College Gameday heads to Harrisonburg, Virginia this Saturday for a clash between two teams at the top of the Sun Belt. Appalachian State heads to James Madison to take on the Dukes, where QB Jordan McCloud and co. are having a magical season that they are looking to finish undefeated.
McCloud, a Tampa native, started his career with UCF playing two solid seasons for the Bulls. McCloud made the decision to transfer to Arizona in 2021, however started just three games in two years with the Wildcats.
Everything changed for McCloud when he decided to transfer to a team that had just made the jump from FCS to FBS. After years of domination at the FCS level, the Dukes were finally rewarded with an invitation to the Sun Belt Conference. Now in their first FBS season, Jordan has JMU on the brink of an undefeated season.
The senior quarterback was reliable but not explosive in the first three games, passing for under 250 yards in all three with just four touchdowns. However, he did the job as JMU started 3-0. Since then, Jordan McCloud has been on an absolute tear, tallying 2,800 passing yards on the season with 26 touchdowns. In addition, McCloud is dangerous with his legs adding 310 and six touchdowns on the ground.
In JMU’s last three wins, Jordan has thrown for a whopping 1104 yards and 11 touchdowns. James Madison finally got the recognition they have been deserving all season, as College Gameday announced they would be headed to their first non-power-five school of the season.
Despite all of this, JMU is ineligible for a postseason game due to the NCAA’s rule of handing out two-year bowl bans for teams transitioning from FCS to FBS. The university is fighting hard to get this ban overruled with McCloud and the Dukes having high aspirations for their season. McCloud and co. will continue to ball out Saturday as they hope for a removal of the postseason ban.
