HARRISONBURG, Va. - #6 JMU passed for 341 yards and four touchdowns as the Dukes scored a 44-16 victory over visiting VMI on Saturday evening at Bridgeforth Stadium.

Rockeed McCarter (168 yards receiving) and Mike Caussin (145) each caught a pair of touchdowns for the Dukes (1-1), who were led by Drew Dudzik's 214 yards passing.  Dudzik's three-touchdown performance also marked the second consecutive multiple-score effort by the redshirt junior.

The Keydets (1-1), meanwhile, totaled just 178 yards of rushing offense, the team's lowest output under second-year head coach Sparky Woods.  Senior quarterback Kyle Hughes surpassed the 2,000-yard career passing mark on a 67-yard pass to Bryan Barnson in the second quarter, while Tim Maypray became just the fifth Big South player with 30 career touchdowns early in the fourth.

After VMI's opening drive stalled at the JMU45, the Dukes marched 78 yards in nine plays, capping the drive with a one-yard scoring plunge by Sullivan on fourth down.  The Keydets answered early in the second quarter, as Jeff Sexton booted a 32-yard field goal to bring the margin to 7-3.

JMU's Scotty McGee returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards, setting up a 37-yard field goal by Dixon Wright.  The Keydets followed with a first down before an illegal procedure violation on a 4th-and-1 forced a punt.  JMU needed only one play on the next drive to double the margin, as Drew Dudzik's 65-yard pass to Caussin brought the score to 17-3 in favor of the hosts.

Not to be outdone, the Keydets fired up their own passing attack, as Kyle Hughes found Bryan Barnson for a 67-yard connection on the next play from scrimmage, setting up VMI at the JMU 3.  Two plays later, Michael Rainey-Wiles punched in his first touchdown of the season from four yards out, bringing the visitors to within a score at 17-10 with just over six minutes remaining in the half.

A 48-yard return by McGee put the Dukes back in business in VMI territory on the following kickoff.  The second connection from Justin Thorpe to McCarter of the drive gave the Dukes a 14-point advantage, while a McCarter catch of Drew Dudzik's pass with six seconds remaining provided the halftime score of 31-10.

After the Keydets opened the half with a stop on fourth down, the offense marched down the field with a nine-play, 44-yard drive before the team's first turnover of the day, a fumble by Howard Abegesah.  A 26-yard scoring pass from Dudzik-to-Caussin, advanced the margin to 37-10, however the extra point try was unsuccessful for JMU.

VMI scored its final touchdown of the contest early in the fourth quarter, as Maypray snagged a swing pass from Hughes with one hand and scampered 13 yards to paydirt.  The Keydets, however, muffed the snap on the extra point, leaving the score at 37-16.  A 19-yard scoring scramble by Thorpe with 6:36 remaining in the contest provided the final margin.

VMI was led on the ground by Abegesah's 79 yards, while Corwin Acker's 60-yard effort paced the Duke ground-gainers.  Defensively, VMI got a team-high nine tackles from Byron Allen, while Josh Wine matched a career-best effort with eight stops.  Kris Ware, meanwhile, netted the team's only two sacks of the contest, the first pair given up by JMU this year..

The Keydets return to action next Saturday, taking on their second-straight ranked CAA foe, traveling to the capital city to take on #1 Richmond at 3:30 p.m.