By Jack Kutz

JMU vs. Marshall has quickly become a marquee Sun Belt football matchup. Both won recent Sun Belt championships, Marshall in 2024 and JMU in 2025. Most games they play against each other seem to turn into classic games.

Here’s a brief history of the “Battle for the Gavel.”

The origin of the name

“The Battle for the Gavel” name was fan-created on Reddit when JMU and Marshall joined the conference in 2022. The post listed a number of possible rivalry names for the new-look Sun Belt. For JMU and Marshall it was between “The Founding Fathers Fight” and “Battle for the Gavel.” The reasoning from Reddit is listed below:

“Both Schools are named after prominent U.S. Founding Fathers and influential political figures John Marshall (1st Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) and James Madison (4th President of the U.S. and Secretary of State for Jefferson’s presidency). Madison would end up being a defendant in the landmark Supreme Court Case Marbury vs. Madison, which was presided on by Marshall.”

In November 2024, before their matchup, a new Twitter account started to gain prominence within the communities. @Battle4TheGavel on Twitter/X began hyping up the rivalry, but more importantly, the name. The account still posts about the rivalry consistently throughout the year.

Why isn’t this official?

While “The Battle for the Gavel” has no official status, there is a small chance it can become a reality.

On Twitter/X, Daily News-Record reporter Shane Mettlen shared, “I bet if you found a sponsor willing to pay whatever Towne Bank pays for the Royal Rivalry it would happen awfully fast. Securing those deals can be tougher than people realize though.”

In a similar manner to JMU’s Royal Rivalry with Old Dominion, a sponsor could be necessary to get an official name to be placed on the rivalry. Elsewhere in college football, North Dakota State and Wyoming started an official rivalry: The Battle of the Basins. This rivalry is sponsored by the North Dakota Petroleum Council and has a trophy already made. It appears if someone is willing to sponsor the rivalry, a change can happen quickly.

The rivalry’s history

The two programs have played each other six times, dating back to 1987.

After a successful 9-2 season, the Dukes made their first appearance in the Division I-AA Playoffs. JMU traveled northwest to Huntington, West Virginia, and received a 41-12 beating from the Thundering Herd. Marshall diced JMU with its air raid offense. Their quarterback, Tony Petersen, threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns on only 22 completions.

After a six-year break from each other, the two programs played each other in Huntington in 1994, searching for a national championship. In their first overtime game, Marshall came away with a 28-21 victory. Marshall had a 21-7 lead with 13:21 left but let the Dukes back into the game by the middle of the fourth quarter with a tied score of 21-21. In a similar fashion to a future Battle for the Gavel meeting, Marshall scored a touchdown to start overtime and held the Dukes down after a fourth-and-19 prayer to tie the game wasn’t answered.

The two programs didn’t meet again until 2022 for their first Sun Belt conference showdown. Bridgeforth Stadium was packed with 26,159 fans after a 5-1 start to their first FBS season. Quarterback Todd Centeio sustained an injury that kept him out against the Herd. The backup, Billy Atkins, played for the Dukes. He had a disaster class. Atkins, who later led the Dukes to a historic 2024 bowl win, went just 13-for-35 with four interceptions. He also took seven sacks. Marshall’s defense was too much for the Dukes to handle and they fell 26-12 after a valiant effort from JMU’s defense to keep them in the game.

In 2023, the Dukes traveled to Huntington for the third time for another defensive battle. The JMU defense gave up zero points. Marshall’s only points came off a safety and a kick return touchdown, both in the third quarter. Marshall’s defense also came to play, but it couldn’t hold Jordan McCloud and company through the air. Three JMU receivers had six or more catches for a combined 251 yards. Despite the effort through the air, JMU’s MVP was Ryan Hanson. He punted seven times with six inside the 10-yard line and three at Marshall’s own 1-yard line. Despite an ugly game, JMU finally got their first win against Marshall in program history, 20-9.

JMU vs. Marshall in 2024 is one Dukes fans would rather forget. After a dominant first half, JMU led 17-0. By the two minute mark in the third quarter, Marshall tied the game on a pick-six thrown by Alonza Barnett. After both teams scored touchdowns in the fourth quarter and a botched Marshall field goal ended regulation, the Battle for the Gavel was bound for another overtime game. Both teams started with three in the first overtime. JMU scored a touchdown to begin the second overtime but failed to convert its two-pointer. Afterward, Marshall proceeded to throw a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Herd used trickery to end the game, 35-33. Marshall went on to win the Sun Belt in a butcher of Louisiana.

Despite what the scoreboard says, the 2025 edition of the Battle for the Gavel was a closer game than it seems. Marshall couldn’t find the end zone in the first half, but kept it within two possessions of JMU with four field goals for a score of 21-12. JMU pulled away 28-12 in the third quarter, but because of an Alonza Barnett interception, Marshall crawled back to bring the game to 28-23. On a third-and-3 nearing the two-minute timeout in the fourth quarter, Wayne Knight house-called a short dump off pass for 49 yards to ice the game, 35-23. This result helped JMU to rally at the end of its season, ending Sun Belt play undefeated and eventually making the College Football Playoff.

What might 2026 have in store for one of the Sun Belt’s most underrated rivalries?

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications