LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (1-0) vs. JAMES MADISON DUKES (1-0)
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Location: L&N Stadium: Louisville, Ky.
Television: ESPN2
Announcers: Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Andre Ware (analyst) and Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
Favorite: Louisville by 14
All-Time Series: Louisville leads, 1-0
Only Previous Meeting: Louisville won 34-10 on Nov. 5, 2022
Depth Chart:
Louisville Uniforms:
James Madison Uniforms:
Game Day Guide:
Relevant Videos:
About James Madison:
via Keith
Wynne
OFFENSE
James Madison came to Louisville a few years back with a chance to shock the Cards in the middle of a winning streak and positive momentum. The Dukes’ quarterback was injured before the matchup and wasn’t fully healthy by gametime, and the Cards were able to get the win in a game that wasn’t all that close. This year, the Dukes are in year two of the Bob Chesney era, and they come into this game with an offense that can score in bunches.
JMU has a similar offense as they did in 2022, and that even shows in their personnel. Alanza Barnett was the third-string quarterback for the Dukes back then, and he has waited his turn to become the starter, with that patience paying off last season. Barnett is a true dual-threat quarterback with good speed and a strong arm. He completed 60% of his passes last year and has already shown this year that he can miss on easy throws at times.
Barnett is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered right after Thanksgiving last year, but he looked fully healthy against Weber State last week. Barnett didn’t wear a knee brace, and he had plenty of designed runs called for him. Barnett won’t have an issue showing up in a big game. He went off for 487 yards and 7 touchdowns against UNC last year in front of 50,000 fans in Chapel Hill. He has complete control of this offense, and he is one of the best quarterbacks UofL will face this year.
Some people might remember the first real mid-year NIL scandal that involved Matthew Sluka at UNLV. Well, he’s at James Madison now playing for his old head coach at Holy Cross, Bob Chesney. Sluka was outstanding for Holy Cross before hitting the portal two years ago, so Chesney made the obvious choice to bring him back into the fold. Sluka put up back-to-back 1200+ yard rushing seasons at Holy Cross to go with strong passing numbers, and Chesney used him with a plan on Saturday. Sluka came in on planned downs mostly to run the ball, but he also made a few throws. I would expect him to be an option on short-yardage plays against the Cards.
The Dukes ran for 331 yards against Weber State with a mix of different running backs contributing in the game. George Pettaway is the starter after leading the team with nearly 1,000 yards last season. The UNC transfer has good speed, and he plays with the right type of vision in this offense that uses a lot of off-tackle misdirection plays. He does well to cut outside when it is there or put his head down and get tough yards when needed. He will be a key player in this game, as I suspect the Cards will key on Barnett on option plays.
Wayne Knight had the biggest play for JMU last weekend with a 59-yard touchdown run where he outran everyone off the right side of the line. Knight and the other backups all show the ability to make plays, but I’m not sure how they will fare against the talent level the Cards have. But if there is a player on JMU who looks like he could break a long run, it would be Knight. He is small, but he can really take off.
If there is a question mark with JMU’s offense is the wide receiver positions. The Dukes lost everyone from last year, and as one would expect, their transfer class wasn’t all that impressive. JMU spread the ball around in their first game, but Isaiah Alston is the guy to look out for. He had a nice route on a 20-yard touchdown catch, and he has experience, which most of the other options don’t have.
The JMU offensive line only returned one starter this year, but they looked like a solid group in the first game of the season. Zach Greenberg is the only transfer in the group after playing a total of snaps for UNC last year. The rest of the group has been in this offense for at least a full year, with a couple of guys being multi-year starters at the college level. I think that will allow JMU to empty the playbook against Louisville, which the Cards will have to prepare for. UofL was very good up front against EKU, but this is a step up in competition, so we will have to see if they can dominate again.
DEFENSE
James Madison is known for having an innovative and high-powered offense, but they are coming off a year where they finished 21st in the country in scoring defense. The Dukes also finished 17th in yards per play allowed, and they started off the 2025 season by dominating their FCS opponent in the run and pass game last weekend. Bob Chesney brought in Alabama’s co-defensive coordinator, Colin Hitschler, after losing Lyle Hemphill to Texas A&M. Hitschler was a co-coordinator on Luke Fickell’s staff at Cincinnati and Wisconsin before heading to Bama. He has coached in plenty of big games.
JMU brought in a handful of transfers on the defensive line after losing just about everyone to the transfer portal or graduation. The Dukes finished last year with 92 tackles for loss, but they lost about 30 of those TFLs to Rutgers and only return one player who was a substantial contributor. Aiden Gobaria is the player to watch on the line in my opinion, after transferring in from Notre Dame. Gobaria is a former 4-star prospect who couldn’t stay healthy at Notre Dame. He could fill a hole with so many losses on the line.
Linebacker is where the Dukes return a good amount of experience, with Trent Hendrick returning as a preseason All-Sun Belt pick at middle linebacker. Hendrick is a great fit in this defense that wants to use the interior defensive line to eat up blockers so that linebackers can play downhill. Hendrick has shown a great ability to shoot gaps into running lanes to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. He and Gannon Weathersby will be tasked with chasing down Isaac Brown on the edge in this defensive scheme built on causing havoc.
The Dukes return two key secondary players in Jacob Thomas at safety and DJ Barksdale at nickel. Both players put up good numbers last year, and Thomas is off to a good start with an interception against Weber State. Thomas is a deep safety who can also play down in the box if needed. He finished last year with 8 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. He is a player Miller Moss will need to be aware of. Barksdale will be tasked with covering Caullin Lacy this week. He had two tackles for loss against UNC last year, so he is another guy who won’t be fazed by the moment.
Motivational Tweets:
Excitement Level: 9.0
I think this is the perfect test at the perfect time for this team. I’m excited to really begin the process of finding the answers to the questions we spent all summer asking.
Game Attire: White Heisman Bird tee
Just got it for my birthday. Immediately throwing it into the fire (figuratively). Will be immediately throwing it into the fire (literally) if we lose.
Pregame Meal: TBD
It’s Virginia’s birthday, we’re scrambling to make sure we have everything in order for her party tomorrow, so dinner plans are not a top priority at the moment. Gonna be a game-time (post-radio) decision.
Bold Prediction: This is once again a one-score game at halftime
We hit on our kick/punt return prediction last week, but I would take being 1-1 if it means the Cards are blowing these guys out at the break.
Jeff Brohm Tick Play Alert Level: Gold II (slightly below average)
Ideally, we don’t need it for this game. But if the situation calls for it, Jeff will be willing to go into the bag.
Predicted Star of the Game: Chris Bell
Expect JMU (like everyone) to sell out to stop the run and dare us to beat them with the deep ball. Chris Bell answers the dare in a big way.
Notable:
—Louisville is 18-13 all-time in Friday night contests played on ESPN or ESPN2. They have won six of their last seven such games.
—Louisville has scored at least 30 points in 12 of its 14 home games under Jeff Brohm.
—James Madison is 4-10 all-time against ACC opponents, but has beaten an ACC foe on the road in each of the last two years. The Dukes won at Virginia (36-35) in 2023, and beat North Carolina, 70-50, in Chapel Hill last season.
—In both games of their two game winning streak against ACC foes, JMU blocked a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter.
—Louisville is 33-32-1 all-time against current teams from the Sun Belt Conference.
—Dating back to last season, Louisville hasn’t allowed a sack in three consecutive games.
—Louisville is 11-3 in home games under the direction of Jeff Brohm.
—Both Louisville and James Madison are receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
—Six James Madison players saw the field against Louisville in 2022, including two starters (LB Trent Hendrick and OG Josh Toner).
—Louisville will play eight home games this season for the first time since the 2008 season.
—The Cardinals have not had a perfect home record since the 2006 season.
—James Madison is 2-3 all-time in games played in the state of Kentucky.
—Each of Louisville’s last eight games against non-conference opponents have gone OVER the total points line.
—Louisville has lost 10 consecutive games when forcing no turnovers and recording no sacks. The most recent of those games came last season against SMU.
—Louisville is 8-0 under head coach Jeff Brohm when it doesn’t commit a turnover.
—Louisville is 12-0 under Brohm when it wins the turnover battle and 8-8 when it doesn’t.
—Louisville has a 13-game winning streak when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent, last losing 31-16 at Clemson on Nov. 12, 2022.
—Louisville is 24-2 over the past five seasons when shutting out its opponent in the first quarter.
—Louisville has won 36 of its last 40 games when holding teams to less than 300 yards of offense.
—Louisville has won 17 straight games when holding its opponent scoreless in the first half.
—Since 2019, Louisville is 32-4 when winning the turnover battle, and just 7-24 when losing it. The Cardinals lost the turnover battle, 3-0, to EKU last week, but still won the game by 34 points.
—James Madison is the only program whose school starts with the letter “J” that Louisville has ever played in football.
—Louisville is 3-5 all-time in games played on Sept. 5. Their last game on this date was a 31-24 season-opening loss to Auburn in 2015.
—Louisville is 4-0 in September home games under Jeff Brohm, and 6-1 overall in the month.
—Louisville is currently riding a consecutive game scoring streak that spans 315 games dating back to a 31-0 loss to Florida State during the 2000 season. The streak ranks as the second longest in the ACC behind only Virginia Tech, and the 10th-longest nationally.
—Louisville is 207-16 all-time when scoring 35 or more points in a game. The Cards are also 6-123 all-time when allowing opponents to score 40 or more points.
Quotable:
—“We’re excited to get to game two. I think we’re going to play a really good football team in James Madison that knows how to win. They’ve done it over the years. They’ve proven it. They play a good brand of football. They give you a lot of things that you got to deal with both offensively and defensively. They’re well coached and they got really good players.” —Jeff Brohm
—“You have to expect to win, ultimately. By the end of the week, you have to know that you can win this game. You have to have extreme confidence and a true knowing that we can win this game.” —James Madison head coach Bob Chesney
—“I actually played against them last year, they did a lot of different things. I think with this unit, we’ve got a lot of guys that can put pressure up front in his [Barnett’s] face. And then around the edge, just controlling that to then make it easier on the back end.” —Clev Lubin
—“You just don’t want to view yourself as the underdog. You want to look schematically and personnel-wise, where is there an advantage? Where can you create an advantage? It’s got to be that mentality. We can’t show up there and just hope to play a nice football game. We got to go out there and it’s going to be extremely physical.” —James Madison head coach Bob Chesney
—“We’re not going in there as an underdog. We’re going in there to win the game. Everybody in the building believes that, and we have to go in there together, believe in that to be able to get the job done.” —James Madison RB George Pettaway
—“I mean, you’re talking about a $20 million or whatever it might be roster. There is no weakness on this team. So it has got to come from us playing our best football period.” —James Madison head coach Bob Chesney
—“The head coach is the offense coordinator. He’s as good as it gets. Everything has been run for years in different ways, and it makes your head spin when you watch the film, so he just does a really good job layering things and keeping you off balance.” —JMU defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler
—“All comes down to doing our job. We all got to do our job. We all got to stay, do our 1-11, just hold our ground, don’t get turned, stay square. We’re going to stop them.” —James Madison DL Amar Thomas
—“I love playing night games. This stadium has seen a lot of really good ones. We’ll need the fans to help us and be loud. That definitely makes an advantage for our team.” —Jeff Brohm
Card Chronicle Prediction: Louisville 33, James Madison 17
