Coleman, Evans lead James Madison to bowl eligibility with 27-24 win over Georgia Southern

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Camden Coleman threw for 171 yards and a touchdown, reserve quarterback JC Evans threw for two touchdowns and James Madison became bowl eligible with a 27-24 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday.

On its final drive, Georgia Southern's Blake Ford came up just short of tying it on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 47 seconds remaining.

After a 10-6 halftime deficit, Coleman threw a 2-yard touchdown to Jeremiah Harrison at the end of a four-play, 75-yard drive to start the third and JMU led for the remainder.

Evans' 57-yard touchdown to Cole Keller made it 20-10. Keller had 108 receiving yards on four catches and George Pettaway ran for 151 yards on 21 carries.

Max Johnson threw for 343 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for Georgia Southern. Josh Dallas had 111 yards receiving on eight catches.

With the win, James Madison (6-0, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) joined Georgia, Indiana, Notre Dame and USC as the first bowl eligible teams of 2026.

The Dukes are one of 10 remaining undefeated teams and the only one in the Group of 6. James Madison now has won 16 straight regular season games and 11 straight in conference play. The win was also JMU's first at Georgia Southern (2-4, 1-1).

JMU has the most wins of any Sun Belt team since 2022, with 46.

Up next

James Madison: Hosts Georgia State on Saturday.

Georgia Southern: Travels to face Old Dominion on Thursday. ___

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