CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The James Madison defense had no answer for North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky and his pair of elite wide receivers — Ryan Switzer and Mack Hollins.

Trubiksy threw for a career-high 432 yards to go along with three touchdowns in Saturday’s win over James Madison.

“I think [Trubisky] is a great football player,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “I don’t know if he’s not better than what [North Carolina] just graduated last year. He runs it well and throws it well.”

UNC’s previous starting quarterback, Marquise Williams, threw for 60 touchdowns over three seasons at the school.

“He is getting better and better,” UNC coach Larry Fedora said of his quarterback. “You are seeing the guy that can do all of the things that we think he can do.”

Trubisky, a junior, connected on two long throws with both Switzer and Hollins. Switzer hauled in a 75-yard scoring catch off a flea-flicker in the first quarter. Hollins had a 71-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

“They obviously made some big plays,” JMU senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds said. “I think we did a good job early on, forcing them to go deeper in their playbook to pull out some trick plays.”

A two-time All-American, Switzer finished with five catches for 101 yards and Hollins had 94 yards on three catches.

‘Self-Inflicted’ Mistakes

Houston said he wasn’t disappointed with the effort level given by his defense, but instead the manner in which the unit made mistakes.

“I’m disappointed in the mistakes that we made that were self-inflicted,” Houston said. “North Carolina is a fantastically talented team, but the one thing that we said we needed to do was make them earn what they got.”

The first-year Madison coach pointed out an offside penalty called on defensive end Andrew Ankrah which prolonged a UNC scoring drive along with a dropped interception that would’ve given the ball back to the Dukes’ offense after jumping out to an early 7-0 lead.

“If we could’ve gotten a stop right there, with momentum already after scoring, I don’t know it would’ve made a difference in the outcome but it would’ve helped early on,” Houston said.

Pass-Rush Problems

Through three games, JMU’s defense hasn’t produced a sack.

Opposing quarterbacks, including Trubisky, have had ample time to throw the ball without being pressured.

“We’ve got to do a better job with our pass rush, obviously,” Houston said. “That’s just what it comes down to.”

Last fall, Ankrah tallied 10.5 sacks.

Conference Play Starts

Saturday’s loss at UNC concluded the non-conference portion of JMU’s schedule. Now the Dukes turn their attention to Colonial Athletic Association action.

League play begins this week with a noon kickoff at Maine.

After the defeat, Houston said he wants his team to focus only on what’s ahead and not what occurred over the weekend in Chapel Hill.

“This one is behind us,” Houston said. “We have our conference opener next week, and in the grand scheme of things, that game is more important than anything that we’ve played so far.”