Biggest game around here since the 2020 Conference Championship game vs. UAB.
When you look at JMU on paper, you have to wonder how the heck did this team lose to Georgia Southern, ULM, and App State and almost lose to Gardner-Webb? Statistically, this is the second best team we've faced all year and it's not even really close. Tulane is the only other G5 in the country that has a Top 25 scoring Offense and scoring Defense. They have the best Turnover Margin in the country.
They were +4 in turnovers vs. Georgia Southern and lost by 14.
They outgained ULM 399 to 257. Had 9 more first downs and one less turnover. And still lost.
It really is peculiar.
Expect to see a lot of heavy boxes Saturday and a lot of pressure. They lead the conference and are 9th best in the country with 3.09 sacks per game. I don't think we're going to be able to run Braxton on keepers and Turner on outside zone runs all night and expect to sustain drives.
Here's the run defenses we've faced since Va Tech ranked by YPC:
James Madison.....................3.61 (26th in the country)
Old Dominion........................4.34 (81st)
Coastal Carolina..................4.38 (86th)
Western Michigan...............4.77 (105th)
Louisiana Monroe................4.84 (109th)
Georgia State........................5.23 (122nd)
Georgia Southern.................5.27(123rd)
App State................................5.35 (123rd)
Southern Miss.......................5.87 (132nd)
For those curious, we are 94th in the country against the run based on Yards Per Carry giving up 4.54 YPC.
However, we can't be loose with the football throwing it around either because guess what....only BYU has intercepted more passes this year than JMU (BYU has 18 and JMU has 17).
Only Notre Dame has forced more turnovers this season than JMU (Notre Dame with 26, JMU has 25).
On the opposite side, they give up almost 3 sacks per game (112th in the country) and QB Barnett has a penchant for holding on to the ball too long to wait for the big plays to develop.
Their run game goes through backs Pettaway & Knight (both average over 6 yards per rush) and Barnett on scrambles. He has 418 yards rushing this year but has lost over 200 yards on 32 sacks so his YPC is very deceiving.
WR Omarion Dollison is the one that gives us nightmares. 27 catches for 505 yards (close to 19 yards per reception) and 5 TDs. 5 of his 27 catches have gone for 30+ yards.
If you don't look at the records and just look at the statistics, we should be about a 15 point underdog. However, as the great Bill Parcells once said, you are what your record says you are. JMU has on 3 occasions lost to teams they shouldn't have. Can Saturday night be #4?
When you look at JMU on paper, you have to wonder how the heck did this team lose to Georgia Southern, ULM, and App State and almost lose to Gardner-Webb? Statistically, this is the second best team we've faced all year and it's not even really close. Tulane is the only other G5 in the country that has a Top 25 scoring Offense and scoring Defense. They have the best Turnover Margin in the country.
They were +4 in turnovers vs. Georgia Southern and lost by 14.
They outgained ULM 399 to 257. Had 9 more first downs and one less turnover. And still lost.
It really is peculiar.
Expect to see a lot of heavy boxes Saturday and a lot of pressure. They lead the conference and are 9th best in the country with 3.09 sacks per game. I don't think we're going to be able to run Braxton on keepers and Turner on outside zone runs all night and expect to sustain drives.
Here's the run defenses we've faced since Va Tech ranked by YPC:
James Madison.....................3.61 (26th in the country)
Old Dominion........................4.34 (81st)
Coastal Carolina..................4.38 (86th)
Western Michigan...............4.77 (105th)
Louisiana Monroe................4.84 (109th)
Georgia State........................5.23 (122nd)
Georgia Southern.................5.27(123rd)
App State................................5.35 (123rd)
Southern Miss.......................5.87 (132nd)
For those curious, we are 94th in the country against the run based on Yards Per Carry giving up 4.54 YPC.
However, we can't be loose with the football throwing it around either because guess what....only BYU has intercepted more passes this year than JMU (BYU has 18 and JMU has 17).
Only Notre Dame has forced more turnovers this season than JMU (Notre Dame with 26, JMU has 25).
On the opposite side, they give up almost 3 sacks per game (112th in the country) and QB Barnett has a penchant for holding on to the ball too long to wait for the big plays to develop.
Their run game goes through backs Pettaway & Knight (both average over 6 yards per rush) and Barnett on scrambles. He has 418 yards rushing this year but has lost over 200 yards on 32 sacks so his YPC is very deceiving.
WR Omarion Dollison is the one that gives us nightmares. 27 catches for 505 yards (close to 19 yards per reception) and 5 TDs. 5 of his 27 catches have gone for 30+ yards.
If you don't look at the records and just look at the statistics, we should be about a 15 point underdog. However, as the great Bill Parcells once said, you are what your record says you are. JMU has on 3 occasions lost to teams they shouldn't have. Can Saturday night be #4?
| Marshall (8-3) | James Madison (8-3) | |
| PPG | 31.6 (43rd) | 33.9 (24th) |
| Points Allowed | 24.0 (61st) | 19.5 (19th) |
| Total Offense | 391.4 (64th) | 411.1 (49th) |
| Rush Offense | 205.8 (18th) | 185.0 (35th) |
| Pass Offense | 185.5 (111th) | 226.1 (68th) |
| Offensive Pass Effic | 143.85 (34th) | 142.64 (43rd) |
| 3rd Down Offense | 39.7% (77th) | 41.7% (54th) |
| Total Defense | 388.9 (89th) | 327.6 (33rd) |
| Rush Defense | 184.3 (109th) | 122.1 (34th) |
| Pass Defense | 204.6 (46th) | 205.5 (47th) |
| Defensive Pass Effic | 121.45 (43rd) | 108.17 (9th) |
| 3rd Down Defense | 33.5% (29th) | 32.3% (22nd) |
| Turnover Margin Per Game | +0.82 (15th) | +1.55 (1st) |
| Penalty Yards Per Game | 43.73 (24th) | 57.55 (90th) |
| Net Punting | 37.02 (105th) | 36.02 (119th) |
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