James Madison Surges Late, Takes Down Troy to Win First Sun Belt Championship

James Madison takes down Troy 31-14 behind a strong defensive performance, winning their first Sun Belt Championship and keeping their College Football Playoff dreams alive.

It was a cold night in Harrisonburg, and with snowballs flying James Madison did exactly what they needed to stay in control and pull away in a big way late in the fourth quarter. Troy fought hard, kept the game competitive throughout, but it was not enough after failing to capitalize on a number of opportunities.

“Only one team could hold up that trophy, and that team will understand what that sacrifice was for, but only one team can know that, and that’s certainly us. [Our guys] understood what it takes and were willing to fight and do whatever it takes to not only win this game, but the others too,” said Coach Bob Chesney.

CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/OSvVy6ZR7s

— Sun Belt Syndicate (@SunbeltSyndicat) December 6, 2025

Defense really was the story early on, Troy started with the ball, but only picked up one first down before getting stopped. The two teams then traded short possessions before James Madison finally got the ball to Troy’s side of the field late in the first quarter. A Morgan Suarez 40-yard field goal gave the Dukes an early lead.

The offenses began to heat up early in the second quarter, Troy quickly responding to the JMU field goal with a 6-play touchdown drive. James Madison then scored on the first play from scrimmage on the next drive, a 73 yard touchdown run by Wayne Knight to give the Dukes a 10-7 lead.

KEEP THOSE LEGS MOVIN’ 🏃 https://t.co/L9grF0FpjW pic.twitter.com/rGYl3v7aCK

— JMU Football (@JMUFootball) December 6, 2025

After trading empty possessions, there would be a bit of controversy in this high-stakes game. A group of fans behind the end zone began pelting snowballs at the Troy punter, possibly causing a very short punt, which gave James Madison a very short field to work with. JMU took full advantage, scoring a touchdown in just three plays to go up 17-7.

The JMU fans were throwing snowballs at the Troy punter before this 26 yard punt how is that legal & not a penalty?! 😂 pic.twitter.com/W2Lc2YKffF

— The cfb lliason (@realfbllliason) December 6, 2025

Troy was able to get on the board one more time themselves in the first half, a a long touchdown drive, to cut the JMU lead to just three heading into the half.

Despite the 17-14 score, defenses played relatively well in the first half. Both teams able to capitalize on short fields. The most impressive stats were defensive, JMU held Troy to -9 rushing yards in the half, while the Dukes offense was 0-7 on third downs due to big stops by Troy. This great defense continued to be the story in the second half, neither team able to do much on the offensive side of the ball.

Both teams trading punts to open the half before a big James Madison interception set up Troy near the red zone. However, James Madison got a huge stop. Troy was not able to pick up even a yard on their possession before ending it with a missed field goal. On the next drive, Troy forced yet another turnover near the 50-yard line, but the offense was stopped yet again. There was a bigger problem for Troy on this drive though, quarterback Goose Crowder had to leave the game due to a leg injury. A very tough break for Crowder, who missed much of the season with injury already.

The two teams traded defensive stops before Troy put together a long 6 minute drive. However, they would not be able to get points out of it, James Madison able to stop them yet again to get the ball right back. And despite their lack of success in the second half so far, the Dukes finally got a couple of big runs, including one to the endzone to take a two possession lead late in the fourth.

It would not get much better from here for Troy, as on the very next drive the Troy would struggle to move the ball, before a fourth down strip sack by James Madison got picked up and returned for a touchdown, effectively putting this one away. James Madison winning the game 31-14.

SAHIR WITH THE SACK, SPIN WITH THE SCOOP AND SCORE!

DUKES LEAD 31-14!! pic.twitter.com/t4vy60iBnH

— JMU Football (@JMUFootball) December 6, 2025

As mentioned many times before, defense was the big headline. James Madison completely shut down Troy in the second half, holding the Trojans scoreless, only allowing 45 yards total in the second half. Troy totaled just 160 yards on the day when combined with the first half stats, this including -26 total rushing yards. James Madison had 411 yards total, including an impressive 318 yards on the ground.

James Madison may struggled through the air, but it did not matter much, their offense led by running back Wayne Knight. He had a massive game with 212 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 21 attempts. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III had a much better game on the ground than in the air, he rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.

Troy on the other hand may not have been able to do much on the ground, but did find some success through the air with quarterback Goose Crowder. He threw for 196 yards in the game before his injury. Backup Tucker Kilcrease did not find much luck passing, he only completing one pass for seven yards. The top Trojan target was Ra Ra Thomas, he caught 3 passes for 82 yards.

“We just did not execute well enough on special teams or offensively in the third quarter to get the game tied or take a lead, which I thought would have been huge. Then it got away in the last six minutes after the turnover, but really just couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys. They came in two years ago and stood up to a lot of adversity and got ourselves to a point to be in a championship game,” said Troy Head Coach Gerad Paker.

This game putting an exclamation point on the Dukes’ championship season season, they finish their season undefeated in conference play, 12-1 overall. The only loss, a close road loss to Louisville in week two.

While maybe not eye opening, JMU did what they needed and their season overall speaks for itself. Sun Belt Champions, dominant wins over a number of teams, including a blowout victory over 9-3 Old Dominion. Most would think this should be more than enough for JMU to be one of the five highest ranked conference champions.

This however is likely not the case though, in large part due to Tulane winning the American conference title. The Green Wave were already ranked significantly higher and with their win tonight, the Green Wave will likely get this playoff spot. All despite the Green Wave’s two blowout losses, one against 6-6 UTSA.

Instead, the 12-1 Dukes will have to be big fans of Duke. Duke University, that is, as a win by the Blue Devils Saturday night may put the committee in an interesting position that could possibly result in a 5-loss ACC Champion Duke being ranked lower than JMU. If this were to happen, both James Madison and Tulane could make the playoffs, while the ACC Champ is left out.

Needless to say, there is a lot to watch for tomorrow night for JMU fans and Sun Belt fans alike. Regardless of the uncertainty however, both James Madison and Troy finish off successful seasons bowl eligible. They and the seven other bowl bound Sun Belt teams will find out Sunday who awaits them in their season finale.