By Tiffany Williams –
A blizzard’s worth of snow came down in Harrisonburg, but it was the Dukes who dropped the real avalanche in a 31-14 win that left Troy bruised, buried and probably still digging ice out of their helmets. The Trojans walked into a frozen madhouse — students firing snowballs all night, one even drilling Troy punter Evan Crenshaw during a first-quarter punt — and walked out with their season snapped in half by a JMU defense that looked like it had decided the championship belonged to them by divine right.
The game was 17-14 late, tight, gritty, both teams trading body shots. Then Troy punted with 6:36 left. JMU needed five plays — FIVE — to go 83 yards. First Wayne Knight blasted a 40-yard run. Then Alonza Barnett II ripped Troy’s soul out with a 26-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to two scores with 4:11 remaining. That was the game. Everything after that was just Troy suffering in slow motion.
Down their starting left tackle Eli Russ and their starting quarterback Goose Crowder, Troy had no chance once JMU smelled blood. On the next drive, Tucker Kilcrease got swallowed up twice, the second sack coughing up the ball for a scoop-and-score that ended the night. Troy had been hanging on. JMU slammed the door so hard it rattled the stadium seats.
Troy’s defense had held James Madison to just 93 passing yards — JMU’s third-lowest FBS output ever — and forced two turnovers. They did everything you’re supposed to do to steal a road conference championship. But their offense? Completely iced over. Crowder had put the Trojans up 7-3 early with a 1-yard plunge, “the seventh rushing touchdown by a Troy quarterback this season, the most since 2017.” But after halftime, Troy got erased. The Trojans finished with -27 rushing yards. That’s not a typo. That’s a humiliation.
And while JMU’s passing game sputtered, Wayne Knight turned into a one-man demolition crew. He torched Troy for 212 rushing yards on 21 carries, including a 73-yard lightning bolt the very next play after Troy took the lead early in the second quarter. By the end of the night he’d stacked up 234 all-purpose yards, “a Sun Belt Football Championship game record,” and walked out with the MVP trophy like he knew it belonged to him before kickoff.
This was smash-mouth sunlight breaking through winter weather. The Dukes didn’t just beat Troy — they turned the Trojans’ offensive line into a snowplow that never got traction. JMU piled up “14 tackles for loss (14) and sacks (8)” — both Sun Belt title-game records. In the second half? Troy got “45 total yards, including -17 on the ground,” a stat so brutal it feels personal.
Barnett had a rough night throwing — 10-for-25, 93 yards, a touchdown and an interception — but even that didn’t matter. He ran for 85 yards and that late game-breaker. Every time JMU needed a moment, they found it on the ground. Every time Troy needed an answer, JMU buried the response under a fresh drift of defensive chaos.
The snowball sideshow only added to the circus. Students launched icy projectiles at Troy players all night, including the first-quarter Crenshaw punt that got hit and went only 26 yards. JMU turned that into three points. It’s not why Troy lost — not even close — but can you blame the Trojans for feeling like they walked into a trap, a storm and a street fight all at once?
Crowder showed some guts. He was “15-of-34 for 196 yards” and led an 11-play, 75-yard march for a Tae Meadows touchdown late in the first half. Jaquez White jumped a third-quarter pass and returned it to the JMU 28. Justin Powe forced and recovered a fumble immediately after. And what did Troy get from all that? A missed field goal and a three-and-out. That’s when you knew this game was over long before the scoreboard confirmed it.
JMU, meanwhile, played like a team with something to prove and something to take. Their last conference title was 2021. Now they add another, “the 11th conference championship in program history,” and their first Sun Belt crown. They’ve now won 11 straight. This is what a program on a heater looks like: cold-weather dominance and a defense that ruins everything in its path.
Knight became the first Duke with 200 rushing yards since 2017. Barnett extended a season where he’s stacked monster runs on tough nights. Sahir West played the game of his life: “career-high 3.0 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss,” both Sun Belt title game records. His strip-sack that Spinogatti took to the house wasn’t just the dagger. It was the victory cigar.
Troy came in with championship experience. This was their third appearance in four years. They came in with pride, with defense, with enough fight to drag JMU into a slobber-knocker. But when it got coldest and toughest, when somebody had to step up and win a damn championship, only one team responded.
James Madison survived a sloppy, snowy, chaotic grind of a night. Then they finished like a team that knew the trophy was theirs the moment they stepped on the field. Troy got swallowed by the storm — JMU became it.
The Sun Belt has a new sheriff.
And he’s carrying a snow shovel, eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and Wayne Knight.
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