JMU Heads to Chapel Hill Saturday to Battle Tar Heels

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Fresh off its first bye week, James Madison is back in action this weekend, as it travels down to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face North Carolina in a Sun Belt-ACC matchup.

Kickoff from Kenan Stadium is set for a noon start, and the game will be nationally televised on ACC Network. Pregame radio coverage on the Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network begins at 11 a.m.

The 2024 JMU football season is presented by CarMax.

James Madison (2-0) at North Carolina (3-0)
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Kickoff: Noon
Chapel Hill, N.C. | Kenan Stadium
Game Information
TV: ACC Network
Online: Watch ESPN (cable subscription required)
Radio: WSVA 92.1 FM/550 AM
Listen: Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network
Live Stats
JMU Game Notes

BREAKING DOWN THE SERIES

Saturday marks the fourth meeting all-time between the teams and first since the 2016 season.
UNC leads the series, 3-0, with all previous games being held in Chapel Hill.
Last time they met, on Sept. 17, 2016, JMU led 21-14 after the first quarter before UNC pulled away for a 56-28 win. That was JMU's lone setback on its way to winning the 2016 FCS national championship.
Carolina also owns home wins in both 2007 (37-14) and 2011 (42-10).
It's JMU's 14th game against an ACC member, holding a 3-10 mark, which includes a 36-35 win at Virginia last season in Charlottesville.

DEFENSE HOLDS STRONG IN HOME-OPENING WIN

JMU used big stops on the defensive side of the ball and held Gardner-Webb to three points each half to earn a 13-6 win on Sept. 7 in the home opener at Bridgeforth Stadium.
JMU forced a pair of GWU interceptions and stopped the Runnin' Bulldogs twice on fourth down while holding them to just 269 total yards.
JMU's defense held GWU to just 2-of-15 on third down, as the group was led by Jacob Dobbs' 13 tackles. Chris Shearin had a career-high nine, while Raymond Scott, Kye Holmes and Khairi Manns had six apiece.
JMU trailed 3-0 at halftime before scoring on its first two possessions of the second half, which included Tyler Purdy's first JMU touchdown. Leading 13-6 in the fourth, GWU was stopped in the red zone on a turnover on downs, as the visitors got as close as the JMU five yard line.

EXTENDING TO 22 STRAIGHT IN HOME OPENERS

With week two's win over Gardner-Webb, JMU has now won 22 straight home openers at Bridgeforth Stadium, dating back to 2003.
During the current stretch, JMU has outscored opponents by an average of 47.3 to 8.5.
It's also 42-11 all-time in home openers, going back to the inaugural 1972 campaign.
Over their past 10 home openers, no team has scored more than 10 points against the Dukes.
The last opposing team to win a JMU home opener was Hampton, 31-28, back on Aug. 31, 2002.

PETTAWAY'S CAREER NIGHT

George Pettaway turned in a career performance to aid JMU in its win over Gardner-Webb.
Pettaway rushed for a career-high 84 yards on just 10 carries, averaging 8.4 per rush.
He also had a career-high four catches for 32 yards.
His 116 total yards marked the first time in his career he surpassed 100 all-purpose yards.
Through two games, Pettaway leads JMU with 114 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry and is tied for the team lead with five receptions for 65 yards, which ranks third.
His 179 all-purpose yards leads all JMU players.

NORTH CAROLINA DUKES

JMU faces its third straight North Carolina squad to open the season, having already traveled to Charlotte while hosting Gardner-Webb.
A total of 11 Dukes hail from the state of North Carolina with two being from the Triangle.
Alonza Barnett III is from Grimsley, which is a short 39-mile drive to Kenan Stadium.
Ironically, he led Grimsley to the 2020-21 state championship, winning the title inside Kenan.
JaKobe Campbell, a Raleigh native, played his high school ball at Rolesville High School, which is 40 miles away from UNC's campus.
In addition to NC natives, George Pettaway transferred to JMU from UNC, where he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons at.
NC Natives on JMU Roster:
- Ke'Marion Baldwin (St. Pauls, N.C./St. Pauls)
- Alonza Barnett (Whitsett, N.C./Grimsley)
- Greyson Cadd (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian)
- JaKobe Campbell (Raleigh, N.C./Rolesville)
- Justin Eaglin (Spring Lake, N.C./Pine Forest)
- KJ Flowe (Charlotte, N.C./Julius L. Chambers)
- Phillip Harris (Charlotte, N.C./David W. Butler)
- Gabriel Hollingsworth (Pfafftown, N.C./Ronald Reagan)
- Tanner Morris (Fayetteville, N.C./Terry Sanford)
- Jack Mowrey (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell)
- Deacon Rawls (Elizabeth City, N.C./Kempsville)

SUCCESS IN THE TAR HEEL STATE

JMU has seen its fair share of success in the state of North Carolina over the past decade, posting a 7-2 record in games played in the state since the 2015 season.
The Dukes have won four in a row since 2019, which included a 30-7 win in the 2023 opener at Charlotte, and a 32-28 victory at App State in the program's first Sun Belt game in 2022.
The only two teams to claim wins in the state since 2015 are NC State (24-13) in 2018 and North Carolina (56-28) in 2016.
While an FCS member, JMU opened the 2017 season with a dominant victory over ECU (34-14) for its largest win over an FBS team while a member of the lower division.

DEFENSE CLAMPS DOWN

Entering Saturday's game at UNC, JMU's defense ranks top 20 nationally in six defensive categories.
Of the six, JMU paces the Sun Belt in five of those categories, ranking second in turnover margin.
2nd in Red-Zone Defense (.333 - 1/3)
Tied 4th in Interceptions per Game (2.0)
7th in Scoring Defense (6.5)
11th in Team Pass Efficiency Defense (85.27)
14th in Turnover Margin (+1.5)
19th in Third-Down Defense (.265)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: ACC Network
Online: Watch ESPN (cable subscription required)
Listen: Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network

On the radio – WSVA 92.1 FM/550 AM
Online: The Varsity Network

Broadcast Talent

ACC Network: Jorge Sedano (pxp), Orlando Franklin (analyst), Morgan Uber (sideline)
Radio: Dave Riggert (pxp), Cole Johnson (analyst)

Calendar

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ke'Marion Baldwin

Alonza Barnett III

Greyson Cadd

JaKobe Campbell

Jacob Dobbs

Justin Eaglin

KJ Flowe

Phillip Harris

Gabriel Hollingsworth

Kye Holmes

Khairi Manns

Tanner Morris

Jack Mowrey

George Pettaway

Tyler Purdy

Deacon Rawls

Raymond Scott

Chris Shearin

JMU Footer

Scoreboard

Calendar

Completed Event: Football versus Liberty on September 5, 2026 , Win , 20, to, 13

Completed Event: Football versus Wagner on September 12, 2026 , Win , 87, to, 3

Completed Event: Football at San Diego State on September 19, 2026 , Win , 26, to, 13

Completed Event: Football at Old Dominion on September 26, 2026 , Win , 46, to, 20

Upcoming Event: Football versus Marshall on October 3, 2026 at 3:45 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Georgia Southern on October 10, 2026

Upcoming Event: Football versus Georgia State on October 17, 2026

Upcoming Event: Football at App State on October 22, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football versus Troy on October 29, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Southern Miss on November 5, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT)

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