James Madison vs. Marshall Prediction: Can the Dukes Take Care of Business?
James Madison has been one of the better Group of 5 teams in the country since making the transition to FBS football last season. Can they get the job done tonight on the road against a dangerous Marshall squad? Let's break it down.
Joey Ruiz - October 19, 2023, 3:21 PM EDT
9 minJames Madison vs. Marshall Prediction: Can the Dukes Take Care of Business?
James Madison comes into this game riding high after an absolute blowout of Georgia Southern at home by the score of 41-13. The spread on that game was only -6.5 so this was a very impressive performance against a very solid Eagles team. Now James Madison has to turn around on a short week and travel to face a Marshall squad who is reeling a bit as they have lost two straight games to NC State and Georgia State.
James Madison vs. Marshall Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: October 19, 2023
- Game Time: 7:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: ESPN
James Madison vs. Marshall Prediction
Marshall gave up 48 and 41 points in those games, but the final scores were a bit misleading as Marshall actually outgained Georgia State/NC State by a combined aggregate of 876 to 875. The deciding factor in these games was turnovers as Marshall lost the turnover battle to Georgia State 1-0 and turned the ball over three times against NC State, including two very costly ones in the four quarter which essentially sealed their fate in that contest.
If Marshall can take care of the ball, I believe they have an excellent shot to keep this game close and potentially win outright as James Madison has not played their best ball on the road this season. James Madison enters this game with a straight up record of 3-0 on the road but they have come in less than impressive fashion. They beat lowly Virginia by a single point as they allowed a dreadful Virginia offense to pass for 395 total yards as the Cavaliers put up 35 points on the Dukes.
What was even more concerning about this game was that James Madison was up 14-0 and 17-7 and let Virginia back in the game with a true freshman quarterback. James Madison was unable to step on the gas and put the game away which was another common theme when they faced Utah State on the road. When James Madison traveled to Logan to face the Aggies, they gave up 38 total points and 500 total yards on the dot.
James Madison had a huge lead in this game as they were up 24-0 at one point and 38-14 late in the second quarter before nearly imploding in the second half. The Dukes allowed Utah State to get back in the game as the Aggies scored 24 unanswered points to actually tie the game at 38 before James Madison was able to ice the game with a late touchdown to win by a final score of 45-38.
While James Madison's resiliency should be commended, these blown leads came against well below average teams and they allowed two different true freshmen quarterbacks to absolutely light them up as UVA's Anthony Colandrea threw for 377 and two touchdowns and Utah State's McCae Hillstead threw for 399 and four touchdowns. This was the best game of each of their careers by far and it came against what was supposed to be a very stout James Madison defense.
Now James Madison has been very stout against the run as they are leading the nation in least yards allowed per carry and rushing yards allowed per game, but they have been getting gashed in the air and have been aided by a lot of turnover luck. All three of James Madison's games on the road to this point have been dog fights as the three games were decided by a combined 10 points (3.33 per game).
Marshall enters this matchup with a straight up record of 3-0 at home and appears to be a team who plays up or down to their competition. We saw them struggle with FCS Albany in Week 1 but then they went on the road and should have beaten NC State if not for some miscues late in the fourth. This is a huge conference game with potential Sun Belt Championship implications, and I fully expect Marshall to get up for this contest.
On the other side, I also expect James Madison to negatively regress a bit as they have been running far too clean in the turnover/fourth quarter department this season. Another interesting tid bit I found about this Sun Belt East Division is that the combined home record of these seven teams is 18-4, with the four losses being Coastal Carolina over App State (by three on a last second field goal), Georgia State over Coastal, WF over ODU (by three as 14-point dogs), and Troy over Georgia State.
So, there have only been two teams/games out of a potential 22 where the home team lost by more than a field goal. This is just an interesting tid bit and nothing more, but I do think it speaks to the pride that these have when playing at home and the level of intensity that they play with in their own stadiums. With that being said, I am rolling with Marshall +4 at -110 (DrafKings) for 1.5U as one of my most confident college football plays of the day for tonight's action.
James Madison vs. Marshall Pick
1.5u Marshall +4 -110 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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