Receivers Take Control In JMU's 52-10 Rout Of ETSU

Stephen Swofford/DN-R

HARRISONBURG — Riley Stapleton and Ishmael Hyman had waited.

Stapleton for his first touchdown catch and Hyman to show he’s the play-making wide receiver everyone at James Madison thinks he can be this season.

On Saturday, the pass-catchers hauled in two touchdowns apiece during No. 1 JMU’s 52-10 rout of East Tennessee State in front of 24,722 purple-and-gold dressed spectators at Bridgeforth Stadium.

“We definitely push each other,” Hyman said of JMU’s receiving core. “But there’s no selfish guys in our room and we all want to see each other succeed.”

Hyman’s 17-yard scoring reception gave JMU a 7-0 advantage less than three minutes into the game and set the stage for the group’s impressive performance.

Dukes senior quarterback Bryan Schor was 25-of-33 tossing for 304 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

“I think when you see a team stack the box like they did,” Schor said. “And add more people to defend the run, you get a lot more opportunities out wide.

“Then you see guys like Riley, Ish and [junior receiver] David Eldridge flourish when they get one-on-one coverage.”

East Tennessee State limited JMU to 122 rushing yards — the fewest its ever had in a single game since coach Mike Houston took over before the 2016 season.

But as the Buccaneers put all their effort into the slowing the run, Schor, Hyman and Stapleton were ready to counter through the air.

Hyman’s first touchdown grab came on a third-and-9 against single coverage. Earlier on the drive, Stapleton snagged a 10-yard reception to move the chains on a third-and-10.

In fact, throughout the game Schor made eight throws in third-down situations resulting in either a first down or a touchdown.

“Obviously we stopped the running game,” East Tennessee State coach Carl Torbush said. “But we didn’t stop what we needed to and that was the passing game on third down.”

Hyman’s second touchdown catch came on a 6-yard slant route versus single coverage just two plays after Schor had extended the drive on a third-and-4 with a 10-yard pass to senior slot receiver John Miller.

Hyman’s grab put JMU ahead 21-0. The ex-Kansas receiver finished the day with six catches for 93 yards and two scores. He had all of five receptions for 75 yards through an injury-ridden 2016 season.

Then Schor and Stapleton showed off how exactly to run a back-shoulder fade to perfection.

With JMU on the 3-yard line, ETSU put nine defenders around the line of scrimmage to prevent the Dukes from running the ball past the goal line, so Schor lofted a throw to only where Stapleton could catch it.

Against a smaller cornerback, the 6-foot-5 former Indiana High School (Pa.) basketball standout outleaped his opponent in order to record that first-career touchdown catch.

Stephen Swofford/DN-R

“We’ve worked it a lot,” Schor said. “It’s something that Riley’s really good at. He’s a big guy, a big target and he responds well to an outside ball.”

Stapleton said the fade is something him and Schor spent extra time working on this past week after JMU’s practices.

“It’s nice to see it pay off in the game,” Stapleton said.

His second touchdown reception put JMU ahead 42-7 in the third quarter. Eldridge, a transfer from Virginia, corralled his first touchdown catch as a Duke to put JMU ahead by the 52-10 score it would win by.

Eldridge also might have had the catch of the game when Schor threw off one foot from his own goal line in the second quarter. As Schor was flushed right, Eldridge turned his route right and as Schor fired the ball, Eldridge was there to haul in the 13-yard catch by keeping one foot in bounds.

“We’ve got pretty good wide outs,” Houston said. “And Bryan’s a pretty accurate passer, so he did a good job of connecting with them.”

The three receivers — Hyman, Stapleton and Eldridge — are all fairly new contributors. Hyman played some as a freshman and sophomore, but not much last year. Stapleton is a first-time starter and Eldridge is in his first year at JMU.

Miller was the only consistent receiver the team had coming back.

In the offseason the Dukes were tasked with replacing three graduating receivers — Brandon Ravenel, Domo Taylor and Rashard Davis.

While the team’s offense thrived behind Schor and his new crop of receivers, JMU’s defense limited East Tennessee State to only a field goal and 175 total yards of offense.

The Dukes (2-0) extended the nation’s longest winning steak in Division I to 14 games and improved its all-time record against East Tennessee State (1-1) to 7-3.