ESPN College GameDay 2015: Week 8 Location Hosts, TV Schedule and Predictions
The SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 can wait—the marquee game on Week 8 of the college football slate takes place in the Colonial Athletic Association in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Richmond Spiders take their 5-1 overall record and perfect 3-0 mark in the conference on the road to battle the 7-0 James Madison Dukes for conference supremacy. The winner will be in complete control of the CAA standings and have the inside track for a postseason spot.
As if there wasn’t already enough at stake, ESPN’s traveling pregame show, College GameDay, decided to set the stage in person. The show shared its decision to head to Harrisonburg:
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College GameDay typically hits the road for power conference clashes that directly impact the College Football Playoff race, so this is a deviation from the norm. ESPN’s Sam Ponder, who is part of the show, shared her excitement for the switch:
Here is everything you need to know for the Week 8 version of College GameDay, as well as a prediction for the showdown on the field.
ESPN College GameDay: Week 8 Info
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Time (ET): 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Harrisonburg, Virginia
Watch: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Preview and Prediction
The presence of College GameDay isn’t the only reason this is such an important battle. The Spiders and Dukes sit atop the CAA standings with undefeated conference records. The last time either program won the outright conference title in the regular season was in 2008, when James Madison took it, and Saturday’s winner will be in firm control of this year’s race.
Richmond holds the 17-15 historical advantage, but the Dukes won the past two meetings, including last year’s 55-20 blowout at Richmond. The battle shifts to James Madison for homecoming this year, and the crowd is planning a “purple out.”
The Spiders may be on the road, but they have plenty of momentum on their side.
They lost at Maryland to start the season but are undefeated since, with the last four wins coming by a combined 101 points. Quarterback Kyle Lauletta threw for a career-high 312 yards in Richmond’s 37-12 victory over Rhode Island in his last game, and wide receiver Reggie Diggs tallied 142 receiving yards.
Lauletta is the leader of the offense with 1,510 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, but the rushing combination of Seth Fisher and Jacobi Green is also dangerous. The two runners combined for 720 rushing yards and 10 scores this season and will test James Madison’s defense Saturday.
Richmond’s offense has been impressive, but it doesn’t hold up against James Madison’s. The Dukes are 7-0 for the first time ever and boast a 48-45 win at SMU on their resume. The other six wins came by a combined 191 points (an average winning margin of 31.83 points a game).
The Dukes don’t just win, they win big. They scored more than 50 points four times already, and their lowest point total was 38 against the Stony Brook Seawolves. They also topped 600 yards of total offense five different times, thanks largely to the presence of quarterback Vad Lee.
Lee was a highly regarded recruit who initially attended Georgia Tech, but he is now the favorite to win the Walter Payton Trophy as the best player in the FCS. Against SMU, he threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 276 more yards and two additional scores.
Matt Walks of ESPN.com described the superstar:
"Through seven games this year, they have one of the best and most efficient offenses in college football, regardless of division, and Lee keeps pillaging the record books. In JMU's 48-45 upset win over SMU, he set single-game marks for total offense (565) and rushing yards (276, to which he added 275 passing yards). Against Towson, he went 24-for-32 with five passing touchdowns. Last week, JMU blew out Elon 51-0, the biggest margin of victory in program history. At the midseason mark, he looks like a lock for the STATS National Player of the Year, essentially the MVP of the FCS.
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Even if Richmond somehow finds a way to stop Lee, James Madison has three of the top four rushers in the CAA. Lee is one, but tailbacks Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson are dominant forces as well. The Dukes ran for 440 yards against SMU behind an uptempo offense that has an FCS-high 220 first downs.
Richmond cornerback Jarriel Jordan discussed facing the potent James Madison offense, per John O’Connor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Wrap up. That’s the big thing. We need to tackle and get them down. Watching film, they break a lot of tackles. They keep their feet moving. They’re determined to get to the end zone every time they get the ball.”
Jordan has the right idea, but recognizing the need to wrap up and actually doing it against the three-headed attack of the Dukes are two separate things. Richmond’s offense will keep it within striking distance throughout the game, but the defense will not be able to slow down Lee and company for all four quarters on the road.
Look for James Madison to pull away at the end with another explosive offensive performance.
Prediction: James Madison 51, Richmond 34
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
