Football Falls To No. 2 James Madison

Saturday, September 29

Richmond, Va.

3 PM

University of Richmond

James Madison

Freshman running back Aaron Dykes ran for a career-high 53 yards on 13 carries Saturday.

Photo by: Keith Lucas

09/29/2018 | Football

Box Score Richmond - JMU Stat Book Photo Gallery Highlights Postgame Press Conference

RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond football team suffered a 63-10 loss to second-ranked James Madison Saturday night at Robins Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd of 8,217 fans. The Dukes had 543 yards of offense in the victory as the Spiders fall to 2-3 on the season while James Madison improves to 4-1.

The Spiders recorded 337 yards of total offense in the loss. Junior quarterback Kevin Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) finished the game 16-of-35 for 256 yards, while redshirt shirt tight end Stephon Jacob (Damascus, Md.) had four catches for a career-high 81 yards and a touchdown. Freshman running back Aaron Dykes (Knoxville, Tenn.) ran for a season-high 53 yards on 13 carries, marking his first career touches on offense.

James Madison piled up 200 yards on the ground with Marcus Marshall leading the way with 99 yards on 10 carries, including a pair of touchdowns. Ben DiNucci threw three touchdowns on 19-of-26 passing for 248 yards.

James Madison opened the game with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jawon Hamilton to put the Spiders in an early 7-0 hole. Richmond responded with a nine-play drive resulting in a Griffin Trau (Hanover, N.H.) 33-yard field goal. The big play in the drive came when Johnson hit senior wideout Tyler Wilkins (Richmond, Va.) for a 42-yard pass completion.

The two defense came up with stops as the game went into the second quarter at only 7-3. James Madison took a 14-3 lead on a 15-yard run by Marshall, capped a 8-play, 78-yard drive by the Dukes. Richmond looked to respond on the ensuing possession, driving all the way down to the JMU 9-yard line. Senior wide receiver Jarmal Bevels (Fredericksburg, Va.) hauled in a 50-yard pass from Johnson to bring the Spiders into the end zone. Johnson tried to go back to Bevels at the goal line by JMU corner back Jimmy Moreland intercepted the pass and returned it 100-yards for a touchdown flipping the game.

The teams traded touchdowns to make it a 28-10 contest. Jacob grabbed his first career touchdown with 1:57 remaining in the second quarter, a 14-yard pass from Johnson. The Spiders' scoring play was set up in large part to a 60-yard kickoff return by Dykes. James Madison would score just 48 second later to take a 35-10 lead into the locker room. The Dukes scored the last 35-points of the game to take home the 63-10 victory

The 63 points are the most the Spiders have allowed against James Madison in series history and are the most allowed by Richmond since allowing 66 points to Alabama in 1961.

The Spiders return to action next Saturday when they host fellow Colonial Athletic Association foe Delaware. Game time at Robins Stadium is set for 3 p.m.

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