James Madison vs Coastal Carolina 11/26/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and the James Madison Dukes meet in Sun Belt college football action from Bridgeforth Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will try to build on their 9-1 record after a 26-23 win over Southern Miss last time out. Grayson McCall has thrown for 2,314 yards, 21 touchdowns and an interception with a 68.9% completion percentage but he is now out for the season with a foot injury. CJ Beasley has a team-high 655 rushing yards with 4 touchdowns while Reese White has 414 rushing yards and 4 TDs as well this season. Sam Pinckney has a team-high 53 catches for 814 receiving yards while Jared Brown has 702 receiving yards and a team-high 5 touchdowns with 34 receptions. On defense, Charles Arnold Jr. and Lance Boykin each have a pair of interceptions. JT Killen has 83 total tackles and as a unit, Coastal Carolina has 29 sacks and 9 interceptions this season.

The James Madison Dukes will hope to build on their 42-40 win over Georgia State to climb to 7-3 on the year. Todd Centeio has thrown for 2,410 yards, 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 65.1% passing while also boasting 368 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground this season. Percy Agyei-Obese leads the JMU ground attack with 829 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns while Latrele Palmer also has 337 rushing yards and 4 scores for the Dukes. Kris Thornton leads JMU’s receiving group with 53 catches for 922 yards and 7 touchdowns while Terrance Greene Jr. has 384 receiving yards this season. On defense, Taurus Jones has a team-high 73 total tackles while Isaac Ukwu has a team-high 7.5 sacks. Jordan Swann and Jailin Walker each have 3 interceptions as well this season.

Coastal Carolina is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS loss and 20-9 ATS in their last 29 road games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record. James Madison is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 8-0 in their last 8 games following a win.

I get the case to be made for JMU laying the points at home as this has been quite the debut season for the Dukes at the FBS level. However, the Dukes haven’t been the same cover machine that they were early on in the year and while a lot of focus is going to be on Coastal Carolina losing their QB in Grayson McCall, the Chanticleers have a loaded roster and it’s going to just be a next man up mentality. James Madison may get the win here, but almost two touchdowns is a bit much. Give me the Chanticleers and the points here.