KINGSTON, R.I. -- Justin Thorpe threw a pair of touchdown passes, had 340 yards through the air and also ran for 40 yards as James Madison easily defeated Rhode Island 32-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for the Dukes on Saturday.

Thorpe, who was 26 of 40 and also threw two interceptions, opened the scoring for James Madison (3-1, 1-0) with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Brian Barlow less than five minutes into the opening quarter. Quintin Hunter ran it in for the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. Rhode Island quickly answered with a 56-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Bob Bentsen and Brandon Johnson-Farrell to pull within one point.

But DeAndre' Smith had an 8-yard scoring run to increase the James Madison lead to 15-7 going into halftime. The Dukes rolled from there, scoring 17 points without an answer from the Rams (0-3, 0-2) to secure the win.