JMU Defense Shuts Down Spiders in 19-3 Road Win

Saturday, October 16

Richmond, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

Richmond

10/16/2021 5:54:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

RICHMOND, Va. – #8 James Madison used a stifling-defensive effort, shutting down Richmond's offense, en route to a 19-3 Colonial Athletic Association football road win on Saturday afternoon at Robins Stadium.

The Dukes improved to 5-1 on the year and 3-1 in CAA play while the Spiders fell to 2-4 this season and 0-3 in league action.

The Dukes limited Richmond to just 188 total yards and just three trips across midfield, including just once in the second half alone. JMU has now held the Spiders without a touchdown in three straight games, having given up just six points in both the 2019 and 2020-21 meetings.

JMU racked a season-best six sacks, with two each from defensive linemen Bryce Carter and Tony Thurston, with Thurston's serving as the first two of his career. Mike Greene and Kelvin Azanama also registered their first sacks of the season.

Linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey led the Dukes with 10 tackles and a half TFL, while safety MJ Hampton tallied six stops. Greene and safeties Wayne Davis and Chris Chukwuneke each made five tackles, while Chukwuneke recovered the first fumble of his career.

Offensively, quarterback Cole Johnson was 19-of-29 for 270 yards and a touchdown. Richmond native Antwane Wells Jr. had a solid homecoming, making six receptions for 125 yards, which included a 47-yard catch. Kris Thornton also had seven grabs for 81 yards, with a game-long, 49-yarder. Percy Agyei-Obese had a game-high 72 rushing yards to pace the JMU ground attack.

Ethan Ratke bounced back this week, tying his career high with four field goals, which is also tied for the most field goals by any JMU player in a game. He now has 85 career field goals and his 13 points scored today moved him into fifth place all-time in FCS history with 457 points.

JMU struck twice late in the first quarter, as Ratke's first field goal put JMU up 3-0 with 5:54 left in the quarter. On the ensuing drive, the Dukes took care of a short field, and Johnson connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-long to running back Solomon Vanhorse to make it 10-0 after on.

The teams traded field goals in the second to make it 13-3 at halftime, and Ratke added two more kicks in the third to complete the game's scoring. After Richmond's field goal, JMU limited Richmond to just 64 total yards on the host's final nine drives.

GAME NOTES

The Dukes have now won six straight against the Spiders, which is a series record in the 39-game history.
Over the past five wins (2017-present), JMU has conceded just 38 points to UR, only allowing two touchdowns.
JMU out-gained Richmond by a wide margin, at 370-188.
The Dukes had a 270-84 lead through the air while the run game was fairly even, as UR held a 105-100 advantage.
Both teams struggled with the rainy elements on third down, as JMU was 4-of-15 and UR was only 2-of-15. This season, JMU has only allowed 18 third-down conversions and held opponents to a 22.5% clip.
The defense came away with six sacks, as opposed to Richmond's two.
JMU was 4-of-4 in the red zone, while UR was 1-of-1.
The Dukes had a 33:04 to 26:56 lead in time of possession.
Richmond's defense was paced by Angelo Rankin and Tristan Wheeler, who had 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.

UP NEXT
JMU hits the road for a nationally-ranked matchup at Delaware. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Delaware Stadium and will be streamed on FloFootball.