There’s no question James Madison is a good football team as evidenced by a 70-50 win at North Carolina, followed by a 63-7 win against Ball State. They are currently among the teams receiving votes in the latest AFCA coaches poll.

The Dukes, in their third year in the Sun Belt Conference, are now eligible for the conference championship after completing their two year transition period, and are bidding for a third straight Sun Belt East Division championship.

Playing their Sun Belt Conference opener with Louisiana-Monroe after their back-to-back wins over Carolina and Ball State, JMU came up with an explicable 21-19 clunker of an upset loss.

The Dukes (5-1, 1-1) rebounded in impressive fashion with a 39-7 rout of Coastal Carolina on national television last Thursday and they will bring one of the most potent offenses and stingy defenses in the nation to Paulson Stadium, a place where they have yet to manage a win in their first five attempts.

First-year head coach Bob Chesney has been impressed by what he has seen from Georgia Southern and in particular how they came from behind to beat Marshall Saturday.

“Obviously this is a tough place to play if you watched the game the other night,” Chesney said. “You could feel that stadium come alive. They are a very well-coached team in all three phases and will take everything we have to beat them.”

The Eagles are averaging just over 30 points per game which is just sixth in the league, but they have shown the ability to score points in bunches, evident in the 20-points they scored in the last 6:31 of the game Saturday against Marshall.

“We saw what they can do Saturday at the end of the game with Marshall,” Chesney said. “Between the two quarterbacks, depending on who goes Saturday, they are both just as good. French has been the main starter and does a good job of the conversion routes and he and the receivers are all on the same page. Willaims came in and has a live arm and can run and can do anything.”

The Dukes come in with the top defense in the Sun Belt conference averaging giving up just 16 points per game. Despite this fact, Chesney has been impressed by the Eagle offense in general and feels like they will have their hands full Saturday.

“They have a ton of motion and a lot of shifts on offesne,” Chesney said. “They run a reverse at least every single game as well as flea flickers, screen and go’s, vertical shots and hard play-actions. They run the quarterback, all their running backs and receivers are good as well as their tight ends and offensive line. Overall, they are just a good offense with an unbelievable scheme which will test you in every way. They can run just as well as they can pass and that is a challenge our players are looking forward to.”

Whether or not the Eagles stick with French the entire game, or possibly go with Willaims at some point it is nothing the Dukes haven’t already seen. They played multiple quarterbacks against North Carolina and Old Dominion already this season.

“I was thinking here we go again,” Chesney said. “There are two different quarterbacks who can be playing and you have to think about what each of them do well and how do we prepare defensively for them. We have to anticipate what kind of twist each of them bring in their positives. They are similar, but they are also a little different. They both can run and both have good arms and are on time with their receivers. You expect it from French as the starter, but Williams came in and there as no drop off. It is a huge test.”

From a personnel standpoint The Dukes return 38 letterwinners from last year’s 11-2 team which lost to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Chesney hit the transfer portal hard and as a result the roster has 58 new players including 31 transfers.

One holdover from last year who has made Chesney’s transition a lot easier is redshirt sophomore quarterback Alonza Barnett III who has thrown for 1,472 yards and 15 touchdowns with only one interception. He has also run for 325 yards and six touchdowns.

Barnett etched his name into JMU and Sun Belt history against North Carolina when he turned in a seven-touchdown performance against North Carolina. He had five touchdown passes and rushed for two to join Clemson’s Cade Klubnik who had seven earlier this season against Appalachian State.

Leading the way on the ground is George Pettaway, a transfer from Charlotte, has rushed for 387 yards and caught 10 passes for 109. On the receiving end Omarion Dolliron and Taylor Thompson give Barrett a nice one-two punch. Dolliron, a transfer from South Florida, is seventh in the nation in yards per reception at 22.2. He has 15 receptions for 334 yards while Thompson has caught 19 balls for 290 yards.