James Madison dominating foes, and more to know when Georgia Southern hosts No. 25 Dukes

STATESBORO — On one hand, Georgia Southern has a tremendous opportunity facing a nationally ranked team, No. 25 James Madison, at 4 p.m. Saturday at Paulson Stadium (ESPN+).

On the other hand, there's a reason James Madison has broken into The Associated Press poll in its first season transitioning from FCS to FBS — which had never been done before. The Dukes have been dominant in starting 5-0 overall, 3-0 as new members of the Sun Belt Conference.

JMU is a 11.5-point favorite to remain unbeaten Saturday, but Georgia Southern (3-3, 0-2 SBC) is counting on the power of Paulson Stadium to help the team rise to the occasion and pull off the upset.

"I feel like our fans make a world of a difference for us," fifth-year defensive back Justin Birdsong said Monday. "Not just me, our whole team, our whole coaching staff, everybody feels that way. Having our fans here, knowing they'll be here win or lose. I know we don't always make them happy or proud, but at the end of the day, having them here supporting us, cheering us on, I know they'll be here this weekend for this big game."

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Here are five things to know about the Sun Belt game:

James Madison run offense vs. Georgia Southern run defense

Opponents have gouged the Eagles for 223 rushing yards a game — last of 14 teams in the Sun Belt and 126th of 131 FBS programs.

Eagles head coach Clay Helton had talked about poor tackling in the third week, a 35-21 loss at UBA when the Blazers rushed for 288 yards. After last Saturday, when GS gave up 335 yards in a 41-33 loss at Georgia State, Helton talked about the defense needing to improve in alignments, filling the correct gaps and being sound with their assignments.

"I think us as a defense just coming together, it often comes down to trust," Birdsong said. "Trusting that this player is going to be in this gap, that player is going to be in that gap. Trusting I'm going to be in my right gap. A lot of times we have that superhero mentality: let's try to do everybody's job, when at the end of the day, every gap that coach (Will) Harris draws up is assigned. We stick to doing our job, our gap, I think coming from there we'll be really good."

They're going to have to get better, and quickly. JMU is third in the SBC in rushing offense at 213.8 yards a game. Last Saturday in a 42-20 win at Arkansas State, Dukes graduate student Percy Agyei-Obese rushed for a career-best 158 yards and two touchdowns, as he moved into third place all-time at JMU with 35 total touchdowns. The 6-foot, 213-pounder has 54 carries for 354 yards, a 6.6 average, and four TDs in four games this season.

Helton said the Dukes rely on a very powerful run game, as was the case against Arkansas State.

"When things weren't going all the way right for them early, they decided to say, 'What are we really good at?' And it's the run game. That's what they're going to do," Helton said.

Georgia Southern offense vs. James Madison defense

The Dukes rank No. 2 in FBS in total defense at 227.50 yards a game and No. 1 in rush defense, allowing a paltry 41.0 yards a game.

The JMU pass defense, by the way, is 23rd in pass defense (186.40), so there's some slack to pick up, but not much.

"Defensively, you're talking about one of the best defenses not only in our league but in the country," Helton said. "The run defense they put together has been exceptional. They bring zone pressures from everywhere: field, boundary, interior."

The coach said JMU has one of the best defensive lines GS will face all season. The Eagles will have to establish the run and get the ball out quickly when passing.

"They mix the coverages up on the quarterback," Helton said. "They do a really nice job of playing sound, fundamental football and very aggressive with a bunch of veteran kids that have played a lot of ball at that place. They have a team that warrants being talked about nationally. They deserve the ranking that they have."

It's a quarterback league, Part I

What's said about the NFL can be applied to the Sun Belt Conference: It's a quarterback-driven league. Outcomes are determined by the performances at the most important position in the game.

JMU has a transfer in Todd Centeio who has lit up defenses through the air and on the ground. The graduate student is 93 of 141 for 1,312 passing yards, 15 TDs and just one interception for 262.50 yards a game.

The 6-foot, 221-pounder also has rushed 48 times for 289 yards, two TDs, a 6.0 yards per carry and 57.80 a game.

His performance against Arkansas State (28 of 37, 394 yards, four TDs, zero picks) earned Centeio his second SBC Offensive Player of the Week honor this season as well as national accolades.

"The quarterback does a really nice job, especially on down and distances, of working the RPOs and especially the play-actions," Helton said. "Where you really have to be good against this team is on early downs. You got to get them in situations when they have to pass the ball, when they get second-and-longs, get third-and-longs, when they're out of their comfort zone. When they are in normal down and distance, that is when they're at home."

It's a QB league, Part II

Georgia Southern has its own transfer at quarterback, sixth-year player Kyle Vantrease, a former three-year starter at Buffalo.

Vantrease, a co-captain and the leader of the offense, started out on fire for the Eagles.

Once he and the offense got clicking against Morgan State, they took that momentum to Lincoln, Nebraska and upset the heavily favored Cornhuskers. Vantrease, not known for his running, scampered 8 yards on a draw play with 36 seconds left for a TD  in the 45-42 win.

He has put up huge passing numbers at a program known forever as a running team. In six games, he has broken the Eagles' single-season record for passing yards (1,933) and is 172 of 283 (60.78%) for 13 TDs and 322.17 yards a game, but also 11 interceptions.

Vantrease threw four picks against Georgia State, though one bounced off the hands of his receiver, and another came after he was hit while releasing the ball.

He completed 30 of 49 passes for 359 yards and three TDs in a 41-33 loss that was impacted by five team turnovers. There's no talk of a change at quarterback, the team said.

"Kyle is our quarterback," senior wide receiver Khaleb Hood said Monday. "We're always going to be behind him 24/7. As an offense, as a team, that's a part of football."

Interceptions are a risk when throwing the ball that many times. Vantrease never got down or frustrated, only looking ahead in trying to rally the team, Helton said.

"I thought Kyle played like a warrior," Helton said Monday. "Sometimes you look at a stat sheet and you see four interceptions and you go, 'Wow, the quarterback must  have had a bad day.' Really, he made some plays that got us back in the game."

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Dukes adjusting quickly to FBS level

James Madison should be familiar to longtime Georgia Southern fans because the program in Harrisonburg, Virginia, played the Eagles eight straight years from 1985-92. The Eagles dropped the first meeting and won the next seven.

Despite that imbalance, JMU became an FCS power and began more than 10 years ago researching and preparing for a move up to FBS.

Though officially in a two-year transition and ineligible for a bowl game for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the Dukes are making a push to make an exception to an "antiquated" rule, as head coach Curt Cignetti called it, and reward the team if it's deserving of a bowl — in 2023 or, perhaps as soon as this year.

That's because JMU already is playing a full FBS schedule and satisfies other requirements for investment in scholarships and facilities. Previous teams making the transition needed time to ramp up, but they didn't have players becoming instantly eligible through the transfer portal.

Helton said to give credit to the Sun Belt for bringing in the quality of programs in Marshall, Old Dominion, Southern Miss and former FCS-level James Madison.

"They've done a  tremendous job of evaluation and recruiting and putting a team out there that has been with them a long time," Helton said of JMU, noting the consistency in the player roster and the coaching staff.

The Dukes, perhaps less familiar than the other three new members who already were in the FBS, was picked to finish sixth in the East Division in a vote by the league’s 14 head coaches. Appalachian State was the preseason favorite, Georgia Southern was fifth and Old Dominion seventh (last).

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern Eagles football team hosts James Madison Dukes