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The Golden Eagles are set to host the Dukes this Thursday in a Sun Belt bout with both teams having a lot to gain…and also lose.
Southern Miss needs a win to keep themselves afloat in the Sun Belt West race. The Dukes can retake the lead in the Sun Belt East with a win and a Georgia Southern loss. This will be only the second time these programs have ever met after both joined the Sun Belt back in 2022.
The Golden Eagles put up 35 points in their victory over ULM, putting them back into the conversation for the Sun Belt West title. Blake Anderson’s unit currently sits at 3-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play with four conference games left to play. Two of the four games remaining will be against division opponents, which means that there is a path for Southern Miss to capture the Sun Belt West for the first time since joining the Sun Belt in 2022.
JMU currently sits at 7-2 overall with a 4-2 conference record. The Dukes led the Sun Belt East since Week 5, but after losing to Troy in overtime, they now trail Georgia Southern, who sits with their only loss to the Dukes themselves. While JMU does hold the head-to-head win over the Eagles, Georgia Southern has one fewer conference loss to give them the edge. Although there are still games to play, the Dukes only have two conference games remaining.
Turnovers and Penalties are killing the Dukes
After opening up the game with three straight touchdowns, JMU only crossed over the the Trojans side of the 50-yard line five times. The Dukes finished with a minus-three turnover differential, losing two fumbles and throwing three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Both quarterbacks for JMU have thrown costly interceptions in back-to-back weeks, with Camden Coleman throwing an interception inside his own 15 the week prior against App State.
Head Coach Billy Napier expressed his frustrations with the second half offense following their loss to Troy.
“We struggled to sustain drives” Napier said “We got to generate more offense in the second half. The effort was there, but the execution was not.”
The Dukes have been a powerhouse, averaging 39.1 points per game with a first half average of 24.6. However, JMU has struggled to maintain their first half success coming out of the locker room, averaging only 13.6 points in the second half. One area where the Dukes could find success is against a Southern Miss defense that ranks among the bottom three in the Sun Belt, allowing an average of 31.0 points per game.
In addition to their sluggish second half offense, the Dukes are tied with ODU for most penalties in the Sun Belt. Each team flagged 70 times so far this season. The Dukes are averaging 7.8 penalties and 75.1 penalty yards per game.
The key on Thursday for the Dukes will be ball control and minimizing penalties, especially in clutch time.
Golden Eagles Run/Pass Mix
Southern Miss returns to The Rock following its 35-21 victory over ULM. As the Golden Eagles look to build on back-to-back conference wins, running backs Jamarice Wilder and Steven Robinson are both coming off consecutive 100-yard rushing performances. The backfield duo has combined for 554 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns over the past two games.
The run game is something that the Golden Eagles have been leaning on all season and are averaging 167.1 rushing yards per game, which is sixth in the Sun Belt. However, they will have their work cut out for them since the Dukes currently rank second in the Sun Belt against the run, allowing only 116.8 rushing yards per game.
While the ground game has to be respected, it should be noted that the Golden Eagles are also eighth in Sun Belt passing offense, averaging 232.4 pass yards per game. Opposite them will be an 11th-ranked JMU passing defense, allowing 235.4 passing yards per game. Landry Lyddy completed 15-of-30 passes against ULM for 130 yards.
Southern Miss will look to use its strong rushing attack to open up opportunities through the air. Although Lyddy has thrown for just over 100 yards in each of the last two games, he has recorded three performances of at least 200 passing yards this season. One of those performances came against the Sun Belt’s second-ranked passing defense.
James Madison Dukes at Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
Renasant Stadium “The Rock” – Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Kickoff: Thursday, November 6, at 7:00 p.m. CT (6:00 p.m. ET)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (Southern Miss) / James Madison Flagship; WSVA 550 AM and 92.1 FM (James Madison)
Game Information: JMU @ Southern Miss
Tickets: Southern Miss Athletics