Appalachian State (4-5, 1-4 Sun Belt) @ James Madison (8-1, 6-0 Sun Belt)

Saturday, November 18th, 2025 3:30pm EST

TV/Video: ESPN+

Radio: FLAGSHIP 97.3 FM (North Wilkesboro), 730 AM & 97.5 FM (Charlotte), 950 AM & 92.7 FM (Greensboro), 980 AM & 96.7 FM (Winston-Salem), 107.7 FM & 1450 AM (Hendersonville), 97.3 FM & 790 AM (Johnson City, TN) 87.7 FM (In-Stadium)

Bridgeforth Stadium

Capacity: 24,877

Surface: FieldTurf

Jeff Sagarin Ratings

App State: 58.08

James Madison: 76.79

Home: 3.73

James Madison is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 22.44 points

VegasInsider Consensus: James Madison -21

Series: App State leads 14-5

Last Meeting: App State 34 James Madison 20, November 23, 2024, Boone, NC

This week, it’s hard not to think back from a few years ago about moments that have made memories on this mountain. After the end of the 2021 season and the beginning of the 2022 season, App State had lost three games in a row to decent teams. The loss to Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship, the first bowl loss to Western Kentucky, and to North Carolina in home opener that included a wild fourth quarter. The following week, the Mountaineers went to Texas A&M and snapped that three game skid. While being interviewed after the game, Shawn Clark said, “We had lost three in a row, and that’s hard at Appalachian State.” In 2023, when App State defeated College Gameday hosts James Madison, Shawn Clark was emotional in his postgame interview on television with his family at his side saying, “We are built for this.” There is no denying that times are tough right now. Nobody feels bad for us except ourselves. Only we can change our outlook for what the future holds.

The next opponent on App State’s schedule is James Madison, who looks every bit the part of a conference champion. They have laid waste to just about everyone on their schedule. Their lone loss is to Louisville, back in September, in a game that was played on a Friday night. Louisville is now 7-2 and ranked #19 in the AP Poll, with their losses to Virginia and Cal, who have had surprisingly good season themselves. Madison played Louisville tough, falling 28-14, but looked like the better team for most of the night. James Madison has won by at least two scores in every game this season outside of Georgia State. That in itself is the most surprising part of their results. After that 14-7 win over Georgia State, the Dukes came back home and beat Louisiana 24-14 in a noon game. The following week, they dueled with Old Dominion in a game that was 28-27 at halftime, before scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half to run away. Madison then clobbered a bad Texas State team by 32 points before playing Marshall last week in a game that was a lot closer in the second half then the final score suggested. Marshall outgained James Madison, ran more plays and controlled the clock, but their inefficiency in the passing game was the eventual downfall. This was all laid out to convey, James Madison is good, and they have won eight games, but they can be had if you play your cards right.

There are no mistakes made when you look at what James Madison likes to do to win football games. They want to run the football and they want to stop the run. The game does not get more simpler than that. In the first eight games of the season, the Dukes ran the ball 41 times or more in every single game. Last week, they “only” ran the ball 35 times. That was because Marshall was so successful keeping the ball out of Madison’s hands, and running the ball themselves. Only three times all year has James Madison been held under 200 yards rushing in a game. Those games include the loss to Louisville, the ten-point victory over Louisiana, and last week against Marshall. On the other hand, Marshall’s 248 rushing yards last week were the most the Dukes had given up all season by a considerable amount. Marshall had 414 total yards, which was also a season high surrendered by James Madison. And finally, last week was the only time all season that James Madison lost the time of possession battle.

Frustrations may have risen to rolling boil this past weekend as the Mountaineers came out flat for the second consecutive game and had to dig out of a hole that was eventually too deep. With the loss, the Mountaineers have now lost three games in a row all by one score to divisional opponents. A season that was once filled with some hopeful aspirations of returning to a bowl game has turned sour, needing wins in two of their last three games to get to get six wins. A victory this weekend would spike those chances significantly. Marshall may have laid out the blueprint for hanging with James Madison, but ultimately, the Dukes held on, and made a critical play when they needed it to secure the win. That one play a game is something that has haunted the Mountaineers in key conference matchups. The Mountaineers have been able to move the ball at times, but they struggle when the field shrinks and have made too many mistakes over the course of the season near the end zone. It’s not always one play that hurt App State, but sometimes a collection of plays. But, if one play was different in several games, it could have changed the result in some of these one-score losses.

At this point in the year, each team knows what their opponents have and what they don’t have. Rarely are there any surprises once you get to November. For a team like James Madison, there is pressure for them to continue winning, which comes with each game, and more recognition when you get a shiny number in front of your name. The Dukes cannot slip up. There is an outside chance for them to be included in more than just a bowl game. Does similar pressure exist for the Mountaineers, to just make a bowl game with six wins? Is there a sense of urgency to start quicker and play better? These are not fun questions to ponder, but those thoughts have creeped into a lot of our minds. There is no doubt in my mind that everyone involved wants to win, not just because losing isn’t fun, but because winning is. And football, like most sports, doesn’t always reward the best team on any given day. That is what makes it fun. This game should be fun. It will feature the top two run defenses in the conference in terms of yards per game. That should be a great challenge for both teams. James Madison mainly has a great overall defense, while the Mountaineers do give up the most passing yards in conference play this year, but counter that with the second stingiest defense in the red zone. Both offenses have the requisite playmakers to move the ball, but this will turn into one of those games where points will be very important. If the Mountaineers can put it together and finish drives in the end zone, it will give them their best chance to prolong this game. You will not beat James Madison by turning it over and kicking field goals. The Mountaineers must sustain drives and make the James Madison defense defend. Marshall got physical with the Dukes last week and made them defend 86 plays. The Mountaineers have not been great on third down this year, but have been good on fourth down when needed. It doesn’t matter when you convert, as long as you do. James Madison has been known to play really well downhill, when their opponents are on the ropes. But when games get a little tight, they tend to play more conservatively. They key is to keep the game within reach as long as possible, while picking your spots to be aggressive. Another interesting note about these two teams, they are both in the bottom three in the conference in penalty yards against and opponent’s penalty yards. When we are talking about one play in a game making a huge difference, let’s hope the zebras are not a part of that this weekend.

The First Pick

Founding Father 36

Mountaineers 25