#12 James Madison Dukes vs. #5 Oregon Ducks CFP Game Thread
The Dukes are led by new UCLA head coach Bob Chesney. Will this be the first of many wins against the Ducks?
Sure, it’s been a while since we’ve had a non-UCLA game thread, but today, it seems appropriate since JMU head coach and Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year candidate Bob Chesney is coming to Westwood for next season.
The only question is who are you rooting for? Are you cheering for the Ducks because of conference loyalty since they were fellow Pac-12 members and are now Big Ten members?
Or are you rooting for James Madison because you want to see our new head coach open up a can of whoop-ass on his future conference foe?
I know who I’m cheering for: Bob Chesney. The dude is a Bruin now.
Sure, a win by JMU may delay his official arrival at the Wasserman Football Center, but I’m ok with watching his guys play on TV on New Year’s Day with the announcers spending all game talking about how he is coming to Westwood to fix Bruin football.
This is your “Bob Chesney is coming to Westwood” appreciation game thread.
Join your fellow Bruin fans discussing the final CFP First Round game in the comments below.
College Football Playoff First Round
Opponents: James Madison Dukes at Oregon Ducks
When: 4:30 pm PT, Saturday, December 20, 2025
Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
TV: TBS/TNT/TruTV
Live Stream: HBOMax.com and the HBOMax app with Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden and Stormy Buonantony
Radio/Audio
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 82
Online: WSVAOnline.com
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
James Madison
Go Bruins!!!
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My takeaways at halftime:
- There are a few players that Chesney should bring over from JMU (Knight, edge Sahir West), but a lot of the deficiencies that JMU has in this game are things that UCLA already possesses, specifically with the secondary and wide receivers. The lines on both sides are going to be the biggest question mark, but I imagine this is a great game for Chesney to figure out who on his current team can actually hack it at the next level and what he needs from the portal to compete out of the gate.
- Chief among those: getting Nico Iamaleava back. Barnett is fine for the Sun Belt level but his arm is nowhere near good enough to win in the Big Ten, and Iamaleava can do everything Barnett does at a much higher level.
- Offensive scheme has actually looked pretty good, it's mostly a talent disparity leading to issues. The Dukes have been able to move the ball, but the high-leverage plays inside the red zone have all gone the way of the Ducks.
- Defense...I don't know how much the talent disparity here and the scheme, but my quick read is that JMU should probably be playing more conservatively in the secondary than they are. But maybe there isn't really a great strategy to paper over the talent difference.
Watching JMU rn, you understand why retaining Nico has turned into a priority. Barnett isn't a very good passing QB and he's just not going to win games at the Big Ten level.