Second Half Push Lifts JMU Over Flames in First Battle of the Blue Ridge

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A dominant second half allowed visiting James Madison to safe a 31-13 victory over the Flames, Saturday afternoon, within the first-ever Battle of the Blue Ridge.
     
Earlier this month, the 2 groups, that are separated by lower than 100 miles, introduced an extension to their sequence. Today’s recreation was the primary of 10 occasions within the subsequent 16 seasons the packages will meet to problem for the Battle of the Blue Ridge trophy.
     
The inaugural Battle of the Blue Ridge recreation was performed in entrance of 24,022 followers, the second-largest crowd in Williams Stadium historical past.
     
After the sport was tied at halftime, 10-10, James Madison scored on three of its first 4 drives of the second half. The Dukes additionally restricted the Flames to only 92 whole offensive yards over the last half-hour of the sport.
     
James Madison completed the sport with a 440-233 whole offensive yard edge, holding the Flames to their lowest offensive output of the season. The Dukes got here into the sport with the No. 7 ranked protection within the nation, limiting their opponents to 206.0 yards per recreation.
     
With possessions at a premium, James Madison made essentially the most of its scoring alternatives. Outside of two end-of-the-half drives, the Dukes scored 5 occasions on their eight full-length drives and have been 5-of-6 in purple zone scoring possibilities.
     
After dropping beginning quarterback Ethan Vasko to a primary half harm, the Flames have been capable of take a lead on their opening drive of the third quarter. However, Liberty needed to accept a discipline purpose, whereas James Madison scored three second-half touchdowns.
     
Before leaving the sport late within the first half, Vasko accomplished 4-of-10 passing makes an attempt for 37 yards and ran 11 occasions for 52 yards. The redshirt junior additionally recorded his second speeding landing as a Flame.
     
Evan Dickens paced Liberty’s floor recreation, which accounted for 158 of Liberty’s 233 whole offensive yards. Individually, Dickens completed the sport with 17 carries for 67 yards.
     
Liberty’s protection was led by linebacker Derrell Farrer and security Brylan Green. Farrar completed the sport with a career-high 10 tackles and a cross breakup.
     
Green, taking part in with a solid on his proper hand resulting from an harm within the first recreation of the season, recorded seven tackles, all solo stops. He additionally picked off a cross in the long run zone on the finish of the primary quarter to file his sixth profession interception.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlG4PGVXu6Y 

Box Score Highlights:

Final Score: 31-13 (James Madison)

Liberty (1-3, 0-1 CUSA)

James Madison (2-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)

Location: Williams Stadium (Lynchburg, Va.)

Attendance: 24,022

 

Play-By-Play Breakdown:

First Quarter

• The Flames’ protection was capable of hold the Dukes out of the top zone on the sport’s first drive, forcing the guests to accept a discipline purpose. JMU bought into the purple zone, however CJ Bazile, Jr., tackled quarterback Alonza Barnett, III, for a loss, which was adopted by a 39-yard discipline purpose by Morgan Suarez on the 9:42 mark.
• On the next drive, Liberty transformed on a fourth-down play at midfield to maintain a drive alive, however the Flames additionally didn’t discover the top zone. Jay Billingsley was referred to as on for a 47-yard discipline purpose, which he linked on at 4:55 to tie the sport, 3-3.
• The Dukes virtually scored a landing on the ultimate play of the primary quarter, however Barnett’s five-yard cross try into the top zone was picked off by security Brylan Green, maintaining the sport tied on the quarter break.

Second Quarter

• Late within the quarter, the Flames pieced collectively a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive to take their first lead in three video games. The drive included one other fourth-down conversion and ended on a two-yard speeding landing by Vasko to offer Liberty a 10-3 lead at 5:34.
• The Dukes responded on the next drive, tying the sport a 10-10 going into halftime on a 21-yard cross play from Barnett to Landon Ellis with 1:19 left earlier than the break. Barnett accomplished all 4 of his cross makes an attempt for 45 yards on the eight-play, 77-yard scoring drive.

Third Quarter

• The Flames bought contained in the purple zone on their opening drive of the third quarter, however a holding penalty pressured Liberty to accept one other discipline purpose. The 13-play, 59-yard drive that took 6:54 off the clock ended on a 35-yard Billingsley discipline purpose at 8:06, giving Liberty a 13-10 edge.
• The Dukes regained the lead on the 3:32 mark of the third quarter on a one-yard speeding landing by Wayne Knight. The operating again’s second speeding landing of the season capped a nine-play, 81-yard drive to offer JMU a 17-13 lead.

Fourth Quarter

• JMU pieced collectively its third 10-plus play drive of the day and pushed their result in double digits at 11:07, 24-13. On the lone third-down play of the 11-play, 67-yard scoring drive, Barnett referred to as his personal quantity and located a gap for a one-yard rating on the left facet of the sphere.
• Barnett seals JMU’s first win within the Battle of the Blue Ridge sequence when he scored a 13-yard speeding landing with 2:31 left within the recreation to offer the guests’ their last margin of victory.

 
What’s Next:
The Flames will shut out the non-conference portion of the 2025 schedule subsequent weekend once they journey throughout the Commonwealth to face Old Dominion on Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
     
Liberty leads the all-time sequence towards the Monarchs 4-1, together with wins in four-straight video games towards Old Dominion since Liberty made the transfer as much as the FBS stage in 2018. The Flames additionally received the final match-up in Norfolk, 38-24, on Oct. 11, 2022.  
 
Date: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025
Location: Norfolk, Va. (Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium)
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LFSN Radio (Flagship Station: The Journey 88.3 FM Lynchburg)
Kickoff: 6 p.m. (EST)