His swift acceleration was as advertised.

In his James Madison debut, Kris Thornton showed exactly the role he could play for the Dukes and the threat he could be in their offense this spring.

“Speed equals one-play touchdowns as we saw last year with Brandon Polk,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti said following the Dukes’ 52-0 win over Morehead State on Saturday.

Thornton caught three passes for 90 yards in the victory, and turned a catch on a slant pattern into a 52-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

He was the perfect complement to JMU’s powerful rushing attack, taking advantage of one-on-one matchups against slower defenders who just couldn’t keep up.

“That was a [run-pass option],” Cignetti said about the play Thornton scored on. “And when I saw the way they were lined up, I said to [offensive coordinator] Shane [Montgomery], ‘This might be a touchdown.’ And it was. He caught it and that guy who was chasing him looked like he was pretty fast to me, but [Thornton] started pulling away.”

Throughout fall practice and in preseason drills over the last month, Cignetti mentioned how he thought Thornton’s speed would help the Dukes. Quarterback Cole Johnson, who completed 10-of-14 throws for 147 yards and the touchdown to Thornton, joked earlier this month that it’d be impossible to overthrow Thornton because he’s so fast.

The coach, the signal-caller and the rest of the staff and roster have had plenty of time to craft an opinion of Thornton, too. Thornton transferred from VMI to JMU in 2019 and practiced with the Dukes last season, though he couldn’t play in games due to NCAA transfer rules.

While Thornton was sitting out, it was Polk, a grad transfer from Penn State, turning short throws into explosive plays as he led the Dukes with 79 receptions for 1,179 yards and 11 touchdowns. One difference between Polk’s former role and Thornton’s current is that Thornton is primarily playing in the slot whereas Polk was used mostly on the outside.

As a sophomore at VMI, Thornton was a second-team All-Southern Conference selection for setting a school record with 87 catches for 1,003 yards and four touchdowns.

“Speed kills,” Cignetti said.