Oregon outlasts JMU in first round of College Football Playoff
Oregon defeated James Madison 51-34 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.
The score looked like it would be more lopsided during the first three quarters, as Oregon held a 48-13 lead over JMU halfway through the third quarter.
JMU managed to lessen the deficit toward the end by outscoring the Ducks 20-3 in the final quarter and a half.
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The Ducks (12-1) advanced to face Texas Tech in a quarterfinal game at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. Oregon won a playoff game for the first time since 2014, when the Ducks beat Florida State in the Rose Bowl semifinal before losing to Ohio State.
James Madison (12-2) dropped Group of Five teams to 0-4 in CFP games following No. 17 Tulane’s 41-10 loss at No. 6 Mississippi on Saturday.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson less than two minutes into the game to give Oregon a lead it would not relinquish. Johnson hauled in Moore’s pass with his right hand, and romped into the end zone while dragging a pair of defenders.
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James Madison responded with a 30-yard field goal from Morgan Suarez on its next drive, one which required 15 plays and burned 8:03 off the clock. The Ducks took over from there, rattling off four straight touchdowns before the Dukes snuck in another field goal from Suarez ahead of halftime, which brought the score to 34-6.
In falling behind by such a wide margin, James Madison went away from its rushing attack, which ranked fifth in the nation in average yards per game entering the evening. Sun Belt Player of the Year, Alonza Barnett III, completed 23 of 48 passes, including a 47-yard touchdown pass to Nick DeGennaro on James Madison’s first drive of the third quarter.
Oregon promptly responded with two touchdowns, including wide receiver Malik Benson’s second TD and a blocked punt that Jayden Limar scooped and returned 15 yards for a score. James Madison scored the last three touchdowns.
The victory was the Ducks’ seventh straight since losing to No. 1 Indiana 30-20 on Oct. 11. James Madison had won 11 in a row.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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