JMU football outlasted Marshall, 35-23, on Saturday in a gutsy road win. The Dukes are now 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the Sun Belt.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Passing game becomes offense’s strength

JMU wants to run the football and control the game up front, but Alonza Barnett’s recent progress has changed the Dukes’ offense. As defenses stack the box and slow JMU’s running game, Barnett has made weak opposing secondaries pay.

Barnett threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win, completing 14 of his 24 passes. He hit an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jaylan Sanchez and narrowly missed another lengthy touchdown to Nick DeGennaro on a play that Barnett and DeGennaro usually make every time. 

Barnett has thrown for 250 or more yards in four consecutive games, the longest stretch of his JMU career. He’s thrown 12 touchdown passes during the span, too. That’s after he tossed just four in the first five games of the year.

JMU ran the ball on 64% of early downs, with just 33% of those runs being successful. Of early down passes, 47% were successful. That includes the touchdown to Sanchez on the first play of the drive.

Sometimes offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, who dialed up a wonderful game plan again Saturday, gets a little too predictable. While the Dukes want to run the ball, there are times they need to trust Barnett to throw on early downs. This helps keep defenses honest and gives Barnett chances to make plays outside of obvious passing downs.

Look for JMU to fire first down passes early in next week’s game against App State.

Aiden Gobaira was a great portal pickup

Gobaira played one snap at Notre Dame before “medically retiring” after three seasons. His medical retirement was essentially an agreement that allowed Gobaira to transfer without taking up a Notre Dame roster spot in 2024 after a knee injury derailed his career there.

JMU added the former four-star recruit this offseason, and it was unclear what exactly he could be. The defensive end is a star.

Gobaira finished the game with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and game-clinching sack in Saturday’s win. He looked the part, too.

When JMU needed someone to consistently step up to help slow down Marshall quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson in the running game, Gobaira was the guy. He was superb, and he’s proving to be a critical addition via the portal. He’s up to 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, both of which lead the Dukes.

Playoffs!? Playoffs!?

This is a personal takeaway, but Saturday made me care less about the College Football Playoff. Don’t get me wrong, I want JMU in the playoff field. Badly. That’d be incredible.

But I don’t want an obsession with “style points” to cloud my judgment on this team. Did JMU win by enough points to impress the selection committee? Respectfully, who gives a shit.

JMU beat a conference rival on the road by 12 points, despite dropping a wide-open TD, leaving a 49-yard field goal short, and allowing a fake punt. This team is really, really good. To make those mistakes and still leave Marshall — which was playing on maybe the most emotional weekend of its season as it honored its 1970 team — with a double-digit road win?? I’m impressed.

Saturday wasn’t always pretty, but it was gritty.

If JMU goes 12-1 with a Sun Belt title, this team will have a case that it’s the best in program history. The Dukes would become the first in program history to beat ODU, Marshall, and App State in the same season with a win next weekend. They could go out and win the first SBC Championship in program history a few weeks later.

Will those accomplishments be diminished if the committee puts USF in the 12-team playoff field over 12-1 JMU? Not in my book.

I’m hopeful the Dukes can make the College Football Playoff. But I’m not going to let it skew my perspective. Saturday’s win was a championship performance on the road, style points or not.

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications