The James Madison Dukes and Marshall Thundering Herd clash Saturday in week 8 Sun Belt conference college football action from Bridgeforth Stadium.
The Marshall Thundering Herd come into this game at 3-3 on the year after a 23-13 loss to Louisiana in their last game. Henry Colombi has thrown for 943 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 73.2% passing while Khalan Laborn has a team-high 851 rushing yards and 10 scores this season. Corey Gammage has a team-high 23 catches for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns while three other Marshall receivers have 100+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Abraham Beauplan has a team-high 45 total tackles while Owen Porter has a team-high 3 sacks and Damion Barber and Sam Burton each have a pair of sacks as well this season for the Herd. Steven Gilmore and Micah Abraham each have a team-high 3 interceptions as well for Marshall’s defense this season.
The James Madison Dukes will try to bounce back from their first loss of the season in a 45-38 defeat at the hands of Georgia Southern last time out. Todd Centeio has thrown for 1,780 yards and 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 64% passing while also boasting 333 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground this season. Latrele Palmer also has 291 rushing yards and 4 scores for the Dukes. Kris Thornton leads JMU’s receiving group with 37 catches for 642 yards and 5 touchdowns while Reggie Brown has 346 receiving yards this season. On defense, Taurus Jones has a team-high 45 total tackles while Isaac Ukwu and Mikail Kamara each have 3 sacks. Jordan Swann and Jailin Walker each have a pair of interceptions as well this season.
Marshall is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 2-11 ATS in their last 13 games following a loss while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games in October. James Madison is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 conference games.
I get the case to be made for Marshall here as we’ve yet to see how the Dukes respond after a loss following the soul-crusher against Georgia Southern last week. However, this JMU team is still playing with house money right now and is playing every game like it’s their national championship as there is no postseason for the Dukes due to the FCS to FBS transition period. The Dukes are a threat in the Sun Belt, kind of like how Appalachian State was when they made the jump a few years ago. I like the Dukes in a big bounce back here against a Marshall team that really doesn’t have an offense to speak of this season.