Mountaineers thump James Madison in record-setting day

LANDOVER, Md. -- Quarterback Geno Smith broke the No. 9 West Virginia University record for career passing yards as he threw for 411 yards and five touchdowns (three to Stedman Bailey) in three quarters of play in a 42-12 victory over FCS opponent James Madison at FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins.

Marc Bulger, who went on to an 11-year career in the NFL, held the career passing mark at 8,153 yards. Smith finished the afternoon with 8,191 career yards.

"He's doing a great job of making checks. He's getting us in the right plays, his completion percentage is off the charts and he's not taking sacks," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.

Bailey caught a school-record 13 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Several players are tied with 12, including Bailey's teammate, Tavon Austin, in the 2012 Orange Bowl.

"It was a pretty big performance," Bailey said, "but I expect that of myself."

The Mountaineers, who went to 2-0 while JMU fell to 2-1, set a school record for most points over three consecutive games, having scored 70 points in the Orange Bowl against Clemson, 69 in the season opener against Marshall and 42 in this game for 181 points, an average of 60.3 per game.

"They're good," said JMU coach Mickey Matthews. "They're worthy of their ranking and I think they're going to have a great year."

He had especially high praise for Smith.

"You just can't sack the guy," Matthews said. "He's quicker than our defensive linemen. When I was at Georgia, we used to play Peyton Manning, and that was the biggest problem we had with him -- we couldn't sack Peyton because he was bigger than our defensive linemen. That's what Geno is. We're big up front defensively, but we couldn't bring him down."

James Madison ran 12 yards for a first down on its first play of the game.

By the time the Dukes got their second first down they were trailing 21-0, as WVU's offensive machine went into high gear, scoring on each of the three possessions it had in that quarter.

The first touchdown came with the Mountaineers establishing their running game. Shawne Alston capped the 71-yard drive by bursting over left tackle from the 2 to make it 7-0.

On its next possession, WVU decided not to run the ball at all, going 64 yards through the air, with the touchdown coming on a nine-yard pass to Bailey a play after Smith and Bailey combined for a 36-yard connection to get the ball into scoring position.

Another three-and-out gave WVU the ball at its own 23, but 77 yards proved to be no obstacle as Smith mixed the pass and the run for a third score, this time on a three-yard pass to Bailey for his second touchdown.

It was 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and Bailey already had six catches for 102 yards ... and there was more to come.

On the Mountaineers' next possession it went to 28-0 as redshirt freshman Dante Campbell made his first collegiate catch a touchdown from four yards out on a pass from Smith.

The Dukes got on the board before halftime on a field goal from Cameron Starke, who had transferred to JMU from West Virginia, and the score remained 28-3 until halftime.

The third quarter saw the JMU offense come to life, but two goal-line stands by the Mountaineers stopped potential scoring drives at the 1 while Smith added a third TD pass to Bailey from 30 yards out to make it 35-5 entering the fourth quarter.

Notes: JMU star running back Dae'Quan Scott missed the game with an ankle injury suffered while scoring a touchdown near the end of the first half of the Dukes' easy victory over Alcorn State. He had rushed for 180 yards on 20 carries, an average of 9.0 per rush, coming into the game to go with eight receptions for 90 yards ... West Virginia is now 13-0 against schools which are members of the FCS ... WR Tavon Austin passed David Saunders into second place in career receptions at WVU with 195 ... Jock Sanders is the all-time leader with 206 ... There was a tribute to former WVU great and Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Sam Huff, who helped turn NFL football into a television giant when Walter Cronkite narrated the 20th century show "The Violent World of Sam Huff," between the first and second quarters ... Redshirt freshman Dante Campbell caught his first collegiate pass and it was a four-yard touchdown from Geno Smith. That marked the second straight week a WVU player had caught his first college pass for a touchdown after K.J. Myers did so in the opener.