Georgia State opens Sun Belt road play against the best team in the league. The Panthers (4-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) travel to Bridgeforth Stadium to face No. 1 in the East Division, James Madison (6-0, 3-0 Sun Belt). Kickoff is set for noon on ESPNU, and the game is Homecoming for the Dukes.
The history is on the side of James Madison. The Dukes have won all five meetings in the series, including a 14-7 win in Atlanta last season. Georgia State is one of three East Division programs that has never beaten JMU since the Dukes joined the Sun Belt. James Madison has won 11 straight Sun Belt regular-season games and 10 straight at Bridgeforth Stadium. First-year head coach Billy Napier has won 16 straight regular-season Sun Belt games, a run that goes back to his time at Louisiana.
Georgia State comes in rested and in rhythm. The Panthers are off a bye week after a 42-10 Homecoming win over Old Dominion. That 4-1 record matches the best start in program history, and head coach Dell McGee has already equaled the win total from his first two seasons combined. McGee said the off week was about building depth more than game planning for the Dukes.
“It was more so to get our bottom half of our roster developed,” McGee said. “We had a lot of good on good. Didn’t do anything on JMU.”
McGee also pointed his team to what comes next. The JMU trip starts a run of seven straight games, with three of the next four on the road. “You only got seven guaranteed,” McGee said.
Georgia State’s offense has scored at least 30 points in all five games and averages 39.4 points and 468.6 yards per game. The Panthers lead the Sun Belt in third-down conversions at 50.7% and in total offense, and they have scored on 20 of 22 trips inside the red zone. Senior quarterback Cameran Brown leads the way, completing 89 of 131 passes for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns. He enters off a program-record six touchdown passes against Old Dominion, and that performance earned him his second Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honor. Rodshaun Dorsey has 276 receiving yards and six touchdown catches, and he has caught two touchdowns in three straight games. Lanear McCrary Jr. leads the ground game with 361 yards, and freshman Qwantavius Wiggins is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Napier did not hold back when asked about the Panthers.
“This may be the most improved team in the country, in my opinion,” Napier said. “They really are sharp. The personnel is outstanding. Might be the best we’ve seen this year. I think the quarterback is a difference maker.”
Napier said Brown throws a good deep ball, works through his progressions and can make plays with his feet. “This guy’s well coached. He’s big. He’s athletic,” Napier said. “I’m very impressed with what I see on tape.”
The matchup to watch is the Georgia State offensive line against a James Madison defense that McGee said creates “a lot of negative plays and havoc on the early downs.” The Panthers lead the Sun Belt in fewest sacks allowed, at 0.4 per game, and fewest tackles for loss allowed. Opponents have sacked Brown only twice all season. Brown credited the group up front.
“They know that they’re the core of this offense and without them we cannot function,” Brown said.
Brown said the Dukes, who returned only two defensive starters, still play a strategic style built on twists, games and blitzes. “It’s one of the more physical defenses that we’re going to be up against,” he said. “They’re 6-0 for a reason.”
James Madison’s defense ranks No. 16 nationally at 15.0 points allowed per game and has forced 10 turnovers. Cornerback DJ Kelly has three interceptions, and safety Jayon Harvey and linebacker Nakian Jackson share the team lead with 43 tackles apiece.
On the other side, the Georgia State defense will be tested by one of the top running games in the conference. JMU averages 219.3 rushing yards per game, and running back George Pettaway ranks No. 10 nationally with 648 yards and six touchdowns. He is coming off 151 yards on 21 carries at Georgia Southern, his third straight 100-yard game. Asked about his priorities for the week, McGee answered, “Run defense. Run defense. A little more run defense.”
“We got to be ready to strike blocks up front, own our gaps, have great eye discipline and play with extreme effort,” McGee said.
The Panthers have backed up that focus all season. Georgia State is holding opponents to 127.0 rushing yards and 174.0 passing yards per game, the fewest passing yards allowed in the Sun Belt, and leads the league with 3.8 sacks per game. Xavier Esqillion has seven sacks and Jabriel Rhodes-Nelson has five. Against Old Dominion, the defense held the Monarchs to 146 total yards, the fewest in program history. McGee said none of that carries over to this game.
“What we’ve done over the first five weeks doesn’t carry over into this week,” McGee said. “We got to create new memories, new moments in this game.”
James Madison will also bring two quarterbacks. Camden Coleman has thrown for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns as the starter. JC Evans returned at Georgia Southern for the first time since Week 1 and went 2-for-2 for 58 yards and two touchdowns, including two fourth-down conversions. Napier would not say how much Evans will play, but he said defenses have to prepare for both. “We’re going to need them both to go where we want to go,” he said.
Special teams could swing the game. James Madison ranks sixth nationally in kickoff returns and ninth in punt returns. Michael Scott leads the nation with 565 combined return yards and has two punt return touchdowns. Kicker Morgan Suarez is 12 of 13 on field goals. McGee called Scott “a really good returner” and said JMU has no weaknesses.
James Madison enters off a 27-24 win at Georgia Southern in which it trailed at halftime for the first time this season. Napier said he was not happy with the details. “We didn’t play with enough detail,” he said. “We didn’t play with very good fundamentals, in my opinion.” He also said his pass rush struggled to reach the quarterback, which matters against a Georgia State line that has given up almost nothing.
The game also comes in the same week JMU was accepted into the American Conference. The Dukes will join as a full member no later than July 1, 2028. Napier called it “a historic day for JMU.”
Napier asked the home crowd for a loud Saturday. “We need this place to be rocking Saturday,” he said.
The Panthers say they are ready for it. “It’s their Homecoming as well, so it’s just a big game for them,” Brown said. “But we’re going to go in there, do our job and come out with the win.”
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