EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Maybe it was James Madison who struck twice on fourth down on his first serve of the game.
Or maybe it was coach Bob Chesney calling the receivers for a pass on Duke’s second series of the night. Even if No. 12 James Madison managed to complete a fake punt, that would be enough to explain what the scoreboard failed to convey.
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The fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks were clearly in a different league than the visiting team as they won 51-34 in Saturday’s first-round College Football Playoff game at Otterson Stadium. With Oregon leading 48-13 midway through the third quarter, Duke scored three late touchdowns to make the final score look closer than it actually was.
“I think the scoreboard itself, every time we get there, we kind of shoot ourselves in the foot,” Chesney said. “If we hadn’t done that, if we hadn’t ended with 13 penalties, would it have been a different game? Maybe. But at the same point in time, it’s an offense that’s hard to stop, and I think a lot of teams around the country have a hard time stopping it.”
With James Madison’s loss, the Five fell to 0-4 in CFP play. No. 17 Tulane lost to No. 6 Mississippi 41-10 on Saturday, while Penn State defeated Boise State 31-14 in last year’s Fiesta Bowl. Alabama defeated Cincinnati 27-6 in the 2022 CFP semifinals at the Cotton Bowl.
After losing to Mississippi State, Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall dismissed any notion that his team doesn’t belong in the final 12.
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“We’re the conference champions, the rules are the original rules, and I think at least one G5 team should have a chance moving forward,” Samral said. “I do. I think this year you should give the American champions a chance before the ACC champions because we beat the ACC champions. So Duke won the ACC championship; we beat them.”
In Sumrall’s opinion, Tulane beat two Final Four teams in Northwestern and Duke, but those schools have a combined 14-11 record in 2025.
James Madison, meanwhile, lost to its only Final Four opponent of the season, a 28-14 victory by Louisville in a game in which Duke allowed just 263 yards of total offense. For most of the season, James Madison was able to easily run with the ball when facing opponents. He rushed for more than 300 yards in a single game 5 times and rushed for more than 200 yards in a single game 9 times.
But on Saturday, Duke mostly gave up on offense after falling behind quickly and turned to Sun Belt Player of the Year and quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who attempted a career-high 48 passes in the game. Even so, Barnett still believes his team is a better fit for the CFP than other Final Four schools.
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“I believe people see that we’re destined to be at this level. When you look at Final Four teams and other teams, destiny is really — the ball is in your court. You control your destiny,” Barnett said. “Most teams that don’t succeed, they control their own destiny and we dealt with what we could deal with and we didn’t give in to the noise from the outside.”
In the Five-School Conference, James Madison does have the best CFP offense of any school. The other three programs combined for 30 points in their respective playoff games, with James Madison outscoring the nation’s eighth-ranked scoring defense.
But where Duke struggled was in holding down the Ducks’ ninth-ranked scoring offense. Oregon State ran the ball with ease, averaging over 7.7 yards per attempt against a James Madison run defense that allowed the second-fewest running yards in the country in the game.
As is so often the case in matchups between Power Four and Power Five teams, the biggest differences can be found in the trenches. For one, James Madison can’t adequately match Oregon, just like Tulane can’t match Mississippi and so many other Group of Five programs that have failed to do so before.
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“I thought there were moments today where I felt like we could play with them,” Chesney said. “I think free football and us playing the way we need to play doesn’t exist today.”
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