HARRISONBURG — Nobody needs to tell players on the James Madison defense they will face a freshman quarterback for the first time this season Saturday.

They already know.

“It is a goal of the defensive line to rattle every quarterback that we go up against,” JMU junior defensive tackle Simeyon Robinson said. “Him being a freshman, maybe we can do that.”

With his team struggling to move the ball, third-year Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming made the decision a few weeks ago to put his offense in the hands of redshirt freshman signal-caller Jordan Vazzano.

Last week, Vazzano helped Rhode Island to its best offensive performance of the season in a 28-21 loss to Maine. Against the Black Bears, the Rams had more total yards and more yards through the air than they had in any previous game this year.

Vazzano threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns.

“He has the chance to take over the reins and he’s progressing as you’d hope,” Fleming said of his young quarterback. “Confidence is a critical component to it, but I also think his accuracy has improved. He’s got a big arm and can get it downfield with whatever throw we want him to make.”

First-year James Madison coach Mike Houston said Rhode Island would use a combination of controlled short throws as well as the occasional deep ball to put Vazzano in a position to succeed.

The Dukes want to do anything to force the 6-foot-3, 240-pounder into rookie mistakes. Even though Vazzano threw for more than 300 yards and the two scores against Maine, he also was intercepted five times.

“I think we have to get some pressure on him,” Houston said. “I think with any talented quarterback, especially one with a receiving corps that we’ll see Saturday, if you allow him to sit back there untouched and not make him move around, you’re asking for trouble.

“We want to get him moving and running out of the pocket. We need to get some hits on him and put them in some negative-yardage situations to generate sacks. That’ll be the key to us defending in the passing game.”

JMU went the first three weeks of the season without a sack, but since the start of Colonial Athletic Association play the Dukes have registered 11 sacks in four games.

Robinson leads the team with four sacks. Fellow defensive linemen Andrew Ankrah, David Ezeagwu and Martez Stone each have one.

“I think you’re seeing a lot of production from Simeyon just because he’s playing with discipline,” Houston said. “He plays hard and has worked hard, but he’s playing with more discipline, which has allowed him to be more productive. I think that’s the same for a lot of those guys upfront — Darrious Carter, Andrew Ankrah and Martez Stone, too.”

The four sacks for Robinson this fall are as many as he had in 2014 and 2015 combined.

He also played more than 90 snaps in JMU’s win at New Hampshire on Oct. 15. He had a sack against the Wildcats.

“I’ve just learned to keep moving my feet up the field and not to settle,” Robinson said. “If a guard holds me up, I’m just going to keep going. I’m going to keep attacking and it’ll eventually open up. That’s been my mindset this year.”

Much like Houston, Fleming said the key for Rhode Island’s offense is to protect the quarterback so he has enough time to release the football and use his strong arm.

“Our challenge will be to protect because they have some very sizable guys up front,” Fleming said. “They have as good of a defensive line as I’ve seen in the league.”

Rhode Island’s starting offensive line features two freshmen, two sophomores and one senior.

Kickoff on Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m.