(STATS) – James Madison’s 42-39 win at New Hampshire on Saturday underscored how winning the CAA Football title won’t be easy for any of the top teams.
The seventh-ranked Dukes (6-1, 4-0) are undefeated midway through their conference schedule, but after leading by 30 points in the fourth quarter, they had to hold off a furious UNH rally in their first-place matchup in Durham.
JMU moved one game ahead of UNH (4-3, 3-1) in the crowded CAA standings. Villanova (5-1, 3-0) also played at Richmond (5-1, 2-1) in another big matchup.
Junior quarterback Bryan Schor accounted for five touchdowns before the Dukes went ahead 42-12 when Charles Tutt scored off a fumbled UNH kickoff return with 10 minutes remaining.
But with backup quarterback Adam Riese excelling off the bench, UNH scored four unanswered touchdowns to put a scare into the Dukes. His 13-yard touchdown pass to Rory Donovan and pass for the 2-point conversion pulled the Wildcats with 42-39 with 1:15 to go.
But JMU’s Domo Taylor recovered UNH’s onside kick. With the Wildcats out of timeouts, the Dukes ran out the remaining clock.
Schor accounted for 312 yards (242 passing, 70 rushing). He threw two touchdowns each to Brandon Ravenel and Terrance Alls and scored on a 5-yard run.
UNH passed for 512 yards as its 17-game home winning streak ended. Starting quarterback Trevor Knight was 31 of 49 for 314 yards and a touchdown, while Riese was 13 of 21 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored once on the ground.
JMU, Richmond and William & Mary shared the CAA title last season. JMU last won an outright conference title in 2008.
—=
STATS FCS TOP 25 SCHEDULE=
Saturday, Oct. 15
All Times ET
No. 3 Jacksonville State (5-1, 2-0 OVC) 34, Austin Peay (0-6, 0-5) 14Running back Josh Clemons (19 carries, 143 yards, two touchdowns) and quarterback Eli Jenkins (15 carries, 117 yards, two touchdowns) led a Jacksonville State offense that had for the ball for less than 24 minutes. Jenkins also had a touchdown pass.
—=
No. 15 North Carolina A&T (5-1, 3-0 MEAC) 52, Bethune-Cookman (0-5, 0-3) 35
A&T senior Tarik Cohen rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He has gone over 200 yards in three straight wins.
Trailing 35-31, the Aggies took the lead for good on Lamar Raynard’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Bell with 9:22 left. On Bethune’s next play, linebacker Jeremy Taylor intercepted quarterback Larry Brihm Jr. and returned the ball 24 yards for a touchdown.
—=
No. 16 Coastal Carolina (4-2) 17, Gardner-Webb (3-4) 7
Coastal avoided an upset with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. De’Angelo Henderson (22 carries, 101 yards) scored on a 1-yard run to push his Division I record for consecutive games with a touchdown to 32 and Tyler Keane threw a 7-yard score to Bruce Mapp.
—=
Maine (3-3, 2-1) 20, No. 17 Albany (4-2, 1-2) 16
Dan Collins threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns – each at least 40 yards long – as Maine earned its third straight win and handed Albany its second consecutive defeat.
—=
Holy Cross (3-4) 27, No. 20 Harvard (4-1) 17
Harvard’s Ivy League-record 16-game road winning streak ended as well its 16-game winning streak against non-league opponents. The Crimson hadn’t lost outside the league since a 30-22 defeat to Holy Cross on Sept. 17, 2011.
In his first career start, Crimson sophomore Tom Stewart was 19 of 33 for 219 yards and a touchdown with one interception. The Crimson also lost two fumbles.
—=
No. 22 North Dakota (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky), beat Southern Utah (3-3, 2-2) 23
North Dakota posted its fifth straight win and took sole possession of first place in the Big Sky. Keaton Studsrud was 20 of 27 for 282 yards and four touchdowns – all to different receivers – and the Fighting Hawks held the ball for 39 minutes, 36 seconds.
—=
No. 5 Chattanooga (6-0, 4-0 Southern) at No. 8 The Citadel (5-0, 3-0), 3 p.m.
No. 12 Western Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at Missouri State (3-2, 1-1), 3 p.m.
VMI (3-2, 1-1 Southern) at No. 24 Samford (4-1, 2-1), 3 p.m.
No. 11 South Dakota State (3-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley) at No. 1 North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0), 3:30 p.m.
No. 13 Villanova (5-1, 3-0 CAA) at No. 6 Richmond (5-1, 2-1), 3:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian (0-6, 0-4 Southland) at No. 2 Sam Houston State (5-0, 4-0), 4 p.m.
Sacramento State (1-5, 1-2 Big Sky) at No. 10 Montana (4-1, 1-1), 4:30 p.m.
No. 19 Cal Poly (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky) at Portland State (2-4, 1-2), 5:30 p.m.
No. 23 Central Arkansas (4-1, 3-0 Southland) at McNeese (3-3, 2-2), 7 p.m.
No. 18 Eastern Illinois (4-2, 2-1 OVC) at Tennessee Tech (2-4, 2-2), 7 p.m.
No. 21 Northern Iowa (2-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at No. 14 Youngstown State (4-1, 2-0), 7 p.m.
—=
IDLE=
No. 4 Eastern Washington (5-1), No. 9 Charleston Southern (3-2) and No. 25 Grambling State (4-1)
25% Bonus via Western Union
