No. 7 JMU Hits Road Saturday to Battle No. 15 Towson in Regular-Season Finale

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Seventh-ranked James Madison hits the road on Saturday, Nov. 17 to face off with No. 15 Towson in a big Colonial Athletic Association Football matchup in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium and will be streamed on College Sports Live, free of charge. The game can be heard on the JMU Sprint Broadcast Network, with pregame coverage beginning at 1 p.m.

The 2018 JMU football season is presented by CarMax.

PRESS LUNCHEON

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday marks the 28th meeting all-time, with the Dukes leading 20-6-1. JMU has won two straight in the series and nine of the past 10 meetings dating back to 2004. The teams last met in 2015, with JMU earning a 51-30 road win.

LAST TIME OUT
Ben DiNucci accounted for five total touchdowns to help lead JMU to a 48-31 victory against Rhode Island last Saturday on Senior Day. JMU scored three straight touchdowns to bridge the first and second quarters and added a pair of field goals to take a 27-14 halftime lead. The Dukes always had an answer for the Rams, as the teams traded second-half scores, never allowing the visitors to pull closer than 10.

DiNucci threw for 227 passing yards and a career-high four touchdowns while rushing for another score for his second career five-touchdown performance. JMU rushed for 192 yards, averaging 4.5 per carry. Cardon Johnson ran for 73 yards and a score and Trai Sharp added 62 on the ground. Kyndel Dean had five catches for 86 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown. Riley Stapleton also caught a pair of touchdowns.

SCOUTING TOWSON
The Tigers enter the final weekend with an identical record to JMU, with a 7-3 overall record and 5-2 mark in CAA play. Last week, Towson pulled away for an impressive 41-10 win at Elon. Tom Flacco passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Towson averages a CAA-best 38.7 points per game while allowing 27.7 to its foes. The Tigers pass for 280.1 yards per game, which paces the league, while rushing for 190.7 yards per outing, which is third-best in the CAA. Flacco is a dual-threat quarterback who leads the conference with 275.2 passing yards per game and 25 touchdowns and also ranks sixth with over 65 rushing yards per game. Shane Leatherbury is second in the conference with 787 receiving yards while Jabari Allen has 549 on the year. Both have six touchdowns. Bryce Carter leads the defense with 11.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks and Robert Heyward has a team-high 84 tackles, with 9.0 for a loss.

Rob Ambrose is in his 10th season at the helm, holding a 59-57 record for the Tigers. He guided TU to back-to-back CAA titles in 2011 and 2012, and the Tigers advanced to the national championship game in 2013, finishing with a school-record 13 wins.

CAA TITLE RACE HEADING INTO FINAL WEEKEND
Entering the final game of the regular season, JMU sits a game back in the race for a fourth straight conference championship, with a 5-2 CAA record. Maine leads the pack with a 6-1 record and has already clinched at least a share of the crown.

The Dukes are in a four-way tie for second place with Towson, Delaware and Stony Brook. The Black Bears win the title outright with a win over Elon, but a Phoenix victory allows the JMU-Towson winner to share the CAA championship. Should that happen, wins by Stony Brook over Albany and Delaware over Villanova would also give those squads a share of the title.

JMU earns the automatic bid from the league for the FCS Playoffs in two instances. If JMU and Maine are tied at 6-2 and William & Mary finishes ahead of New Hampshire in the conference standings. If the Dukes are in a three-way tie with Maine and SBU, William & Mary finishing ahead of UNH in the final standings would put the Dukes over the top for the AQ.

JIMMY PICKS OFF ANOTHER PASS
Just before halftime, Jimmy Moreland tacked on another interception to his ledger, setting up a last-second field goal to extend JMU's lead. Moreland is tied for the CAA lead with five interceptions in 2018 and has a JMU-record 18 for his career.

SENIORS SENT OFF RIGHT WAY LAST SATURDAY AT BRIDGEFORTH
Last Saturday marked the final regular-season home game for JMU's 11 seniors. With the win, the group is now 44-8 since the start of the 2015 season. In 29 career games at home, the senior Dukes have gone 26-3 over the past four seasons at Bridgeforth Stadium.

WAYS TO WATCH THE GAME
Saturday's game will be streamed on College Sports Live (http://collegesportslive.com) as the CAA Game of the Week, free of charge. Scott Sudikoff will provide the call for the game with Brandon Noble on color commentary.

LISTEN ON THE JMU SPRINT BROADCAST NETWORK
All 11 regular-season games, as well as any postseason matchups can be heard online on the JMU Sprint Broadcast Network or on airwaves at WSVA 550AM and 92.1 FM. Dave Thomas is in his fourth season as the play-by-play man for the Dukes and is joined by Clint Estes on color commentary. The pregame show begins this week at 1 p.m., ahead of the 2 p.m. kickoff.

UP NEXT
The NCAA FCS Selection Committee will reveal the bracket for the 2018 FCS Playoffs on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 12:30 p.m. The selection show will be televised nationally on ESPNU. A total of 24 teams will earn spots in the playoffs, with the top eight receiving a first-round bye.

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