Villanova to get GameDay greeting at James Madison

When the CAA released its football schedule back in June, many around the league pointed to the Oct. 14 showdown between defending FCS champion James Madison and Villanova in Harrisonburg, Va. as one of the key matchups in conference play this season.

The folks at ESPN’s College GameDay thought so, too.

It was announced Sunday that college football’s weekly pregame show will air from the James Madison University Quad prior to the 3:30 showdown between the top-ranked Dukes (5-0) and No. 12 Villanova (4-2).

This is the second time in three years that the show will air from Harrisonburg. The show also broadcast from the Quad Oct. 24, 2015 prior to Richmond’s wild 5949 upset victory over the Dukes at JMU’s Bridgeforth Stadium.

It marks the eighth time GameDay will originate from an FCS location and the ninth from a non-FBS site.

JMU is coming off of a 20-10 victory over Delaware last week. The win extended JMU’s programrecord winning streak to 17 games, the longest active streak in all of Division I. It also tied the CAA mark for consecutive victories.

Villanova blanked Maine, 31-0, for its second shutout of the season and the second straight at home.

The last time the Wildcats posted two shutouts in a season was 1966. You have to go back to 1964 to find the last time Villanova blanked two consecutive opponents at home.

JMU leads the alltime series between the schools, 14-11, and has won four of the last six meetings including the last three at Bridgeforth Stadium.