James Madison vs Appalachian State Picks and Prediction – 11/23/2024

On November 23rd, the James Madison Dukes will head to Boone, North Carolina to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Get our free College Football Picks all season long! James Madison comes into week 13 going on the road for the sixth time this season. The Dukes have a 8-2 record so far and are averaging 35.3 points per game. On defense James Madison is giving up 18.0 points per game ranking 13th in the country. Last week, Alonza Barnett III threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Yamir Knight to give James Madison the lead for good and ran for TDs of 50 and 8 yards Saturday to help the Dukes beat Old Dominion 35-32. James Madison is tied with Georgia Southern, which beat the Dukes 28-14 on Oct. 19, a game behind Marshall in the East Division. JMU plays the first-place Thundering Herd in the regular season finale on Nov. 30. Barnett was 18-of-27 passing for 192 yards and added 70 yards rushing on 13 carries.

The Appalachian State Mountaineers will play their fifth home game of 2024 at 4-5 following a 38-24 loss away from home against Coastal Carolina last Saturday. Braydon Bennett ran for three touchdowns and Ethan Vasko accounted for two more to lead Coastal Carolina to a 38-24 victory over Appalachian State on Thursday night.

Ahmani Marshall ran for 124 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns for Appalachian State. Joey Aguilar completed 17 of 31 passes for 226 yards and threw two interceptions and a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kaedin Robinson with 1:40 left. The Mountaineers average 26.6 points per game on offense. On defense Appalachian State allows 34.8 points per game so far this season. 

James Madison has been very good so far this season. The last game played between the two teams resulted in a Dukes win by 3 points. James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III has better numbers and is a dual threat option for the Dukes and James Madison has a tough defense to keep the game close in this matchup. Appalachian quarterback Joey Aguilar has thrown nine interceptions this season. James Madison will cover the spread and do enough to win. Final Score Prediction, James Madison wins 31-14.