Getty James Madison looks for another big win on Saturday.
James Madison looks to keep rolling when facing Texas State on Saturday, October 1 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
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The game (1:30 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Texas State vs James Madison live on ESPN+ right here:
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Texas State vs James Madison Preview
James Madison (3-0) left no doubt about belonging in the FBS landscape last week with a big 32-28 win over Appalachian State.
“They are a team coming in here hungry for a win,” Texas State head coach Jake Spavital said via the Austin American-Statesman. “I’m not even going to call them a dangerous team. I feel that wouldn’t be doing them service. They are a good football team.”
New week. Next chapter.
The Dukes now look to establish themselves as king of the Sun Belt Conference with another league matchup against Texas State (2-2). The Bobcats have tested their mettle against bigger FBS opponents this season but got routed twice.
Texas State opened the season with a 38-14 loss at Nevada and endured a 42-7 loss at then-No. 17 Baylor. The Bobcats’ wins came against Florida Atlantic, 41-21, and Houston Christian 34-0.
Bobcats quarterback Layne Hatcher has a solid start to the season with 1,067 yards passing for 10 touchdowns versus four interceptions. He completes 62.9% of his passes, but he takes a significant number of sacks — 11 overall for 106 yards lost.
JMU has a strong pass rush with defensive linemen Mikail Kamasra, James Carpenter, Abi Nwabuoku-Okonji, and James Edwards. All four of them have 1.5 or more sacks this season.
“You just look at who they are: They are very aggressive on defense,” Spatival said via the Austin American-Statesman. “They are going to blitz and play man, cover-three. They are very disruptive. I think their D-line and linebackers are really good. They get off blocks really easy. … Their defensive backs play man most of the time because they have a lot of confidence in those guys. There’s a reason they are averaging around 200 (total yards allowed) a game.”
Offensively, JMU quarterback Todd Centeio has been stellar this season with 661 yards passing and 11 touchdowns versus no interceptions. He’s also a threat on the ground with 227 yards rushing and a touchdown this year.
“In terms of all the presentations you are going to get — motions and shifts — they are going to test you the entire game,” Spavital said per the Austin American-Statesman. “They are going to be one style of offense for the first couple drives, then they’ll come out and RPO you the next drive and be a little bit more spread. You are going to have to defend everything.”