Dukes Edged in National Title Slugfest

Saturday, January 6

Frisco, Texas

Noon ET (11 a.m. CT)

James Madison University

14-1

North Dakota State

14-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Dakota State

James Madison

1/6/2018 3:37:00 PM | Football

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FRISCO, Texas - No. 1 James Madison did not allow a point in the second half on Saturday afternoon, but could not complete the comeback as No. 2 North Dakota State handed the Dukes a 17-13 loss in the 2018 NCAA Division I National Championship Game in Toyota Stadium.

JMU (14-1) held the high-powered Bison (14-1) offense, which entered the contest ranked eighth in the country at 462.1 yards per game, in check for much of the afternoon, limiting NDSU to just 264 yards on the afternoon. However, the Bison kept the Dukes to just 241 yards, including just 93 on the ground.

After cutting into a 17-3 first-half deficit with a field goal just before halftime, the Dukes came out of the break with a stop on defense and a 33-yard punt return from redshirt freshman D'Angelo Amos to set up an 8-play, 33-yard drive that cut the lead to four.

After both defenses traded stops for much of the remainder of the contest, the Dukes kept their hopes alive when redshirt senior defensive lineman Simeyon Robinson burst through the line and blocked a 38-yard NDSU field goal attempt with 4:37 to play. JMU drove down the field, aided by a 24-yard rush by freshman Harry O'Kelly on a fake punt, but saw its fourth-down heave to the end zone fall to the turf with less than a minute to play.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Riley Stapleton continued his tear in the playoffs, catching seven balls for 107 yards on the afternoon, while Robinson notched a pair of sacks in his final game, including a strip sack that gave the Dukes the ball. Amos was a constant threat on punt returns, racking up 87 yards on just four returns to flip field position multiple times.

Redshirt senior linebacker Kyre Hawkins finished with a game-high 10 tackles, finishing the year with a team-high 111 total stops. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Darrious Carter had eight stops, including 2.0 for loss and a sack, while Robinson tied his career high with 2.0 sacks.

The loss snapped JMU's NCAA-leading 26-game winning streak and dropped the Dukes to 2-1 in FCS National Championship games.

THE WINNINGEST CLASS IN HISTORY
JMU's 2017 senior class goes down as the best in school history. In JMU's 55 games over the past four years, JMU has amassed a 46-9 record, including 28-4 Colonial Athletic Association mark. These seniors became the first class in JMU history to make four straight FCS playoff appearances and the first ever to claim at least nine overall wins and six league wins each season. JMU captured the 2016 national championship, the second ever for the University.

BRYAN LEAVES LASTING LEGACY
JMU's entire senior class set the standard for JMU football, reaching back-to-back national championships. Senior quarterback Bryan Schor will go down as one of the best to ever don a JMU jersey, finishing his career with four JMU career records. Schor finished up with 7,078 passing yards, 62 passing touchdowns, 559 completions and 8,241 yards of total offense. He was a two-time All-CAA quarterback and was voted 2016 CAA Offensive Player of the Year.