Huskies Beaten at No. 21 JMU, 44-6

Saturday, November 11

Harrisonburg, VA

2:00 PM

University of Connecticut

1-9 , 0-0

James Madison

10-0 , 6-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UConn	0	3	3	0	6
James Madison	3	10	17	14	44

Photo by: Scott Eyre Photography

11/11/2023 5:56:00 PM | Football

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The No. 21 nationally ranked James Madison Dukes scored 23 points in the second half on the way to dealing the UConn Huskies a 44-6 loss Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out 25,240 at Bridgeforth Stadium.

JMU quarterback Jordan McCloud led the way completing 33 of 37 for 457 yards and four touchdowns as the Dukes remain unbeaten at 10-0 on the season. JMU piled up 503 yards of total offense while holding the Huskies to 319 yards, 79 on the ground and just three-of-15 on third down.

JMU wideouts Reggie Brown and Elijah Sarratt both went over a hundred yards receiving on the day. Brown hauled in nine passes for 202 yards and touchdown catches of 80 and 52 yards. Sarratt had 13 catches for 160 for the Dukes.

The UConn defense held JMU to a pair of Camden Wise field goals, from 34 and 29 yards, midway through the second quarter. The "big play" proved costly to the Huskies as McCloud opened a JMU drive by finding Brown streaking in the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead at 7:40.

The Huskies answered to get their first points of the afternoon thanks to a Noe Ruelas (West Hartford, Conn.) 41-yard field goal at 4:14. Quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson (Orange, N.J.) led a 10-play drive, finding Cam Ross (Newark, Del.) twice for an 18-yard completion and a 20-yard hook-up before the drive stalled out on the JMU 19-yardline.

UConn got the kick-off to start the second half but on the second play from scrimmage, the JMU defense forced a Victor Rosa (Bristol, Conn.) fumble and recovered on the Huskies 39-yard line. The Dukes pushed their lead to 16-3 on a 28-yard Wise field goal, his third on the afternoon. The Huskies answered with a field goal on their next drive as targeting call on JMU's Que Reid and a halfback pass from Cam Edwards (Norwalk, Conn.) to Justin Joly (New Rochelle, N.Y.) pushed the ball to the JMU 18-yard line. Ruelas hit from 31 yards out to make it 16-6 with 7:42 left in the third.

McCloud took the Dukes right up the field, hitting on four-straight passes to cover 75 yards, the last to his tight end Zach Horton who rumbled in from 21 yards to make it 23-6 JMU. The McCloud-to-Brown connection hit for another big play as the two connected on a 55-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch to make it 30-6 with 2:06 left in the third.

On JMU's next drive, McCloud completed eight-of-nine including finding Brown to go over 200-yards receiving, while orchestrating a 10-play drive that he capped by finding Phoenix Sproles in the back of the end zone for a 37-6 lead. The Dukes closed out the scoring in the fourth as Brent Austin returned an interception 82 yards for a score.

UConn's Roberson finished 20-of-36 for 207 yards in the loss. Ross caught four passes for a season-high 91 yards while Joly had seven catches for 61 yards. Malik Dixon-Williams (Orlando, Fla.), Durante Jones (Atlanta, Ga.) and Isiah Davis (Fairburn, Va.) each made eight total tackles to lead the defense

Up Next:

The Huskies return to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field next Saturday for their final home game of the 2023 season hosting in-state foe Sacred Heart University on "Senior Day". Kick-off is scheduled for 12 noon on WFSB-3 in Connecticut and streaming on UConn+.