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Schor's Winning Legacy
1/5/2018 7:04:00 PM | Football
On a warm September evening in Dallas in 2015, Bryan Schor, just a sophomore at the time, witnessed the best single-game quarterback performance in James Madison history. Vad Lee collected 565 yards of total offense (289 passing and 276 rushing) and led the Dukes to a 48-45 win over FBS foe SMU.
"I was at SMU when Vad had about 500 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns and threw the game-winning touchdown to John Miller. At the time I was looking at Vad like 'wow, how is he doing this against an FBS team and not nervous? How is he handling himself?'" Schor said. "I figured out quickly it doesn't matter what stage you're on, you just have to be yourself."
Two years later, Schor has brought JMU to the biggest stage twice, winning the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS Championship, and taking the Dukes to the 2017 final. He's done it all by being himself.
"I like to pride myself as a genuine leader," Schor said. "It's just how I've always been, how I've been raised. I try to live the right way and hope that people follow me."
"I think he leads them with the character of person that he is off the field and the way he carries himself on campus and the way he treats other people," Head Coach Mike Houston said. "I think it's a lot of different things, but I think his leadership is just as important as his play on the field."
While Schor is now the face of the Dukes' program, his career as the starting quarterback got off to a rocky start. The win over SMU in 2015 was part of a 6-0 start that resulted in a No. 4 ranking in the national polls and an appearance on ESPN College Gameday for the homecoming match-up against Richmond.
But during that game, Lee went down with a foot injury and Schor's time as the starting quarterback began. He finished the year with 847 yards and seven touchdowns, but the Dukes lost three of their last five games, including a first round playoff game against unseeded Colgate.
"I think he took a lot of the blame and a lot of the responsibility for that. It was hard to live up to what Vad Lee had done," Offensive Coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said. "It was constantly said 'well if Vad hadn't gotten hurt they had a chance to go to the championship.' So there was a lot on him at that time."
As Houston and Kirkpatrick took over coaching roles before the 2016 season, Schor took the starting job by the horns.
"There was questions about whether or not he was good enough to be our starting quarterback," Houston said. "I watched a guy that every day almost that summer when I looked out of my window, I saw him out on the field working. Whether it was his footwork, or his throwing mechanics, or his timing with a receiver or whatever. He's out there working. He didn't say a whole lot, he just put his head down and went to work."
"He's the hardest working kid we've got on the team," Kirkpatrick said.
That hard work quickly translated to results on the field. Schor holds the JMU career records for passing completions (545), touchdowns (62), and total offense (8,074).
Possibly the most impressive aspect of Schor's performance as a starter has been his consistency. After a class of talented seniors from the 2016 championship team graduated, the Dukes faced massive turnover at the skill positions. Schor no longer had Brandon Ravenel, Rashard Davis, Domo Taylor, and Khalid Abdullah to throw to.
In addition to personnel turnover, the Dukes have faced injuries to Cardon Johnson, Jonathan Kloosterman, John Miller, and all but one starting offensive lineman. Aaron Stinnie is set to be the only lineman projected to start at the beginning of the season starting in the national championship game, with freshmen starting at both guard positions.
Through it all, the one constant has been Bryan Schor.
"He's shown up, he's taken the ball, he's been there every time. He's not had great highs or great lows, he's just been Mr. Consistency," Kirkpatrick said.
While Schor has accrued an impressive statistical legacy, there's only one thing that matters to him and Houston: winning.
"The thing that stands out the most to me is you look at 28-1 in the last two years as a starting quarterback because I think the most important measure of a quarterback is winning. And he's been able to do that," Houston said. "He is the best quarterback to play at JMU."
Schor's winning pedigree involves making the clutch plays when games are on the line.
In the quarterfinal win against Weber State, facing an eight-point deficit with just over three minutes left in regulation, Schor hit Ishmael Hyman for an 11-yard gain to get the Dukes across midfield. Three plays later he found Riley Stapleton for the game-tying score. With just over a minute left, he completed three crucial passes to drive 44 yards and set up the game-winning Ethan Ratke field goal.
In last year's semifinal win over North Dakota State, he found John Miller in the end zone to seal a 27-17 victory on the road.
And when it mattered the most, Schor threw two touchdowns in the first quarter of last year's national championship to establish a 14-0 lead that the Dukes would not relinquish.
Ultimately, it's not the stats and records that matter to Schor. His legacy will be defined by those championship moments.
"I want to be remembered as being on the best teams at JMU. I could really care less if I come back and people say I'm the best quarterback or anything like that. I want to be on the most winning teams at JMU. I want to be the most winning quarterback at JMU, on the best senior class at JMU," Schor said. "But my biggest goal right now is to get this win Saturday."
"I was at SMU when Vad had about 500 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns and threw the game-winning touchdown to John Miller. At the time I was looking at Vad like 'wow, how is he doing this against an FBS team and not nervous? How is he handling himself?'" Schor said. "I figured out quickly it doesn't matter what stage you're on, you just have to be yourself."
Two years later, Schor has brought JMU to the biggest stage twice, winning the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS Championship, and taking the Dukes to the 2017 final. He's done it all by being himself.
"I like to pride myself as a genuine leader," Schor said. "It's just how I've always been, how I've been raised. I try to live the right way and hope that people follow me."
"I think he leads them with the character of person that he is off the field and the way he carries himself on campus and the way he treats other people," Head Coach Mike Houston said. "I think it's a lot of different things, but I think his leadership is just as important as his play on the field."
While Schor is now the face of the Dukes' program, his career as the starting quarterback got off to a rocky start. The win over SMU in 2015 was part of a 6-0 start that resulted in a No. 4 ranking in the national polls and an appearance on ESPN College Gameday for the homecoming match-up against Richmond.
But during that game, Lee went down with a foot injury and Schor's time as the starting quarterback began. He finished the year with 847 yards and seven touchdowns, but the Dukes lost three of their last five games, including a first round playoff game against unseeded Colgate.
"I think he took a lot of the blame and a lot of the responsibility for that. It was hard to live up to what Vad Lee had done," Offensive Coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said. "It was constantly said 'well if Vad hadn't gotten hurt they had a chance to go to the championship.' So there was a lot on him at that time."
As Houston and Kirkpatrick took over coaching roles before the 2016 season, Schor took the starting job by the horns.
"There was questions about whether or not he was good enough to be our starting quarterback," Houston said. "I watched a guy that every day almost that summer when I looked out of my window, I saw him out on the field working. Whether it was his footwork, or his throwing mechanics, or his timing with a receiver or whatever. He's out there working. He didn't say a whole lot, he just put his head down and went to work."
"He's the hardest working kid we've got on the team," Kirkpatrick said.
That hard work quickly translated to results on the field. Schor holds the JMU career records for passing completions (545), touchdowns (62), and total offense (8,074).
Possibly the most impressive aspect of Schor's performance as a starter has been his consistency. After a class of talented seniors from the 2016 championship team graduated, the Dukes faced massive turnover at the skill positions. Schor no longer had Brandon Ravenel, Rashard Davis, Domo Taylor, and Khalid Abdullah to throw to.
In addition to personnel turnover, the Dukes have faced injuries to Cardon Johnson, Jonathan Kloosterman, John Miller, and all but one starting offensive lineman. Aaron Stinnie is set to be the only lineman projected to start at the beginning of the season starting in the national championship game, with freshmen starting at both guard positions.
Through it all, the one constant has been Bryan Schor.
"He's shown up, he's taken the ball, he's been there every time. He's not had great highs or great lows, he's just been Mr. Consistency," Kirkpatrick said.
While Schor has accrued an impressive statistical legacy, there's only one thing that matters to him and Houston: winning.
"The thing that stands out the most to me is you look at 28-1 in the last two years as a starting quarterback because I think the most important measure of a quarterback is winning. And he's been able to do that," Houston said. "He is the best quarterback to play at JMU."
Schor's winning pedigree involves making the clutch plays when games are on the line.
In the quarterfinal win against Weber State, facing an eight-point deficit with just over three minutes left in regulation, Schor hit Ishmael Hyman for an 11-yard gain to get the Dukes across midfield. Three plays later he found Riley Stapleton for the game-tying score. With just over a minute left, he completed three crucial passes to drive 44 yards and set up the game-winning Ethan Ratke field goal.
In last year's semifinal win over North Dakota State, he found John Miller in the end zone to seal a 27-17 victory on the road.
And when it mattered the most, Schor threw two touchdowns in the first quarter of last year's national championship to establish a 14-0 lead that the Dukes would not relinquish.
Ultimately, it's not the stats and records that matter to Schor. His legacy will be defined by those championship moments.
"I want to be remembered as being on the best teams at JMU. I could really care less if I come back and people say I'm the best quarterback or anything like that. I want to be on the most winning teams at JMU. I want to be the most winning quarterback at JMU, on the best senior class at JMU," Schor said. "But my biggest goal right now is to get this win Saturday."
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