Dukes Cap Off Undefeated Sun Belt Season, Roll Past Coastal 59-10

Saturday, November 29

Conway, S.C.

3:45 p.m.

James Madison University

11-1 , 8-0

Coastal Carolina

6-6 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

James Madison

Coastal Carolina

Dukes Cap Off Undefeated Sun Belt Season, Roll Past Coastal 59-10

11/29/2025 8:05:00 PM | Football

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. – Alonza Barnett III accounted for four total touchdowns, and James Madison completed a perfect Sun Belt Conference season with a 59-10 victory at Coastal Carolina on Saturday at Brooks Stadium.

The Dukes (11-1, 8-0 Sun Belt) ran its win streak to 10 straight, as they became the third Sun Belt team to finish unbeaten in league play during the championship era and the first since Louisiana did so in 2021.

JMU is also the seventh Sun Belt squad ever to finish conference play with an 8-0 mark.

Barnett finished 15-of-21 for 207 passing yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 31 yards and a score. Jobi Malary rushed for a JMU-best 154 rushing yards and a touchdown, highlighted by a 73-yard scoring run. Wayne Knight also had 85 rushing yards, as JMU combined for 286 as a team.

Eight different Dukes caught a pass, led by Braeden Wisloski, who caught four balls for 64 yards and a touchdown. Nick DeGennaro made three grabs for 47 yards, in addition to a two-point conversion, while Lacota Dippre, Isaiah Alson and Michael Scott also caught touchdown passes.

JMU dominated the yards game by a 525-170 margin, which included holding Coastal to -5 rushing yards. It marked the third time JMU has held a Sun Belt team to negative rushing yards, as it limited Troy to -12 on Sept. 16, 2023, and Marshall to -4 on Oct. 19, 2023. It was also the first time Coastal failed to gain a rushing yard in any game in the program's history.

Leading 20-10 at half, JMU turned on the boosters, scoring five second-half touchdowns to run away with its fifth straight victory against the Chanticleers and its largest in the history of the series.

On the defensive side, Jacob Thomas tallied six stops and breakup. KJ Flowe recorded his first career interception, a fourth quarter pick-six, to go along with a pair of tackles. Drew Spinogatti finished with five tackles, including three for a loss, and grabbed his first career sack. Aiden Gobaira registered four solo tackles and five total.

For CCU (6-6, 5-3 Sun Belt), Tad Hudson finished 16-for-38 with 148 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Karmelo English caught two passes for 46 yards, including a 42-yard haul in the third quarter. Cameron Wright and Dominic Knicely each made four grabs, combining for 73 yards. Bryson Graves made three catches for 21 yards, highlighted by a 12-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After forcing a three-and-out on the opening drive, capped by an Xavier Holmes sack, JMU quickly scored, as Barnett ran it in from three yards out behind a Knight lead block to give JMU a 7-0 lead with 10:36 to go in the first.
After a Morgan Suarez 33-yard field goal, Wisloski went up and made an incredible catch on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Barnett to extend the lead to 17-0 after one.
Suarez made it a 20-0 lead on a career-long, 47-yard field goal early in the second.
Coastal got on the board with an answering field goal and later used a trick play to set up a Bryson Graves 12-yard touchdown, trimming JMU's advantage to 20-10 at the break.
CCU opened the second half attempting its second onsides kick, but JMU recovered, resulting in Suarez knocking down his third field goal to move the lead to 23-10.
JMU upped the lead to 31-10 with just over five minutes remaining in the third, as Barnett connected over the middle with Dippre, who rumbled into the endzone from 25 yards out. A Barnett two-point pass to DeGennaro capped off the eight-point drive.
JMU scored four more touchdowns, all by different players to finish the rout.

GAME NOTES

Wayne Knight became the first JMU player to surpass 1,000 rushing yards since Percy Agyei-Obese has 1,216 yards in 2019.
Suarez tied his career high with three made field goals.
Alonza Barnett became the seventh QB in JMU history to surpass 5,000 career passing yards.
JMU now has a pick-six in consecutive games.
Since joining the Sun Belt, JMU has now outscored CCU by a 201-38 margin.
JMU finished 8-0 in conference play for the first time since 2019 and recorded an 11-1 regular-season mark for the second time in its FBS era.

UP NEXT
JMU will hosts Troy in the 2025 Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship Presented by Visit Pensacola on Friday, Dec. 5. Kickoff from Bridgeforth Stadium is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN.