ELON, N.C. – It was the kind of start-to-finish domination a defending national champion would put together to capture its league title outright and secure an unbeaten regular season.
Top-ranked James Madison used senior quarterback Bryan Schor’s three rushing touchdowns and a special teams score while its defense allowed only a field goal to throttle No. 11 Elon 31-3 on Saturday at Rhodes Stadium in Elon, N.C.
“We played the way we wanted to play and we played the way we were supposed to play,” second-year JMU coach Mike Houston said. “It was a complete-team win and an outstanding performance in all three phases.”
With the win, JMU (11-0, 8-0 Colonial Athletic Association) became the first team in CAA history to go unbeaten through the league in back-to-back seasons. The Dukes also extended their Division I-best active winning streak to 23 straight victories.
The JMU game plan was simple – get Schor involved in the running game on offense and force Elon freshman quarterback Davis Cheek to throw the ball while playing from behind.
Schor ran nine times for 76 yards and tied a career-high with three rushing touchdowns against Elon’s (8-3, 6-2 CAA) 3-3-5 stack defense.
“[Offensive coordinator] Donnie [Kirkpatrick] had seen something from facing Villanova,” Houston said. Villanova like Elon uses a stack defense as the Phoenix defensive coordinator Tony Trisciani joined first-year coach Curt Cignetti’s staff after spending the previous five years with the Wildcats.
“We felt like there was some run stuff there, so our tight ends and guys on the edges did a good job of securing the blocks,” Houston said. “And Bryan did a good job of reading the guy he was supposed to read each play. He handed it when he was supposed to hand it and kept it when he was supposed to keep it.
“It ended up being a big factor in the ball game.”
The senior-signal caller reached the end zone for the first time early in the second quarter when he scored on a 21-yard run. His two-yard keeper into the end zone with 21 seconds left in the first half gave the Dukes a 17-0 lead at halftime.
“Me running the ball is always reactive to what the defense is going to do,” Schor said. “I think early on we saw them trying to take [junior running back] Trai Sharp and [junior running back] Marcus Marshall away, so it gave me the opportunity to pull the ball.”
While Schor navigated Elon’s defense with ease, the Dukes’ defense held an opponent scoreless at halftime for the fifth time this season. Elon was limited to 152 total yards in the first half, which ultimately put Cheek in uncomfortable situations repeatedly throughout the second half.
“We made sure that they had no run game,” said JMU senior linebacker Kyre Hawkins, who led the Dukes with 11 tackles. “We forced them to throw the ball and make them as one dimensional as possible.”
Consecutive negative plays for Elon in the third quarter led to its ultimate demise.
JMU sophomore defensive end Ron’Dell Carter tackled Elon freshman running back De’Sean McNair for a loss and then Cheek was sacked by senior linebacker Brandon Hereford to force the Phoenix to punt from its own 32.
That’s when Dukes freshman safety D’Angelo Amos shot past the line of scrimmage untouched to block the kick before recovering the loose ball and going six yards into the end zone on a scoop-and-score touchdown.
“I thought that gave us all the momentum there in the second half,” Houston said.
Amos said he executed what the staff had taught him in practice.
Schor added a six-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
JMU was awarded the CAA trophy outside the locker room afterward by league commissioner Joe D’Antonio.
An excited bunch was revved up even more when Houston lifted the trophy and yelled out, “We took everybody’s best shot and we don’t share anything.”
“It’s amazing,” JMU senior safety Raven Greene said. “To know that we did this together and how much work we put in, especially for the guys that have been here since freshman year, it’s surreal.”
