For the first time ever, James Madison and Louisiana meet on the football field. After sharing a conference for the past three seasons, the first ever matchup between the Cajuns and Dukes will feature two very talented quarterbacks.
James Madison
Throughout last season, James Madison knew they had their quarterback of the future but a late season injury had Alonza Barnett as a question mark heading into the season. The Dukes started the season alternating between their two quarterback options — after bringing in Matthew Sluka from UNLV — before seemingly deeming Barrnett healthy enough to take every snap and provide more consist play from the most important position on the field after just two weeks. So far this season, Barnett is 68-for-116, amassing 667 yards and four touchdowns while only yielding one interception. He’s also provided help via the ground game, but is mostly used in short yardage, as he’s garnering just 2.7 yards-per-carry but has added five touchdowns when deep in the redzone.
Sluka has seen his role diminish greatly since the early part of the season. If he enters the game, expect a run, as he’s been far more dangerous there (122 yards, 4.1-per-carry, and two touchdowns) versus his passing game (50 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions).
Louisiana
The Cajuns got their first big helping of quarterback Lunch Winfield two weeks ago. He came into the game late against Marshall as the number one option to lead the Cajuns back from a 17 point fourth quarter deficit. In that game he accounted for 125 yards passing, 129 yards rushing, and five total touchdowns. Certainly a career day for Winfield. His play on the field essentially gave head coach Michael Desormeaux no choice but to move forward with Lunch as the number one option at quarterback.
Michael Desormeaux says he thinks D’Wanye’ “Lunch” Winfield’s performance “speaks for itself.”
“But after a couple turnovers, it was time. We had to try to figure something out. And his competitive spirit was phenomenal.”
Coach says he thought Daniel Beale played well in theβ¦
β Jerit Roser (@JeritRoser) September 28, 2025
Louisiana sits at just 2-3 on the year but after that comeback performance sparked by Winfield, they are currently 1-0 in Sun Belt play. On the other side, the Dukes have been impressive throughout the season at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Sun Belt play but last week’s narrow victory over the Georgia State Panthers has some of the Dukes faithful concerned.
The Dukes will have to limit penalties and be more consistent on offense in order to take control of this game at home. The Cajuns hope the previous bye week helped a number of their players nurse injuries and get them back to the field, including the red-hot play of Winfield.
James Madison’s defense enters the game with the least amount of yards and least amount of points given up per game in the Sun Belt Conference thus far. Meanwhile, the once highly thought of Cajuns defense is allow almost double the amount of yards and points-per-game.
Outside of the quarterbacks, look for Wayne Knight to continue being the Swiss army knife of the Dukes offense. He’s accumulated over 500 total yards of offense and four touchdowns. On the Cajuns side, if Winfield isn’t running the ball, it will be one of the two headed monster of Zylan Perry and Bill Davis. That pair has gone for over 700 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
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β Sun Belt (@SunBelt) October 9, 2025
Louisiana at James Madison
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 11 at 12:00 p.m. EST
TV: ESPN2
Radio: JMU – WSVA 92.1 FM/550 AM; Louisiana – Hot 107.9 FM; 103.3 The Goat, 1420 AM; New Orleans/Slidell β WGSO 990 AM; Worldwide β Varsity Network powered by Learfield.
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