No. 9 Dukes Triumph Over FBS Foe SMU in 48-45 Shootout

Saturday, September 26

Dallas, Texas

7 p.m.

James Madison University

4-0 , 1-0

SMU

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

James Madison

SMU

9/26/2015 11:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score

DALLAS, Texas - Senior quarterback Vad Lee capped a historic night with a 17-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver John Miller with 27 seconds on the clock to lead the No. 9 James Madison football team to a 48-45 victory over FBS foe SMU on Saturday evening at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

The win moved JMU to 4-0 (1-0 CAA) for the first time since the 1978 campaign and dropped SMU to 1-3 on the year.

The Dukes, who led by 10 on two occasions, fell behind 45-41 with 2:04 to play after a pair of touchdown drives from the Mustangs. After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Dukes used eight plays to march 75 yards in just 1:37.

Lee, who went 5-for-6 on the drive and accounted for all 75 yards of total offense, put the finishing touch on the evening when he found Miller on an inch-perfect corner route that put JMU on top for good with 27 seconds on the clock.

After a pair of SMU gains brought the Mustangs to midfield, a final desperation heave was batted down by junior Domo Taylor and the Dukes clinched their fifth-ever win over an FBS team and first since a 21-16 victory at Virginia Tech on Sept. 11, 2010.

In all, the Dukes scored on five of their nine drives in the second half and racked up a program-record 729 yards on 85 plays.

Lee tallied 565 yards of total offense himself, shattering his own school record of 478 set last season at Villanova. The senior signal-caller also rushed for 276 yards on 20 attempts, breaking Warren Marshall's school rushing record of 264, set against William & Mary on Oct. 25, 1986. In all, Lee accounted for five touchdowns on the night, picking up a pair on the ground and adding three through the air on a 20-for-33 night that saw him rack up 289 yards.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Andrew Ankrah led the way for the Dukes, tallying four sacks and a pair of forced fumbles on his way to seven solo tackles, tying a career-high. Sophomore cornerback Jordan Brown racked up nine tackles, including four solo stops and a pair of tackles for loss for JMU.

QUOTING COACH WITHERS:
"I'm very proud of our football team for coming down here and playing what I think is going to be a good football team; Coach Morris has that team headed in the right direction. I respect everything that he does and I think that program will be successful. Hats off to our kids for fighting; we came into the game with a mindset: Don't wait. Don't wait to go win this game. Our intent was to come down here and win the game and I don't think there was any point in that game where we didn't think we were going to win the game."

TWEET OF THE GAME:

Wow!! What a game @JMUFootball - Amazing win over SMU! Way to represent down in TX! Go @JMU pic.twitter.com/zjFBUQqq7B
— David Leventhal (@davidleventhal) September 27, 2015

FOUR WEEKS OF OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS:
After four weeks, the JMU offense is moving at a pace unmatched in program history. Through three games, the Dukes have gained 2,685 (671.3/game) yards of total offense, scored 201 (50.3/game) points and picked up 134 (33.5/game) first downs, all program records.

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE:
After tallying just one sack in the first three games of the season, sophomore linebacker Andrew Ankrah broke through in a big way on Saturday evening, piling up four sacks, just 0.5 away from JMU's single-game record, for a total of 30 yards and forcing two fumbles. Ankrah's first forced fumble was scooped up by the Dukes in the second quarter, halting an eight-play, 46-yard drive for SMU.

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOK:
Senior quarterback Vad Lee continued his march up the JMU record books. After Saturday's performance, he ranks in the top six in five career categories at JMU:
Passing Yards: 5th, 4,657 (4th: Greg Maddox, 4,863)
Passing Attempts: 6th, 590 (5th: Eriq Williams, 617)
Passing Completions: 4th, 368 (3th: Greg Maddox, 405)
Passing Touchdowns: 3rd, 41 (2nd: Mike Cawley, 42)
Total Offense: 5th, 5,986 (4th: Rodney Landers, 6,765)

PHOTO OF THE GAME:
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Junior wide reciever Domo Taylor knocks down SMU's desperation pass as time expires to seal the Dukes' 48-45 victory in Dallas.

CLICK HERE for the complete photo gallery.

QUICK STRIKE CAPABILITY:
After JMU's first two scoring drives, which lasted 2:46 and 4:24, the Dukes averaged just 1:06 across their final six scoring drives, fast by even their lofty standards. None of the six drives eclipsed the eight plays or 1:37 duration of the final scoring drive and none of the five drives that ended in touchdowns covered fewer than 50 yards.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT:
Senior tight end Deane Cheatham picked up three more catches on Saturday evening, none bigger than his fourth-quarter touchdown reception that put the Dukes up 41-31. The Mechanicsville, Va., native found himself behind the secondary on a seam route and hauled in a career-long 52-yard catch to stake JMU a 10-point lead with just 12:30 left on the clock.

DUKES IN THE CAA:
-Saturday's victory, combined with Stony Brook's loss at William & Mary, leaves the Dukes as the last remaining undefeated team in the Colonial Athletic Association at 4-0.
-The 565 yards of total offense produced by Vad Lee on the evening marked the third-most yards gained by a quarterback in CAA history.
-After four weeks, Lee's averages top the CAA in rushing (125.8 yds/game), passing (298.9), total offense (424.5) and pass effieciency (162.1).
-With his rushing touchdown in the second quarter, sophomore running back Cardon Johnson matched junior running back Khalid Abdullah with six total for the season, tied for the most in the league.
-Senior kicker Ryan Maglio is now 4-for-4 on field goals and 27-for-27 on extra points in 2015. His 9.8 points/game are the most of any kicker in the league by more than two points/game.
-By the numbers, JMU has three of the top seven offensive threats in the league, as Lee (2nd, 125.8 yds/game), Johnson (3rd, 124.0) and Abdullah (7th, 109.5) all rank among the league leaders in all-purpose yards/game.

NEXT UP:
The Dukes return home next week for their second Colonial Athletic Association contest of the season, as they take on Stony Brook at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, as part of Family Weekend at JMU. The Seawolves are currently 2-1 (1-1 CAA) after a 21-0 loss at William & Mary on Saturday evening.