Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions for the Daily News-Record's Catie Harper

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After easily dispatching of in-state FCS foe Eastern Kentucky, the Louisville football program has a short turnaround in store for them, as James Madison makes their way to L&N Stadium for a Friday night showdown.

Ahead of the matchup, Louisville Cardinals On SI sat down with Catie Harper of the Daily News-Record to find out more about the Dukes.

1. Coming off of a 9-4 season and being the preseason Sun Belt favorite, has there been any talk around the program regarding a College Football Playoff push as the G5 champion?

Absolutely, but none of it is necessarily coming from inside the program. In terms of what the coaching staff and players are talking about, it’s very much been about the game directly ahead. That said, numerous players have said that, while they know there are outside expectations, the ones they have for themselves supersede anything that someone else could set.

The Dukes are projected to win the Sun Belt? Safe to say they expect to play in a way to make that happen and put themselves in the best conversation possible heading into the postseason.

As for the JMU fans, yes, they absolutely expect to be in the conversation for the College Football Players.

These fans expect the best, and that can largely be attributed to the decades of positive history on the program’s side. JMU hasn’t posted a losing season since 2002 when it went 5-7. The program has continued to find ways to win even with four coaching changes and a jump to the FBS level.

This is the best schedule JMU has had, and if the Dukes can handle it well, it’s easy to understand why there’s been conversations about the CFP.

2. Alonza Barnett III is coming off of a great 2024 season and had a good showing vs. Weber State. What makes him such a dynamic playmaker?

I think so much of Alonza Barnett III’s success comes from his mentality and determination. Yes, he has the physical attributes to be a good Division-I quarterback, but what sets him apart from others is his approach.

Barnett is just about nine months removed from ACL surgery, and his appearance against Weber State came nine months to the day that he tore it. No one was really sure of his status throughout the offseason, just that he was “ahead of schedule.”

From what his coaches and teammates have now said, he attacked rehab head on and was doing whatever it took to get back onto the field. He was cleared for contact during the final week of fall camp and played in the first game without a brace on.

That determination paired with his game intelligence is noticeable when he’s on the field. JMU head coach Bob Chesney said Saturday that “Zo understands this inside and out and does a really good job.”

Barnett is the quarterback who’s been at JMU the longest and has a full season under his belt of working with Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, so he understands the offense.

That said, he’s not the most mobile quarterback JMU has, but he still breakout for a long run when needed. His biggest battle has been handling pressure when teams blitz, but there’s an experienced offensive line in front of him.

3. George Pettaway and Ayo Adeyi might be one of the more underrated running back duos in the sport. How important are they to what James Madison wants to do offensively?

JMU’s running back room is critical to JMU’s success, and it was evident during the season opener. While George Pettaway and Ayo Adeyi are the attention-grabbing names, the depth in the running back room extends past the duo.

Wayne Knight, who stepped up following Adeyi’s season-ending injury last year, had a very good fall camp and was rewarded by being put in the starting lineup Saturday. He finished the game as JMU’s second-leading rusher with 89 yards, trailing just Pettaway’s 99-yard day.

The Dukes also have Jobi Malary and Jordan Fuller who are bruisers and will run over some defenders if needed. The depth led running backs coach David Sims Jr. to tell me that he believes JMU has one of the best groups in the country.

JMU rushed for 313 yards against Weber State, with the running back room being responsible for 244 of those yards. The ability to run the ball will be critical for JMU if it wants to do well this season because the Dukes have the names to do it.

The team also has a good set of wide receivers, and if the run game gets going, that can set the pass game off.

4. Over on the defensive side of the ball, who are the top players to watch out for, and what is their overall identity?

Two of the biggest names to look out for are safety Jacob Thomas and linebacker Trent Hendrick — the team’s captains. They’re both in their senior seasons at JMU and have spent their entire careers at the school.

Last week, Hendrick led the team in tackles, while Thomas was one of three safeties to have an interception. The two have somewhat become the heartbeat of the defense and have been praised by numerous coaches and teammates.

Along with them, defensive tackle Immanuel Bush has the size and skill to keep teams from trying to go up the middle.

JMU has had strong defenses for the better part of the last decade, and that should continue this year under first-year defensive coordinator Colin Hitschler, who was previously at Alabama, Wisconsin and Cincinnati.

On Saturday, JMU held Weber State to under 100 yards of total offense until into the fourth quarter. JMU gave up just 148 yards of total offense by the end of the game, the lowest total since its FBS debut against Middle Tennessee back in 2022.

Part of the reason JMU kept Weber State from getting many yards is because, as mentioned earlier, they’re ballhawks. Hitschler is letting them be aggressive and fly around on the field, and they’re finding themselves in places to force turnovers.

JMU had the best turnover margin in the country last year because Barnett rarely threw interceptions and the defense was really good at racking up interceptions. Along with Thomas’ interception on Saturday, safeties Tyler Brown and Kye Holmes also each had a pick, while safety Chase Regan blocked a punt.

5. If James Madison is to pull off the upset, what is the one thing they must do?

I think if JMU wants to win this game, it needs to have a breakout performance on offense. It’s what happened last year when the Dukes went to North Carolina and scored 70 on the Tar Heels, and I doubt the coaches would be scared to try and do that again.

To JMU’s benefit, they arguably have more talent on the offensive side of the ball than they did a year ago. Adeyi will be available to play — he was already out for the remainder of the season when JMU played UNC — and the wide receiver room has some more proven talent.

Chesney said this summer that he thinks JMU had about three receivers last year who were "legitimate football players “. This year, he said, that number was at about five even ahead of fall camp.

JMU only had 145 yards in the pass game against Weber State, so that’ll need to be higher if the Dukes want to beat Louisville, but there’s talent there with Nick DeGennaro, Landon Ellis, Jaylan Sanchez, Isaiah Aloston and true freshman Mikey Scott, among others.

I do, however, think JMU needs to have a better performance defensively than it did last year against UNC where it gave up 50 points. That said, the defensive showing against UNC was relatively uncharacteristic in terms of points given up.

If JMU can pair a good offensive turnout with a strong defensive showing, this game could be an interesting one.

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