s what I respect about them and Coach Kirkpatrick. He does a great job of getting them prepared.”

Ravenel said he has complete confidence in Johnson.

“He has an energy to him and it’s contagious,” Ravenel said. “There’s so much in his future and the fact that we’re able to play with him now, it’s pretty special. He’s really skilled and will do big things for us.”

Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.