HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 9, 2009 - The James Madison University football team closes its 2009 road schedule Saturday (Nov. 14) at the University of Massachusetts.

The kickoff at the Minutemen's McGuirk Alumni Stadium is set for noon, and the game will be televised by regional cable affiliate The Comcast Network.

JMU will take a two-game winning streak in play Saturday after posting a 22-14 home victory over Maine last Saturday.  The win raised the Dukes' overall record to 4-5 and their Colonial Athletic Association mark to 2-4.

Massachusetts is 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the CAA after beating league foe Northeastern 37-7 Saturday at home.

Massachusetts leads the series with JMU 7-5-1 and has a 5-1-1 advantage in series games played on its home field.  JMU won 52-38 a year ago in Harrisonburg, and the Minutemen won 10-7 at home in 2005 in the last meeting in Amherst.

JMU got a 42-yard touchdown run and a 31-yard scoring pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Thorpe (Richmond, Va./Varina) in defeating Maine.  The CAA rookie of the week, Thorpe completed nine passes for 133 yard and ran 17 times for 83.  Junior Jamal Sullivan (Ruther Glen, Va./Caroline) also ran 22 times for 83 yards for the Dukes, who had the advantage of six Maine turnovers and scored the game's first points when the Black Bears snapped the ball through the end zone on a punt attempt.

JMU intercepted four Maine passes and recovered four Black Bear fumbles.  The interceptions were by junior defensive tackle Ronnell Brown (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory), freshman cornerback Leavander Jones (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City), sophomore strong safety Vidal Nelson (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) and redshirt freshman linebacker Chase Williams (Gaithersburg, Md./Northwest).  The fumble recoveries were by sophomore strong safety Jon Rose (Amherst, Va./Amherst) and redshirt freshman defensive end Aaron Harper (Fredericksburg, Va./Courtland).

Massachusetts tailback Tony Nelson ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns to lead his team over Northeastern.  The Minutemen outgained Northeastern 452 yards to 145 and didn't allow the Huskies to cross the 50-yard line until midway through the final quarter.  Massachusetts led 34-0 after three quarters.

The Series

The teams first met in 1986 with Massachusetts winning 16-14 at JMU on a late field goal.  JMU won for the only time at Massachusetts in 1987 (21-15), and the teams tied 28-28 in Amherst in 1989.  The 1989 tie is the last tied game in JMU history.

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