James Madison vs Marshall Picks & Odds: The Thursday Night Bet to Make

The Sun Belt Conference takes us to Huntington, West Virginia, this Thursday night when the Marshall Thundering Herd welcome the undefeated James Madison Dukes.

A year ago, Marshall went into Harrison, Virginia, to take down the Dukes by a score of 26-12. James Madison will look to return the favor Thursday and exact revenge on a Thundering Herd team that sits two games behind the Dukes in the conference standings.

In fact, both of these teams sit toward the top of the conference. But with the Dukes being ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA rules for programs transitioning from FCS to FBS, this game will only play a big role in the Herd's attempt to win the conference.

Can James Madison go into Huntington and get its revenge to remain undefeated? Let’s dive into the James Madison vs. Marshall odds and find a pick and prediction in this college football betting preview for Thursday, Oct. 19.

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James Madison has had an excellent start to the season for a second-year FBS team, as it sits at 6-0, outdoing its 5-0 start last season.

Sitting atop the Sun Belt East with wins over Troy, South Alabama and Georgia Southern, it will look to keep it rolling under head coach Curt Cignetti.

The obvious strength of this James Madison offense is its passing game. Jordan McCloud threw for nearly 260 yards last week and tacked on three touchdowns in a 41-13 rout of Georgia Southern.

The senior does an excellent job of taking care of the football as well, holding a 14:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the season. McCloud has this offense rolling, as the Dukes average 34.5 points per game while ranking 16th in Passing Success Rate.

They have made some explosive plays through the air, ranking 49th overall in pass explosiveness.

However, the offensive woes come in the run game, where James Madison sits just 114th in Rushing Success Rate. Still, the Dukes are well-coached and run the ball at the 39th-highest rate, so opponents can't just sit back in coverage against them because they'll will continue to run the ball.

They will need to have some success on the ground if they want to win on the road in this one.

The JMU defense is the real story of this team this season. It has allowed just 21 points per game, helping the Dukes to an average winning margin of 13.5 points. They've forced 11 turnovers through six games for a turnover margin of +4, which always helps give their offense shorter fields and more opportunities.

This ability to fly around has them leading the nation in Defensive Havoc. They can cause some serious problems with their ability to cause chaos and get to the quarterback, as the Dukes have tallied 26 sacks in six games this season.

If James Madison can continue to cause turnovers and pressure the quarterback, it should be able to keep this talented Marshall offense at bay.

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Marshall enters this game with aspirations of playing in a Sun Belt Championship after finishing 9-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play last season. It did have quite a bit of roster turnover, but that hasn’t slowed the Herd down much this year, as they enter this game at 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

Marshall also enters this week on short rest, so the playing field is level there.

Similar to the Dukes, Marshall’s offense favors a more effective passing attack that ranks 41st in Success Rate. But there's a philosophical difference. The Thundering Herd rank 73rd in rush rate, while James Madison sits at 39th.

This team wants the ball in sophomore quarterback Cam Fancher’s hands.

Fancher has been solid in terms of moving the ball this season, throwing for 1,506 yards and tacking on an additional 196 yards on the ground, but his touchdown-to-turnover ratio raises some concerns. He has seven passing touchdowns compared to five interceptions this season, which could be problematic against such a tenacious JMU defense.

This will be the key for the Marshall offense because the run game ranks 125th in Success Rate, so it will be unlikely to get anything going there.

Marshall’s defense has been pretty good against both the pass and the run, but the big issue comes from short fields due to turnovers by the offense. The team has a -2 turnover margin despite this defense forcing nine turnovers through six games.

This has led to Marshall to rank 112th in average defensive starting field position.

The Herd defense should be able to slow the JMU pass attack if they can get some field to work with. They rank 17th in Defensive Success Rate for a reason, with a better mark against the pass (second) than the run (36th).

Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how James Madison and Marshall match up statistically:

James Madison Offense vs. Marshall Defense

	Offense	Defense	Edge
Rush Success	114	36
Line Yards	120	60
Pass Success	16	2
Havoc	99	31
Finishing Drives	83	20
Quality Drives	96	66

Marshall Offense vs. James Madison Defense

	Offense	Defense	Edge
Rush Success	125	1
Line Yards	129	2
Pass Success	41	51
Havoc	81	1
Finishing Drives	88	16
Quality Drives	109	22

Pace of Play / Other

PFF Tackling	123	118
PFF Coverage	62	13
Special Teams SP+	27	116
Middle 8	62	63
Seconds per Play	27.6 (82)	25.3 (36)
Rush Rate	56.6% (39)	51.8% (73)

Both of these teams match up pretty similarly, but I think the big key to this game is who will win the turnover battle. Both teams can score points, but the game will come down to who has more possessions and where those possessions start.

Given James Madison’s ability to force turnovers and take care of the ball, I would lean toward the Dukes to win a close one.

Give me JMU -3 in a game I would actually buy the hook in.