Frisco Bound! JMU Punches Ticket to FCS Title Game Downing South Dakota State 51-16

Saturday, December 16

Harrisonburg, Va.

4:30 p.m.

James Madison University

14-0

South Dakota State

11-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

James Madison

Frisco Bound! JMU Punches Ticket to FCS Title Game Downing South Dakota State 51-16

12/16/2017 8:55:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score Ticket & Travel Info Highlights Press Conference Photo Gallery #1 Photo Gallery #2

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Top-seeded James Madison scored on a quick drive in the final minute of the first half and added a 30-point burst in the third quarter to cruise past No. 5 South Dakota State 51-16 in the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on Saturday evening at Bridgeforth Stadium.

The Dukes (14-0) will compete for its second straight national championship with a match-up against No. 2 North Dakota State on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is set for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) on ESPN2.

Tickets and travel packages, which do not include game tickets, are now available at www.jmutickets.com.

QUICK HITS

JMU tied its program record for most wins in a season, as it has now won 14 games in back-to-back years.
The Dukes forced a program-record 10 turnovers, producing a six interceptions and four fumble recoveries, both of which were season highs. The six picks also matched a 44-year old program record when the Dukes were a Division III program.
Junior running back Marcus Marshall exploded for a career-high 203 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries (13.5 avg.). In the third quarter alone, he ran six times for 166 yards, which included touchdown runs of 65 yards and a career-long 87 yards.
Senior quarterback Bryan Schor passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore receiver Riley Stapleton caught both of his touchdown passes, as he had five catches for 70 yards. Junior David Eldridge also had five receptions for 75 yards.
Both a single-season record and career record were set in Saturday's win as redshirt senior safeties Jordan Brown and Raven Greene both went to the top of the interception charts. Brown made two interceptions to set the JMU single-season record, with nine. Greene had a 59-yard pick-six late in the third for his JMU career-record 14th interception. Brown now leads all FCS players in interceptions this year.
Redshirt junior corner Jimmy Moreland tied a program record, coming away with three interceptions, including two in the first quarter. He now has eight picks this year, which ranks second in the FCS behind his teammate, Brown.
Junior cornerback Rashad Robinson led all players with a career-high 12 tackles while also making his first career sack. Brown also made eight stops and recovered a fumble. Redshirt senior linebacker Kyre Hawkins had two fumble recoveries, senior linebacker Brandon Hereford had a forced fumble and a recovery and redshirt junior defensive lineman Darrious Carter forced a pair of fumbles and had two of JMU's five sacks.
The Dukes out-gained the Jackrabbits 463-366, which included a 257-120 lead in the ground game. JMU averaged 6.6 yards per rush and had a +8 turnover margin.

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE MORE!

No. 1 James Madison bounces No. 5 South Dakota State, 51-16, and is one win away from defending its title #FCSChampionship pic.twitter.com/YvkJRhYUdE
— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) December 17, 2017

Two teams remain. This is how we got here: https://t.co/XEb5LXWn3P #FCSPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/293RZooKtt
— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) December 17, 2017

PRESS CONFERENCE

BREAKING DOWN SOME RECORDS

Program record 10 takeaways (five in first quarter)
Tied program record with six interceptions (Division I program record)
Program record for most points scored in a third quarter (30)
Jimmy Moreland tied program record with three interceptions
Marcus Marshall produced second-most rushing yards in JMU postseason game (203)
His 87-yard touchdown was the third-longest rush in JMU history and longest in JMU postseason history
Raven Greene set career interception record (14) and Jordan Brown set single-season interception record (9)

BRYAN BEING BRYAN
Bryan Schor had already set four career program records coming into the semifinals and he extended those records. After passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns, he set a personal single-season record with 3,074 passing yards, which is second in JMU history. He also has 26 passing touchdowns, which is three off his 2016 total.

For his career, Schor leads JMU all-time with 6,930 passing yards, 62 passing touchdowns, 545 completions and 8,074 yards of total offense.

DEFENSE RATTLES CHRISTION
JMU forced a program-record 10 turnovers in Saturday's semifinal win, and the takeaways began early and often. South Dakota State turned the ball over on its first five possessions, with three fumbles and two interceptions, both coming from Jimmy Moreland, in the opening 15. In the third quarter, the Jacks had three straight drives ending in JMU takeaways. After scoring a touchdown early in the fourth, SDSU threw two more picks on consecutive drives.

After scoring seven points on its first five drives, JMU accounted for 44 points after scoring on its next six drives, with the seventh score coming on Raven Greene's pick-six for his career-record 14th interception.

PHOTO OF THE GAME - Photo Gallery #1 Photo Gallery #2
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