Junior Mike Perry connected on a 28-yard field goal with three seconds remaining after Delaware used a 14-play drive in almost seven minutes to lift the visitors past James Madison 13-10 in a Colonial Athletic Association football clash on Saturday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field.
UD, ranked fifth nationally in both major polls, improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the CAA. No. 3 JMU dropped to 3-1 overall and lost its league opener for the second straight season.
Delaware won for the first time in Harrisonburg since 2001 and snapped JMU’s seven-game winning streak, which started in 2009 in Newark. The streak was the second-longest in the nation entering the day.
The game was a tight, defensive battle that came down to the last team with possession. After a JMU three-and-out with the score tied 10-10, the Blue Hens took possession on the 20-yard line. Redshirt freshman quarterback Trevor Sasek drove UD to the JMU 11 in a drive that lasted 6:42. His final play centered the ball between the hashes to set up Perry’s 28-yard game winner.
JMU redshirt junior Kerby Long (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) fielded the final kickoff on the 15-yard line, reversed field twice, and made it into Delaware territory before finally being tackled at the 44.
Sasek completed 13 of 21 passes for 124 yards while playing in place of starter Pat Devlin, who was knocked out of the game on the Blue Hens second play from scrimmage.
The Dukes outgained the Blue Hens 283-206 but were severely hampered by 10 penalties for a total of 81 yards, including several that negated lengthy returns in the kicking game.
Redshirt senior quarterback Drew Dudzik (Clifton, Va./Centreville) completed 12-of-20 passes for 122 yards for JMU. Fellow redshirt senior Jamal Sullivan (Ruther Glen, Va./Caroline) had 93 of the 161 yards on the ground for the Dukes.
Delaware freshman running back Andrew Pierce, who entered the game leading the CAA averaging nearly 150 yards a game, was limited to 55 yards on the afternoon. JMU has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season.
The Dukes led 10-7 at halftime but were limited to just 69 yards on 19 plays by the Blue Hens in the second stanza.
Near the end of the third quarter, Delaware took possession on its 31 and drove 39 yards in nine plays to the JMU 30. Perry then nailed a 47 yarder to knot the score at 10-10 with 14:56 remaining in the game. JMU was limited to just 27 yards in its final two fourth-quarter possessions.
Delaware used its second-longest drive of the game to take the early lead, 7-0, on a one-yard keeper by Sasek with 12:40 to go in the second quarter. That capped a 12-play, 61-yard possession.
The touchdown was the first allowed by JMU in eight quarters going back to the opening drive of the game at Virginia Tech on Sept. 11. It was one of just two touchdowns allowed by the first-team defense all season.
JMU answered quickly thanks to a pair of big plays by Sullivan. On second down at the JMU 31, Sullivan rushed up the middle for 16 yards near midfield. He followed that with the longest play of the day for either team, a 47-yard rush down to the Delaware six. The Dukes were held out of the end zone on three straight rushing plays before redshirt junior Scott Noble (Baltimore, Md./Franklin) crossed the line on 4th-and-1 to tie the score.Dixon Wright (Crossnore, N.C./Avery County) hit a 20-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead at the break.Pat Williams (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) led JMU’s defensive effort with a game-best 13 tackles, including two for loss. Redshirt junior Lamar Middleton (Newark, N.J./Shabazz) had the only two sacks recorded by either team. The Dukes had a total of 13 tackles for loss for a net of -30 yards.
After Delaware went three-and-out, JMU maintained the momentum and used its longest drive of the game to march 75 yards in 14 plays while using 6:40. The Dukes had 1st-and-10 at the Delaware 12 and reached 4th-and-1 at the three. Following a timeout, redshirt junior
Once Devlin went out, Delaware was limited to -7 total yards on its next eight plays before the touchdown drive. The Blue Hens had just 67 yards of total offense in the first half with all but six coming on the one scoring drive.
Redshirt junior linebacker
Anthony Bratton had 11 stops to lead the Blue Hens while Darryl Jones and Paul Worrilow added 10 apiece. Delaware entered the day leading the nation allowing just 5.5 points per game on defense.
In addition to his second-quarter make, Wright also had a 47-yard miss on a field-goal attempt midway through the first quarter.
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