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James Madison Beat Troy at Everything Except the Only Thing That Counted
A weekly, unique recap show for each college football team that played a game. This unique look at what occured has a forward-looking approach and gets you what you need to know. For hardcore fans, casual onlookers and the gambler looking for an edge. Check out the Depth Dossier!
This is the Depth Dossier: the James Madison Dukes, Week 9.
James Madison somehow beat Troy at just about everything except the one thing that counted, and that's how a team outplays an opponent for sixty minutes and still walks away with a loss, falling 24 to 21 in overtime.
The Dukes scored touchdowns on their first three drives, got a blocked punt returned for a score, and got a pick-six from defensive back Justin Powe to build a 21 to 7 halftime lead. Then everything stopped. Over the next thirteen possessions, James Madison turned the ball over five times, punted six times, and failed on two fourth-down tries. Running back Seth Cromwell ran for a career-high 135 yards and a touchdown, but in overtime, Troy's Keno Jones stuffed him on fourth and one at the Troy five, and that ended it. Head coach Billy Napier chose to go for the win instead of kicking, calling it the right call, "analytically speaking." James Madison out-gained Troy 408 yards to 349 and still lost, its first home defeat since November of 2024.
Now here's the thing. By the advanced numbers, this wasn't a close game, it was a blowout that got away. James Madison won the per-play efficiency battle and scored more points per scoring chance than Troy did. But the Dukes lost the turnover battle five to one, and that's really the whole story. You don't outgain a team by almost sixty yards and lose unless the ball keeps changing hands on your own end.
Those turnovers had names attached. Wide receiver Michael Scott fumbled at the Troy 24 after a 43-yard gain. Running back Jeremiah Harrison fumbled at his own 42, setting up Troy's tying score. Powe gave some of it back, picking off quarterback Camden Coleman twice and returning an interception off quarterback J.C. Evans 37 yards for a touchdown, basically outplaying two quarterbacks' worth of mistakes by himself.
Special teams cut both ways, too. A blocked punt in the first quarter set up a touchdown for James Madison. But at the end of regulation, with the ball at the Troy 37, two timeouts, and 37 seconds left, two running plays netted about a yard, and the Dukes had to settle for overtime instead of trying a potential game-winning kick. Napier pointed out the kick would've come from the 33, which matters because their kicker has hit 19 of 19 field goals inside 40 yards this season.
A couple of other things worth knowing. James Madison was flagged ten times for 71 yards, including two false starts from the offensive line, and some of those penalties directly fueled Troy's first touchdown drive. And on defense, Amar Thomas had two sacks, and a strip-sack from linebacker Kells Bush helped hold Troy to 4 of 15 on third down and nothing on fourth down all night.
Turning to the depth chart, there are a couple of injuries to track. Tight end KD Mosley left with about five minutes left in the second quarter with an apparent upper-body injury and didn't return. Wide receiver Noah Grevious left early in the third quarter after making a tackle, also without coming back. Neither has an official status yet, so both are worth watching as the week goes on.
The bigger structural story is how those fumbles and injuries stack together. With two pass-catchers banged up and two more costing the team the ball after catches in good field position, the receiving group took real damage on multiple fronts, which could open up snaps elsewhere if either player is limited going forward.
At quarterback, the rotation keeps churning. James Madison hasn't started the same quarterback in consecutive second-half series for three straight games now, and Napier backed both Coleman and Evans after the game. Evans was sharp outside of his one costly pick-six, while Coleman threw two more interceptions to Powe. Nothing suggests a change is coming, but another big turnover from either guy will keep that question alive.
The one clear bright spot is Cromwell's workload, a career-high 23 carries with the team's best efficiency mark on the ground. After a quiet week for the running backs before this, he looks like the clear lead back until proven otherwise. And keep an eye on the kicking situation, which has looked shaky over the last couple of weeks even with that perfect mark inside 40 yards.
This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.