James Madison Sizing Up Second Straight Win, UConn Eyeballing Bowl Season

James Madison ended their two-game skid last Thursday with a 54-23 win over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg and kept themselves in the race for the SBC East. However, with Georgia Southern holding onto the top of the division after a 49-13 drubbing of Marshall last weekend and only one conference game left to play for the Dukes, they’re going to need some help in front of them.

The Huskies will welcome James Maddison to East Hartford in the middle of a two-game losing streak of their own, dropping their last game 38-21 to UNC at home. UConn has already faced a Sun Belt opponent this season, taking down Southern Miss 48-20 on the road in Hattiesburg. Since the Huskies are an independent with no conference championship to play for, they will have to win two games in the final three weeks of the season if they want to participate in postseason play.

The Dukes and Huskies have some history with each other, with James Madison leading the series at a 5-1 record since 1993 and winning 44-6 in their last matchup during the 2023 season. Being an independent with no conference championship to play for, UConn has three weeks to earn a chance at postseason play.

Don’t Be Afraid To Mix It Up

Quarterback JC Evans made his much anticipated first start since coming back from an injury he sustained during the season opener. He did not dissapoint, racking 294-yards through the air with another 59-yards on the ground amd rushing for a hat trick of touchdowns.

James Madison arrived to East Hartford earlier in the day today — we met with Coach Napier and the staff just before 6pm, said they are glad to have landed without any issues.

Kickoff still scheduled for 12 EST on CBSSN against Uconn in a big game for both teams. https://t.co/4WsmzMmbae

— Hailey Sutton (@_HaileySutton) November 14, 2026

Head Coach Billy Napier spoke to the media about how proud he was of his players for how the team bounced back and didn’t let the previous two weeks determine the rest of their season.

“I thought in general really challenging couple of weeks there, but the character of this group impressed me,” Napier said. “I think the connection this group has built, the mentality, the mindset, obviously they embraced the high expectations.”

In their last three games, the James Madison have called a healthy mix of running and passing, the only outlier being the App State game where they attempted forty-six passes, compared to only calling for the run thirty times. The Dukes’ offense has been among the best in college football, ranking top 25 in passing yards, top 35 in rushing, and 7th in scoring offense this season, with 40.6 points per game.

The Dukes have unfortunately been without leading rusher George Pettaway the last two games due to injury, forcing them to lean on Nick Herman and JC Evans to keep their ground game afloat.

Their special teams unit came to play this season as well, ranking 2nd in kickoff return yardage and 15th in punt return yardage, leading the nation in punts returned for touchdowns with three. Michael Scott, the primary returner, was also recently named a Jet Award finalist, which is given to the most outstanding return specialist in college football that season.

If the Dukes were going to lean one way or the other against UConn, then claiming dominance through the air would be where victory lies. The Huskies’ passing defense is among the worst in FBS this season, clocking in at 121st with 249.8 passing yards allowed per game and a whopping 8 yards allowed per passing attempt.

Play To Their Weakest Link

UConn came up short in their last game out against UNC, but the Huskies have been a solid football team this season despite their 4-5 record, playing a tough Syracuse team very closely earlier in the season and only losing by a point in overtime. Head Coach Jim Mora has also taken the Huskies to bowl games in three of his first four seasons at the helm, including back-to-back 9-4 seasons.

Make sure to get to your seats quickly tomorrow! Weather permitting, there will be a flyover tomorrow morning before our noon kickoff! pic.twitter.com/Bc0peqgnEm

— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) November 13, 2026

In all four victories this season for the Huskies, the team rushed for at least 205 yards and averaged 3 touchdowns across all four of those games. The team likes to run the ball, splitting the carries between their starting quarterback Kalieb Osborne and lead running back Cyncir Bowers. This approach has allowed both rushers to eclipse 500+ yards on the season so far and combine for 15 rushing touchdowns, putting UConn at 37th in FBS in rushing offense.

But JMU has the 30th-best rushing defense in FBS, so the Huskies will have to battle the Dukes for air superiority if they want a chance at the upset. This is where both teams are most similar, with UConn ranking within the top 45 in passing offense alongside the Dukes while also sitting near the bottom of the FBS in passing defense at 121st while JMU ranks 110th.

If UConn can keep JMU in check on the ground and keep pace with the Dukes’ passing attack with their own, Saturday’s contest might shape up to be an all-out slugfest between two teams racing to polish up that record before the end of the season.