The James Madison Dukes put up a historic performance in their 70-50 win over the North Carolina Tarheels. This signature road win for the Dukes was as exciting as they come. JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III was the catalyst on offense, with five touchdown passes. He had three of them in the first half. Speaking of the first half, Barnett’s numbers for the first two quarters alone would have been good enough for many college football quarterbacks to drool over. His 288 passing yards, 64 rushing yards, and five total touchdowns in the first thirty minutes of the game were impressive. That’s part of the reason why JMU led the Tarheels 53-21 at halftime.
James Madison scored on their opening drive with a field goal and looked like they were going to sputter on offense for the rest of the first quarter. But they kicked it in high gear with four minutes left. Receiver Omar Dollison caught a 69-yard TD pass. Barnett ran for a touchdown with a little over a minute left in the first quarter. The Dukes then came out and outdone themselves in the second quarter, scoring 28 points and shocking the college football world. They toned it down in the second half but still did enough to win by 20 points. Barnett finished the day with 388 passing yards, 99 rushing yards, and seven total touchdowns. Dollison led JMU with 125 receiving yards. Wide Receiver Cam Ross also broke the century mark with 107 yards and a touchdown.
Defense and Special Teams play for James Madison as phenomenal as the offense did. Jayden Mines returned a punt block for a touchdown. Terrence Spence had two interceptions including a 33-yard pick-six. Eric O’Neill had three tackles for a loss, including two sacks. They only allowed North Carolina to 22% on third down. The defense did their job in creating big plays to help the Dukes take an early lead and evolve it into a big lead.
The Tarheels tried to mount a comeback in the second half. Jacolby Criswell’s second-half performance was impressive in his second career start. He was night and day compared to the first half. Criswell finished the game with 475 passing yards and three touchdowns. Those two interceptions from the first half did hurt, but he played a lot better in the latter thirty minutes. Running Back Omarion Hampton was his usual self, rushing for 139 yards and three touchdowns. But for as much as the offense tried to chip away at the deficit, they just couldn’t do it. The morale was low as they were booed off the field going into halftime.
North Carolina will try to wipe their memory of this game as they drop to 3-1. They’ll try to push the reset button and regroup as they open up ACC play next week on the road against Duke. James Madison will play their final non-conference game next week against Ball State as they try to remain perfect for the season.