TEXAS STATE FOOTBALL
Texas State battles James Madison in Tuesday Night showdown
The Countdown to Kickoff series takes a look at the upcoming 2025 season for the Texas State Bobcats in their final season in the Sun Belt Conference.
This week will preview the Bobcats Tuesday night showdown against the James Madison Dukes.
James Madison finished the 2024 season with a 84 regular season record, finishing in third place in the Sun Belt East Division. One of James Madison’s most notable wins came against North Carolina where the Dukes defeated the Tarheels 7050.
The Dukes were selected to play in the Boca Raton Bowl where they defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 27-17 to win their ninth game of the season.
The Dukes strength on offense will be from their running game, which returns three of their top rushers from last season.
Junior running back George Pettaway led the team in rushing with 980 yards on 162 carries and five touchdowns. Second in rushing was junior running back Wayne Knight who rushed for 449 yards on 77 carries and two touchdowns. Senior running back Jobi Malary rushed for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Alonza Barnett II also returns having passed for 2,598 yards and 26 touchdowns, but a late-season injury along with the addition of former UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has muddied the room.
The Dukes on defense will look to rebuild and reload after adding 13 transfers.
This will be the first ever meeting between Texas State and James Madison with the Dukes joining the Sun Belt conference in 2022.
James Madison’s first ever football season came in 1972 with the Dukes making the transition to FCS in 1980.
The Dukes won their first national championship, winning the FCS title in 2004, defeating Montana 31-21.
James Madison claimed another national championship in 2016 before making the jump to FBS in 2022.
In their first year of FBS, the Dukes finished the season with an 8-3 record, tying for first place in the Sun Belt East Division. The next season, the Dukes finished with a record of 11-2, winning the Sun Belt East Division title and qualifying for the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force. James Madison was ineligible for the Sun Belt Conference title game due to the transition rules for FCS to FBS.
Texas State and James Madison share a unique connection with both schools being coached by Everett Withers.
Withers coached James Madison from 2014 through 2015, making two playoff appearances and winning a share of the CAA conference title before being hired at Texas State. Withers coached Texas State from 2016 through 2018 before being fired. He finished with a 7-28 overall record at Texas State.
Kickoff for Texas State-James Madison is set for Tuesday Oct. 28 at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos with the game being broadcast on ESPN2. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
