GREENVILLE, N.C. — Both James Madison senior safety Raven Greene and sophomore defensive lineman Ron’Dell Carter couldn’t believe what just happened.

East Carolina quarterback Thomas Sirk tried to find sure-handed wide receiver Jimmy Williams in the end zone when Dukes junior cornerback Rashad Robinson made a play for the ball.

With his back to the passer, Robinson timed his leap mirroring Williams and snatched the ball out of the air for a miraculous interception.

“OK, so I was the closest one to Rashad, and I’m looking, and it looked like Williams had it,” Greene said. “But then I just saw Rashad come up with the ball.

“I went absolutely bonkers.”

Greene said he’d have to watch the film to truly appreciate the play Robinson made.

“When I saw it, I thought it was just an incompletion,” Carter said about his vantage point of Robinson’s interception. “Everybody was cheering and there was a lot of chaos, I didn’t know what was going on.

“Then I see the offense run out on the field, so I’m like what happened? Then I saw it on the replay and I was like that was crazy.”

Robinson had two interceptions in JMU’s win over the Pirates. Robinson, a product of Hermitage High School in Richmond, now has five interceptions for his career.

Newcomers Make Impact

Carter was one of several newcomers to see the field for the first time as a member of the Dukes.

Playing both defensive end and defensive tackle, the Rutgers transfer had two tackles and three quarterback hurries.

“Our biggest strength is that we’re one big unit,” Carter said of the defense’s performance. “It’s not about a lot of individual players, we have a huge team and it’s one collective group.”

Maryland transfer linebacker Gus Little started the game. He made five tackles.

Georgia Tech transfer running back Marcus Marshall ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He played extensively and his 70-yard touchdown run put an exclamation point on the game for JMU.

Virginia transfer wide receiver David Eldridge lined up at both inside and outside receiver. He made three catches for 51 yards in his debut.

Kirkpatrick’s Return A Success

Before arriving at JMU before last year, Dukes offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick spent the previous 11 seasons as an assistant at East Carolina.

In his return to Greenville, N.C., Kirkpatrick’s offense compiled 614 yards of total offense — the sixth most for any opponent in a game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. JMU’s 422 rushing yards were the eighth most allowed by ECU in the program’s history.

The Dukes averaged 9.3 yards per play.

Buccaneers Next

After taking down the FBS Pirates, the Dukes get back into FCS competition Saturday when East Tennessee State comes to Harrisonburg.

East Tennessee State beat Division II Limestone College 31-10 on Saturday.