James Madison heads to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field on Saturday with a 5-1 edge in the all-time series against UConn, and the Dukes bring the better record, too. JMU is 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Sun Belt, while the Huskies sit at 4-5 as an FBS independent. Kickoff is set for noon EST, with CBS Sports Network carrying the game.
This is the seventh meeting between the programs, and the Dukes already handled UConn once recently, rolling to a 44-6 win at Bridgeforth Stadium in 2023. For the Huskies, it’s their second game against a Sun Belt opponent this season.
They beat Southern Miss 48-20 on the road in Week 3 and will host Old Dominion next week. Saturday also marks UConn head coach Jason Candle’s first matchup with JMU.
“We’re playing a really quality opponent this week,” Candle said. “We’re going to have a great plan and a great week of practice at all three phases to do a good job limiting their explosive plays offensively. We have to handle their pressure and all the movement stuff up front that they do defensively.”
The numbers tell you why that matters. JMU ranks No. 25 nationally in rushing offense, piling up 1,994 yards on the ground through 10 games for an average of 199.4 per contest.
UConn has allowed 142.6 rushing yards per game. The Dukes also come in with a defense that ranks No. 29 nationally against the run, giving up 113.9 yards per game, and No. 63 overall at 352.4 yards allowed per outing.
JMU’s ground game has been a constant problem for opponents. In six of the team’s 10 games, its leading rusher has gone for more than 100 yards.
Seth Cromwell, after a return from injury that took a little time to settle in, has given the backfield another weapon. He led the Dukes with 135 yards against Troy and followed that with 56 against Southern Miss.
George Pettaway, who leads JMU with 824 rushing yards, left the App State game with a lower-body injury and has now missed two straight contests. He is considered week-to-week, and his status for Saturday is unclear.
In Pettaway’s absence, Jackson McCarter turned in a career-high seven carries for 51 yards, while JC Evans added 47 rushing yards and three trips to the end zone.
Evans also made a strong first impression in his first career start, leading JMU to a 54-23 win. That performance is part of why the Dukes remain such a difficult matchup, especially when they can control the game on the ground.
UConn’s path gets more complicated on the other side of the ball. The Huskies’ defense is ranked 97th in SP+ with a rating of 30.5 after allowing 419 yards against UNC, including 255 through the air and 164 on the ground. The unit also posted a 70 PFF grade, with a 71 passing grade, 53.8 pass-blocking grade, 72.6 receiving grade, 79.3 rushing grade and 49.8 run-blocking grade.
If the Huskies want to keep pace, they’ll need to make plays in the passing game. JMU’s secondary has been vulnerable to chunk gains at times, especially in scoring situations.
Against App State and Troy, the Dukes allowed 10 total passes of 15 yards or more on scoring drives. UConn has had success creating quick-strike offense through the air, and Kalieb Osborne has been a big part of that.
The dual-threat quarterback has seven rushing touchdowns, which ranks No. 4 in UConn history, and he’s three away from tying David Pindell’s 2018 school record of 10.
Osborne also helped spark a fast scoring burst last week, going 75 yards for a touchdown in just three plays and a little over a minute. The Huskies will be looking for more of that kind of production from downfield targets Shamar Porter, JD Willoughby, Ky “Flash” Wilson, and Ryder Treadway, who has emerged as one of Osborne’s top options over the last two games.
UConn enters as a four-point underdog, with the over/under set at 56.5. The game can also be heard on Fox Sports 97-9 FM in Hartford, WAVZ 1300 AM in New Haven, WGCH 1490 AM in Greenwich, WILI 1400 AM/95.3 FM in Willimantic, WICH 1310 AM/94.5 FM in Norwich-New London, the Varsity Network App, and SiriusXM 265 and the SiriusXM App 97 5.
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What stood out most was how the Huskies handled the game when it started to tighten. Even with key contributors having to navigate foul trouble in the first half, UConn found enough depth and poise to keep control, and the second half brought the kind of response that can matter later in the season. For a team still early in its schedule, this was the sort of win that says a hot start is nice, but there may be something sturdier underneath it. [Read more 🡒]