James Madison continued winning ways with a 24-14 win over Louisiana in Harrisonburg Saturday afternoon.
In a first-ever meeting between the two sides, the Dukes were able to move the ball efficiently but failed to capitalize on prolonged drives in the first half. A fumble and a turnover on downs stalled James Madison, while Louisiana capitalized on sloppy JMU penalties to take the initial 7-0 lead.
James Madison would respond after a 49-yard run from Wayne Knight put them in the redzone, but the Ragin Cajuns struck back quick with a 62-yard pass of their own off of blown coverage to go back up 14-7.
After another drive stalled for the Dukes, they called upon their defense once again to hold off the Ragin Cajuns as they were looking to take a two touchdown lead going into halftime. The Dukes defense stood tall on the goal line and put together what might have been a game-saving stand for JMU.
The second half was all Dukes offensively, starting off with a 62-yard pass where Alonza Barnett III connected with Landon Ellis. Following JMU’s passing and offensive woes last week in Atlanta, fans enjoyed a more balanced attack this week. The Dukes passed for 295 yards and put up another 178 on the ground.
Louisiana, coming into the game with a punishing rushing attack, was held to 50 total rushing yards and under 300 yards total. This made James Madison the first team in Sun Belt history to hold teams to under 300 yards in six-straight games. They also became the first Sun Belt team to start out three consecutive seasons with a record of 5-1 or better.
All of those positives could not overlook miscues and frustration for the Dukes. Louisiana would force three turnovers in the first half and James Madison continued to struggle with penalties. Matthew Sluka coming in on 4th down rather than JMU potentially taking points in the first half also left many scratching their heads. Given that the 4th down play failed, many fans have continued to question the play calling of offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy.
For the part of the Ragin’ Cajuns, they were taken out of their element by a JMU defense that was never going to let them run all over Bridgeforth. Any game on the road is tough, and they were in this game tied going into the fourth quarter. Forcing three turnovers and capitalizing on James Madison’s ineptitude on offense was a winning formula, but Louisiana just didn’t have an offensive gameplan that could sustain drives without their run game.
James Madison will head into their homecoming contest against Old Dominion at 5-1 overall, 3-0 in the Sun Belt. Many are saying the game could at least decide the Sun Belt East– if not the entire conference. The latter might be a bit of a stretch considering how competitive the Sun Belt can be on any given day.
As for Louisiana, the Cajuns fall to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference. They’ll be at home next week facing a resurgent Southern Mississippi, coming off of their first road win in almost two years over a reeling Georgia Southern squad. Winning the Sun Belt West is not out of the question for the Ragin’ Cajuns, but the competition– especially next week– appears to be stiff.
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