Marshall hosts JMU for a Week 11 matchup on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET in Huntington, West Virginia.
The Dukes are listed as 13.5-point road favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at 54.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction, and best bet for this matchup between these two Sun Belt opponents.
JMU vs. Marshall prediction, preview
JMU Preview
The Dukes have a real shot at making the College Football Playoff. The champion of the American Conference seems to be the popular choice at the moment to get the Group of Five CFP bid. However, it seems as if more chaos is ahead for that conference. If JMU can win out and finish the season 12-1 as conference champions, with the lone loss coming to Louisville, it has a great argument to get that bid. This is a well-balanced team that is incredibly hard to beat under Bob Chesney. JMU ranks 42nd in the nation in offensive EPA/play and 42nd in offensive success rate, consistently providing solid offensive play. However, the defense is the star of the show. The Dukes rank 11th nationally in defensive EPA/play and second in defensive success rate. This team is firing on all cylinders, and I don’t envy any Sun Belt team that gets it its way.
Marshall Preview
Marshall is 4-4 on the season and will be fighting for bowl eligibility, rather than a College Football Playoff spot. Tony Gibson is in his first season as the head coach at Marshall, and just a bowl appearance would be a solid jumping-off point to build this team moving forward. Marshall quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson does it all for the Thundering Herd. He is obviously the team’s leading passer, but he is also the team’s leading rusher. Del Rio-Wilson has played clean football this season, with a 13-3 TD-INT ratio. He also has four rushing touchdowns on top of that. This team is explosive offensively, but struggles on defense. The Marshall defense ranks 113th in EPA/pass and 108th in passing success rate. However, they rank 22nd in the nation with 33.6 points per game.
JMU vs. Marshall pick, best bet
My best bet for this game is for James Madison to cover as 13.5-point favorites. Marshall’s offense has been high-scoring all season. However, the Sun Belt is riddled with poor defenses that Carlos Del Rio-Wilson can beat with his legs and his arm. This James Madison defense is not just the best in the Sun Belt, but one of the best in the nation. The level of athletes they have might not be on the level of Georgia, but Marshall could face some similar challenges to its season opener against the Bulldogs. In that game, Marshall lost 45-7 in Athens. On the other side of the ball, JMU should score in bunches in this game. The offense is playing the best it has all season, scoring 115 points over its last two games, against Texas State and ODU. JMU needs style points to compete for that College Football Playoff berth, so it will not take its foot off the gas with a lead late in this game. The Dukes should dominate from start to finish and get the win.
