By Bert Lunay
Live Broadcast (ESPN2) | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF) | Live Audio Social Media – @GoCCUSports | @CoastalFootball
CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers hit the road for the first time in Sun Belt Conference play to face division rival James Madison. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. Matt Barrie, Dan Mullen, and Harry Lyles, Jr. will have the call on ESPN2. CCU fans can hear the Chanticleer Sports Radio Network broadcast with Chris Burgin, Layne Harris, Joe Catenacci, and Sam Weiderhaft on WRNN 99.5 FM and online at wrnn.net.
2024 Coastal Carolina football tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets online by visiting www.GoCCUsports.com/tickets or by calling the Chanticleer Athletics Ticket Office at 843-347-TIXX.
CAREER DAY FOR QB1
• Quarterback Ethan Vasko set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns against Old Dominion, throwing for 367 yards and three scores.
• Vasko completed passes to 10 different players in a 19-for-26 performance, including five different players recording receptions of at least 20 yards.
THRICE AS NICE
• Running back Braydon Bennett returned with a vengeance after missing two games due to injury.
• Bennett ran for two touchdowns and caught one touchdown against Old Dominion, surpassing 2,000 career all-purpose yards and tying his career high for rushing touchdown and total touchdowns scored in a game.
THE BLACK SWARM STRIKES
• Coastal Carolina’s defense tallied its fourth touchdown of the season against Old Dominion when linebacker Wyatt Gedeon forced a fumble on a sack that safety Juan Powell returned 23 yards for a score.
• The Chanticleer defense has scored seven touchdowns in its last 16 games.
GEDEON GOES OFF
• Gedeon finished Saturday with five tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble, one interception and two quarterback hurries against Old Dominion.
• Gedeon tied his career high in tackles for loss and sacks, while setting a new career high in QB hurries and notching his first career forced fumble and first career interception.
AIR STRIKES
• Excluding the service academies, no FBS school in the nation is averaging more yards per completion than the Chanticleers at 16.6.
• Vasko ranks second in the nation at 17.2 yards per completion.
RUNAWAY TRAIN
• Running back Christian Washington broke off a career-long 68 yard run in Coastal’s win over Old Dominion.
• The run was the longest play from scrimmage this season for Coastal and the third longest non-scoring play from scrimmage in Chanticleer history.
SPLASH PLAYS
• Coastal Carolina tallied eight plays of at least 20 yards in the win over Old Dominion, the most for CCU since tallying eight last season against Marshall.
• Vasko connected on seven passes of at least 20 yards, becoming the first Chanticleer quarterback to do so since Jarrett Guest’s seven completions against the Thundering Herd.
THE WRIGHT TIME
• Wide receiver Cameron Wright caught four passes for 148 yards against ODU, the 12th-most ever by a Chanticleer in a single game.
• Wright’s 148 yards are the third-most by a Chant on four catches since Malcom Williams recorded 153 yards on four catches in 2018.
SCOUTING THE DUKES OF JAMES MADISON
• James Madison is 4-1 and coming off a 21-19 loss to ULM.
• JMU enters the game tied for the national lead in turnover margin (+2.2) and turnovers gained (15).
• Cornerback Terrence Spence is one of only 18 players in the country with at least three interceptions this season.
• The Dukes have outscored their opponents 60-21 in the first quarter this year.
• James Madison has won the turnover battle in all five of its games so far in 2024.
• Since moving up to the FBS ranks, JMU owns a 12-2 record at home.
• Punter Ryan Hanson was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List for the fifth consecutive season, along with earning First-Team College Football Network Preseason All-American honors and being named CFN Preseason National Punter of the Year.
• Offensive lineman Cole Potts was a Second-Team College Football Network Preseason All-American selection.
SERIES SNAPSHOT WITH JAMES MADISON
• Coastal Carolina and James Madison have met four times on the gridiron with the Dukes holding a 3-1 lead in the series.
DATE LOCATION RESULT
09/10/05 Conway, SC W, 31-27
09/22/07 Harrisonburg, VA L, 10-45
11/26/22 Harrisonburg, VA L, 7-47
11/25/23 Conway, SC L, 14-56
For complete coverage of CCU football, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalFootball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @goccusports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison football returns home on a short week to host Coastal Carolina in its Sun Belt Conference home opener on Thursday, Oct. 10. This week marks JMU’s first non-Saturday home game since the 2021 FCS quarterfinals.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium, and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Pregame radio coverage on the Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network begins at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday’s game is sponsored by AKLU, and the 2024 JMU football season is presented by CarMax.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Kickoff: 7:30 PM ET
Harrisonburg, Va. | Bridgeforth Stadium
Game Information
TV: ESPN2
Online: Watch ESPN (cable subscription required)
Radio: WSVA 92.1 FM/550 AM
Listen: Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network
Live Stats
JMU Game Notes
- JMU meets Coastal for the fifth time ever Thursday night, and the Dukes lead the all-time series, 3-1.
- JMU is 2-0 in home games while splitting the two road matchups.
- JMU has won three straight in the series, including a 56-14 victory in the 2023 regular-season finale back on Nov. 25, 2023, in Conway.
- That win secured JMU’s second straight first-place finish in the Sun Belt East Division.
THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE VALLEY
- JMU has a history of non-Saturday games due in large to its runs through the FCS Playoffs, but this week’s matchup with Coastal represents just the fourth regular-season game to be played on a Thursday in the 53-year history of the program.
- Last year, JMU won 20-9 at Marshall on Oct. 19, 2023, in its first Sun Belt midweek game.
- The Dukes’ second Thursday game came back on Sept. 13, 2018, when JMU rolled to a 73-7 win over Robert Morris in a game moved up to Thursday due to the threat of Hurricane Florence.
- JMU first played on a Thursday back on Oct. 29, 1981, when hosting Hampton, known as Hampton Institute then.
- Adding in Friday games in the FCS postseason (formerly Division I-AA) and the 2001 finale, this Thursday will be the 14th game to be played on a Thursday or Friday since moving to Division I in 1980. The Dukes are 10-3 in those games, which includes a 5-2 mark at Bridgeforth Stadium.
JMU RESULTS OFF FIRST LOSS IN REGULAR SEASON
- Coming off its first regular-season setback, JMU has been solid at bouncing back the following week.
- Since 2000, JMU is 19-3 in weeks after a regular-season loss, with the lone two defeats coming with the Dukes’ starting quarterback being sidelined due to injury in 2015 and 2022.
- Of the 19 wins coming off its first loss, JMU has won 13 by double digits, including a 56-14 win at Coastal in the 2023 regular-season finale in Conway.
- JMU went unbeaten in the 2017 and 2020 regular seasons with its only losses occurring in the FCS playoffs.
ULM EDGES JMU IN SUN BELT OPENER
- JMU had a quick starting, going up 10-0 in the first quarter, but ULM outscored the Dukes 21-9 over the final three stanzas to edge the Dukes 21-19 last Saturday in Monroe, La.
- Trailing 21-13 in the fourth, JMU put together a 75-yard drive and found the endzone on a Tyler Purdy one-yard rush with 4:04 to play, but the two-point conversion was no good.
- JMU’s defense got two stops late but was unable to get in field-goal range, as ULM stopped the Dukes twice on fourth down in the closing moments.
- Despite the loss, JMU out-gained the Warhawks 399-257 and held a 2-1 lead in takeaways.
QUICK STARTS
- After scoring a total of three points in the opening quarters of games one and two, JMU turned it into high gear after the bye, combining for 57 points between the first quarters of the UNC, Ball State and ULM games.
- At UNC on Sept. 21, JMU put up 25 points in the opening stanza, which is the third-most in a first quarter in school history.
- It tacked on 22 more in the first 15 against Ball State, which was fifth-best in the 53-year history of the program.
- Last week at ULM, JMU scored 10 points in its first two drives to grab a 10-0 lead just over six minutes into the game.
FRIENDLY CONFINES OF BRIDGEFORTH
- New subdivision, same result.
- Since 2016, JMU has been incredible at home.
- Over the past eight-plus seasons, the Dukes have gone 55-4 (.932) at Bridgeforth Stadium.
- That includes four unbeaten seasons, going 9-0 in 2017 and 2019, 8-0 in 2016 and 5-0 in 2020.
- During the span, JMU has scored 50+ points in 23 games, had 11 over 60 points, four over 70 and two with at least 80.
- JMU’s first home loss from 2016-21 came on Oct. 6, 2018, when former head coach Curt Cignetti led Elon to a 27-24 win.
- The Dukes saw a 19-game home win streak end on Oct. 9, 2021, falling 28-27 to Villanova.
- Marshall claimed a 26-12 win on Oct. 22, 2022, JMU’s lone home loss in its first FBS season.
- After that, JMU won seven in a row by an average score of 39-17 before App State won 26-23 in overtime on Nov. 18, 2023.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: ESPN2
Online: Watch ESPN (cable subscription required)
Listen: Morris Insurance & Financial JMU Radio Network
- On the radio – WSVA 92.1 FM/550 AM
- Online: The Varsity Network
Broadcast Talent
- ESPN2: Matt Barrie (pxp), Dan Mullen (analyst), Harry Lyles Jr. (sideline)
- Radio: Dave Riggert (pxp), Harry O’Kelly (analyst)
