UMaine Football Drops Home Opener To JMU

The University of Maine Black Bears fell to the James Madison Dukes by a score of 31-20 on Saturday afternoon for the opener at Alfond Stadium.

JMU running back Khalid Abdullah rushed for 172 yards including two scores to help lead the Dukes to the win.  Maine quarterback Dan Collins passed for 238 yards and had three interceptions in the contest.

The scoring started with a JMU touchdown as the Dukes went down the field and capped the drive with a three yard run from Abdullah to make the score 7-0.  The Black Bears would later respond with a six play 80 yard drive with a score from Earnes Edwards to make the contest a one point lead in favor of JMU after a failed two-point conversion.

UMaine would later take the advantage in the second quarter when Nigel Beckford would run in a two yard play after the Dukes hit a field in the prior drive.  The score at the half would be for UMaine by a score of 13-10 heading into the break.

Abdullah would start the second half with a 85 yard run for his second score.  The Dukes' lead was short lived as Collins and the Black Bears took the team on an eight play and seventy five yard drive, capped off with a Darian Davis-Ray from three yards out.

James Madison would control the rest of the quarter and into the fourth with back-to-back TD scores, including a 52-yard run from Cardon Johnson to make it 31-20 in favor of the team from Virginia.

The Black Bears record falls to 0-3 on the season and they will return next week for another home game as they welcome Bryant University into Alfond Stadium for an out of conference match-up.  The contest with the Bulldogs is set for 3:30 p.m. on October 1st.