JMU Drops Season Opener at Maryland

Saturday, August 30

College Park, Md.

3:30 p.m.

James Madison University

0-1

Maryland

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

James Madison

Maryland

8/30/2014 7:30:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Press Conference
Photo Gallery
Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – James Madison struggled to find a flow on both sides of the ball as it opened the 2014 season with a 52-7 loss at Big Ten newcomer Maryland on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 45,080 at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.

Quarterback C.J. Brown led the offensive attack for the Terrapins (1-0) with four total touchdowns, including three on the ground, as the hosts outgained the Dukes (0-1) 471-302 in total offense.

JMU's lone score came following the first career interception for rookie cornerback Jimmy Moreland (Royal Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach), which put the Dukes 27 yards away from the end zone. Seven plays later, freshman tailback John Miller (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) plunged in from one yard out for the touchdown in his collegiate debut.

Maryland used a strong running game to set the tone in the opener, as it rushed for 285 yards as a team with five touchdowns. Brandon Ross ran for a game-high 86 yards and a touchdown and Wes Brown accrued 81 yards while C.J. Brown added 61 yards to go with his three rushing scores.

For JMU, sophomore tailback Khalid Abdullah (Newport News, Va./Heritage) led the team with 67 yards. Redshirt junior quarterback Vad Lee (Durham, N.C./Hillside (Georgia Tech)) began his JMU career with 141 passing yards on 16-of-37 passing but threw a pair of interceptions. He also ran for 27 yards, which included a long of 34 – the longest play from scrimmage on the day.

C.J. Brown also passed for 111 yards on 11-of-24 passing and a touchdown for the Terps and backup quarterback Caleb Rowe added 75 yards on 7-of-11 with a touchdown and interception.

Defensively, Maryland had a pair of players register double-digit tackles as L.A. Goree had a game-high 14 while Sean Davis added 10. The Dukes had three players tally nine tackles in senior safety Dean Marlowe (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross), redshirt freshman linebacker Kyre Hawkins (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) and freshman cornerback Aaron Peak (Blythewood, S.C./Blythewood).

The Terrapins jumped out to an early 7-0 lead just over three minutes in after forcing the Dukes into a 3-and-out to open the contest. A pair of 15-yard penalties by JMU put Maryland in great field position and C.J. Brown capped off the 6-play, 58-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.

Much like the first drive, a pair of 15-yard penalties against Madison put Maryland in scoring possession again, with Brown scoring his second rushing touchdown of the day from eight yards out to give the Terps a 14-0 advantage with 8:48 to go in the first.

Maryland increased its lead to three possessions with just under two minutes remaining in the opening stanza after Brad Craddock split the uprights with a 48-yard field goal, making it a 17-0 game. The home team stretched the lead to 24-0 midway through the second when C.J. Brown evaded tacklers in the backfield on fourth and goal, cut it back to the middle and dove across the line for the score.

The Terrapins added three touchdowns in the third quarter before the Dukes forced a turnover that resulted in their only points during the fourth quarter.
The loss to Maryland kept JMU winless in week one against NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents as it is now 0-11 all-time in program history. The Terps also improved to 3-0 in the all-time series between the two programs, also notching home wins in 2009 in overtime and in 1998.

JMU returns to the gridiron next Saturday with a road matchup against Lehigh. The game is slated for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff from Bethlehem, Pa., and can be heard on the JMU/nTelos Wireless Broadcast Network.