JMU Set for Inaugural Bout with Louisiana on Saturday at Bridgeforth

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison returns to Harrisonburg this weekend to host Louisiana in the teams' inaugural meeting between each other on Saturday, Oct. 4 at Bridgeforth Stadium.

Kickoff is set for a noon start, and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

Saturday's game is sponsored by Augusta Health, and the 2025 JMU football season is presented by CarMax.

Louisiana (2-3, 1-0 SBC) at James Madison (4-1, 2-0 SBC)
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Kickoff: Noon
Harrisonburg, Va. | Bridgeforth Stadium

Game Information
TV: ESPN2
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

DUKES AGAINST THE SUN BELT

Louisiana is the 13th and final Sun Belt team for JMU to play since joining the league in 2022.
Entering Saturday, JMU is 19-7 all-time in SBC games, which includes a 10-3 record at home and 9-4 away.
With last week's win in Atlanta, JMU has now started conference play 2-0 in three of four seasons in the SBC. In 2022, JMU won its first three Sun Belt games, while starting 6-0 in 2023.
JMU holds a 5-1 record against Sun Belt West Division squads, as ULM is the only team to best JMU, taking a 21-19 win in Monroe last season. The Dukes have beaten all other west teams in Arkansas State (42-20), South Alabama (31-23), Southern Miss (32-15), Texas State (40-13) and Troy (16-14).
Texas State becomes JMU's second west team it will play for a second time when the Dukes travel to San Marcos on Oct. 28 for a Tuesday night bout.
Against the East, JMU is 14-6, which includes a 4-0 mark versus Georgia State and 3-0 ledgers over Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion.

DUKES RALLY IN SECOND HALF AT GSU

JMU shut out Georgia State over the final three quarters and used rushing touchdowns in the second half by Wayne Knight and Alonza Barnett to grind out a 14-7 win in Atlanta last Saturday.
After being held off the scoreboard in the first half, JMU held GSU to just 85 second-half yards and only four first downs, as Knight's nine-yard score with 9:50 remaining in the game put JMU up for good.
Jordan Fuller led all players with 94 rushing yards, while Knight ran for 85 yards while making four catches.
JMU gave up just 37 rushing yards to the Panthers and took advantage of 15 penalties by the hosts to move to 5-0 all-time against GSU.

DEFENSE CONTINUES PROWESS

Through five games, JMU's defense has shown it's one of the nation's best, holding three top-10 rankings and being top 30 in nine areas.
JMU has given up an average of 217.2 yards per game to rank fourth in the FBS while conceding 13.6 points per game, good for 13th nationally.
The Dukes are also fifth in first downs allowed (12.4) and ninth against the pass (137.4) while ranking 12th in rushing defense (79.8), 13th in sacks (3.0) and 14th in pass efficiency (103.90).
JMU rounds out the top 30 by ranking 27th in the country in both third down defense (31.4%) and tackles for loss (6.6).
The Dukes have held four of five opponents to fewer than 200 passing yards and both Sun Belt opponents to less than 40 rushing yards, allowing 64 rushing yards on 48 carries (1.3).
Only one team has gained over 250 yards in a game against JMU, as Louisville had 264.

BACK-TO-BACK HORNUNG HONORS

Wayne Knight has showed his versatility week in and week out and was recognized on the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll following weeks five and six of the college football season.
In JMU's win over Georgia Southern on Sept. 27, Knight rushed for a career-high 151 yards while making four catches for 35 yards and adding 13 punt return yards to finish with a career-best 199 all-purpose yards.
This past week in the win at Georgia State on Oct. 4, he accrued 145 all-purpose yards off 85 rushing, 10 receiving and 50 punt return.
He also scored rushing touchdowns in each win.
Through five starts, Knight ranks seventh nationally with 142.4 all-purpose yards per game, 11th with 6.98 yards per rush and 33rd with 85.2 rushing yards per outing.
The Hornung Award is presented annually to the most versatile player in major college football.

A SPECIAL TEAMS 1-OF-1

JMU has seen production in multiple facets of its special teams unit, which includes scores, blocks and fakes.
Entering week seven of the college football season, JMU is the lone FBS team to have a kick return for a touchdown, two blocked punts and successfully run two fake punts for a first down.
JMU had a kick return for a score on Sept. 27 on Curtis Harris-Lopez's 88-yard return.
The Dukes blocked a pair of punts in the season opener on Aug. 30 versus Weber State, as both Chase Regan and Xavier Holmes each got hands on the ball.
In the Oct. 4 win at GSU, Lacota Dippre rushed for31 yards off a pair of fake punts, in which he gained eight and 23 yards, respectively to move the sticks.
Fake punts aside, JMU is one of just two FBS teams with a kick return for a touchdown and at least two blocked punts, as Miami (Ohio) joins the Dukes in that category.

ESTABLISHING THE RUN

JMU's run game has been solid each week and putting up numbers it hasn't seen since in six years.
The Dukes rank 10th nationally with 241.6 rushing yards per game.
The team is averaging 5.3 yards per rush and has scored 13 times on the ground this season.
Since moving to FBS, JMU has not averaged 200 rushing yards per game, as this year's numbers resemble the 2019 squad that averaged 242.9 yards per game and 5.0 per carry.
The running back room, loaded with the likes of Wayne Knight, Jordan Fuller, Ayo Adeyi, George Pettaway and Jobi Malary has improved JMU's rushing average by 50 yards per game from a year ago and a remarkable 107 yards per game in 2023.
Entering the week, Knight has run for 426 yards and four touchdowns, Fuller has rushed for 262 yards and a score and the quartet of Pettaway, Adeyi and QB's Alonza Barnett and Matthew Sluka has combined for 459 more yards and seven scores.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: ESPN2
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
ESPN2: Lowell Galindo (pxp), Aaron Murray (analyst), Lauren Sisler (sideline)
Radio: Dave Riggert (pxp), Que Reid (analyst), Cole Potts (analyst)

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