HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison nose guard James Carpenter was selected as the College Football Network Defensive Player of the Week following the Dukes’ 36-35 win at Virginia.
In the fourth quarter alone, Carpenter and the JMU defense held Virginia scoreless and to just 32 total yards, aiding in the team rallying from a 35-24 deficit.
The Roanoke, Va., native recorded four tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss. On the game’s final drive and with 33 seconds remaining, Carpenter batted down an Anthony Colandrea pass at the line of scrimmage, setting up the pivotal fourth down.
The win for JMU was its second ever against Virginia and the program’s third against an Atlantic Coast Conference team.
The Dukes (2-0) are receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 (1) and US LBM Coaches Poll (2) and are the only Sun Belt Conference team to receive votes this week.
JMU returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 16 when it opens conference play at Troy. The game is set for a 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) start and will be on WSVA and WSVAonline.com.
— JMU Athletics —
