— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — If you are looking for the standard of excellence in Sun Belt Conference football, look no further than Marshall’s Week 5 opponent.
James Madison, the reigning league champion and a participant in last season’s College Football Playoff, has a new head coach in Billy Napier, but the Dukes have upheld their standard with a 4-0 record ahead of Saturday’s 3:45 p.m. matchup against the Thundering Herd from what will be a sold-out Bridgeforth Stadium.
JMU opened SBC play last week with a resounding 46-20 win at Old Dominion, and last loss to a Sun Belt opponent in November 2024 when Marshall edged the Dukes 35-33 in double overtime to win the conference.
“Our kids had the right mentality to go on the road and we started fast last week,” Napier said. “We were really ready to play. We have a ton of work to do to get where we want as a team.”
The Dukes’ transition to a coaching staff has gone smooth, evidenced by last week’s result as well as previous wins against Liberty, Wagner and San Diego State.
A lot of JMU’s top talent from last season hit the transfer portal after former head coach Bob Chesney’s departure for UCLA. Former Dukes’ running back Wayne Knight is with the Knights, while quarterback Alonza Barnett is now at Central Florida.
JMU began the season with J.C. Evans starting at quarterback, but his action has been limited as a result of injury, leaving the majority of the reps to Camden Coleman.
Tight end Cole Keller has been a welcome addition and shows nine receptions for 128 yards with three touchdowns,
The Dukes’ defense has been downright dominant in allowing a total of 49 points and no more than 13 in any of its four contests to this point, and that unit has the full attention of Herd head coach Tony Gibson.
“Their front is really good,” Gibson said. “Outside of Penn State, this is the best front we’ve seen and they’re very big and active up there. Their linebackers are active and their defensive backs are good players. It’s a defense that’s playing with a lot of confidence.
“We have to do things and pop big runs and try to establish ourselves. If we have to drop back and throw, it’s not going to be good.”
Marshall enters Sun Belt play this week with a respectable 3-1 record and with three close victories, including last week’s last-second 36-35 win over Gardner-Webb in Huntington.
The total margin of victory for the Herd across three triumphs is nine points, with two by a total of three.
“Marshall is 3-1 and I have a ton of respect for Tony Gibson,” Napier said. His teams play tough and they’re sound. Last year, they were 1-4 in one-score games. They’re in Year 2, have a veteran team and their quarterback (Carlos Del Rio-Wilson) was the preseason player of the year with 450 yards last week. His arm and legs are an issue.”