JMU Football: End of Year Offensive Grades for 2024

Despite James Madison winning the 2024 Boca Bowl against Western Kentucky, some consider the 2024 football season disappointing for JMU. However, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t success to be found.

Today, we’ll look at the 2024 season on the offensive side of the ball, and grade JMU for their performance this year.

JMU Football Grades for the Offense

Quarterbacks: A

JMU finished the 2023 football season with an 11-2 record, which was quite the surprise, considering the fact that they had joined the Sun Belt Conference just one year prior. This meant that expectations were through the roof for the Dukes in 2024. While JMU struggled to replicate that same success, finishing the year at 9-4, Alonza Barnett III was anything but the problem.

Before the season even started, Barnett already faced the challenge of beating out Washington transfer, Dylan Morris, for the starting job. JMU ultimately ended up riding with Barnett, which was a great decision looking back at it now.

One thing to love about Barnett is his competitive nature and unmatched determination. Even when the Dukes got off to a slow start, Barnett was always able to bounce back. A prime example of this was in JMU’s first game of the season against Charlotte. Despite Barnett fumbling the ball and throwing an interception before halftime, the Dukes managed to outscore Charlotte 21-0 in the second half, picking up their first win on the year.

In Barnett’s first season as a starter, the sophomore threw for 2,598 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also made a big impact in the run department, where he amassed a total of 442 rushing yards, as well as seven rushing touchdowns.

The Dukes’ offense, led by OC Dean Kennedy, heavily utilized the RPO, which somewhat resembled the Baltimore Ravens backfield with both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Barnett finished the year with a QBR of 45.0 (96th in the nation), a PAA of 7.1 (87th in the nation), and an EPA of 25.9 (81st in the nation).

However, Barnett, just like most college QBs, had his fair share of struggles. Against Louisiana Monroe, Barnett completed just 42.6 percent of his passes, with a low QBR of 26.9. He also threw a pick in each of the Dukes final two games of the regular season. JMU ended up losing both of those football games.

Another common theme when watching Barnett were his difficulties distributing the ball against the blitz. When the Dukes played North Carolina earlier in the season, Barnett completed just 29.4% of his passes against the blitz. In that same game, he completed 71% of his passes without the blitz.

Besides a few underwhelming performances and a rough end to the season, I’d also argue that Barnett had one of the best two-game stretches of any QB in college football. Those two games took place against UNC, on Sept. 21, and Ball State, on Sept. 28. Against the Tar Heels, Barnett had 388 passing yards and five passing touchdowns. He also added 99 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. The next week, against Ball State, Barnett had similar success, passing for 280 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for 44 yards and one touchdown. JMU scored at least 63 points in both of those contests.

However, Barnett wasn’t the only quarterback to make a difference for the Dukes. Billy Atkins, JMU’s backup, made his second start in his collegiate career in the Boca Raton Bowl against Western Kentucky. He ended the game with 16 completions for 181 yards and a touchdown.

JMU quarterback Billy Atkins visibly emotional after leading the Dukes to their first bowl game victory over Western Kentucky. #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/EhV3qffrRd

— Thomas Christopher (@ThomasCP_NFL) December 19, 2024

The Dukes’ third stringer, JC Evans, also found himself making a big impact against the Hilltoppers. Evans, a true freshman, finished with 64 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, to go along with a 1-yard passing touchdown in the Dukes’ 27-17 victory.

JMU finished the season with the second most passing touchdowns of any Sun Belt team (28), while also throwing the fewest interceptions (4).

Running Backs: B

George Pettaway was the focal point of the Dukes’ rushing attack this season. Throughout 13 games, the North Carolina transfer racked up 980 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. He also added 200 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Pettaway clearly played a massive role in JMU’s success, considering that he averaged just 65 rushing yards per game in the Dukes four losses on the year. However, in JMU’s nine wins, Pettaway rushed for an average of 80 yards. JMU also went 5-1 in games where Pettaway had at least one touchdown.

JMU led the Sun Belt football conference in carries, with 520. Those attempts resulted in 2,490 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns.

The Dukes’ backup running backs, Wayne Knight and Jobi Malary, combined for 718 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Knight also added two touchdowns in the air. While Knight combined for just seven rushing yards throughout the Dukes’ first three games of the season, he managed to rack up at least 60 rushing yards in five of JMU’s last 10 games.

Wide Receivers: B

JMU’s two leading receivers in 2024 had no trouble adjusting to a new quarterback. Last season, Omarion Dollison had just one reception for 54 yards and a touchdown. Despite a lackluster junior campaign, Dollison stepped up his productivity as a senior, hauling in 37 receptions. Dollison led the Dukes in receiving yards, with 633, and receiving touchdowns, with six.

What Dollison lacked in size, he made up in speed. He averaged 17 yards per reception this season. His longest reception was a 73-yard touchdown against the Charlotte 49ers on August 31.

Wayne Knight’s brother, Yamir Knight, also made big strides as a sophomore for JMU. After gathering just eight receptions as a freshman, Knight led the Dukes’ with 53 receptions in 2024, accumulating a total of 605 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Senior wideout Cam Ross also thrived with Barnett at the helm. After spending four seasons with the UConn Huskies, Ross transferred to JMU, where he collected 37 receptions for 443 yards and three touchdowns. Ross’ biggest game came in the Dukes’ 70-50 win over UNC, where he caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

JMU also acquired wide receivers Za’Ron Collins and Landon Ellis through the transfer portal.

Tight Ends: C

Taylor Thompson was causing havoc for opposing teams this season! Along with Dollison, Thompson finished the year with six receiving touchdowns, which was tied for the most receiving touchdowns of any Sun Belt tight end in 2024.

Thompson also had the fourth most receiving yards of any Sun Belt tight end this season, with 448. The Dukes’ three other tight ends, Logan Kyle, Josh Phifer and Kyi Wright, combined for just 174 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. It’s safe to say that JMU had a somewhat unproductive tight end core besides Thompson.

However, things should change for the Dukes in 2025, after signing Ethan Gurela and Brian Hnat during signing day in early December.

Offensive Line: B

There were definitely both positives and negatives with JMU’s offensive line in 2024. The Dukes’ offensive line allowed 34 sacks, which was the third most of any Sun Belt team. Those sacks combined for a total loss of 227 yards, which was the second most of any Sun Belt team. Barnett took at least one sack in every game throughout the season.

On the bright side, there’s no doubt that the offensive lineman gave Barnett a good amount of time in the pocket, considering that he threw just four interceptions all season long. They were also the front force of a very solid run department.