Coastal Carolina @ James Madison (-9.5)
Coastal Carolina (4-1, 1-0)
Coastal’s only loss: 43-24 at home to Virginia.
Chanticleers scored 55-28-45 points in their I-A wins.
Coastal has 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Coastal has 40 returning starts on offensive line.
Soph QB Vasko started four games LY.

Since 2017, JMU is 14-7-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Under Beck, JMU is 3-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Last two games, Dukes allowed 384-200 rushing yards.
Under Beck, JMU is 6-3 ATS in conference games.
Over is 3-1 in their I-A games.

James Madison (4-1, 0-1)
JMU (-16) got upset 21-19 LW in its Sun Belt opener.
JMU had scored 70-63 points in its previous two games.
Dukes have 4 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Dukes have 64 returning starts on offensive line.
Soph QB Bennett started one game LY.

Since 2019, JMU is 25-10 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2019, JMU is 6-3 ATS coming off a loss.
Last 2+ years, JMU is 11-6 ATS in conference games.
Last 3+ years, JMU has +40 turnover ratio in 43 games.
New coach was 44-21 SU at the I-AA level (Holy Cross)

James Madison won both I-A meetings, 56-14/47-7.
Chanticleers (+14.5) lost 47-7 here two years ago.

Middle Tennessee State @ Louisiana Tech (-4.5)
Middle Tennessee (1-4, 0-1)
MTSU is 0-4 vs I-A teams, outscored 170-48.
MTSU beat I-AA team 32-25, but was outgained, 341-328.
MTSU has 4 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Blue Raiders have 26 returning starts on offensive line.
Junior QB Vattiato has started 18 games.

MTSU is 7-10-1 ATS last 18 games as a road underdog.
In his career, Mason is 18-17 ATS as a road underdog.
MTSU is minus-7 in turnovers in its I-A games.
MTSU is 5-12 ATS in its last 17 conference games.
Blue Raiders are 6-9 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss.

Louisiana Tech (1-3, 0-1)
Tech is 0-3 vs I-A teams, losing by 10-3-7 points.
Bulldogs are minus-8 in turnovers in their four games.
Tech has 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Tech has 79 returning starts on offensive line.
Frosh QB Bullock is 30-43/267 passing (1 TD, no INTs).

Under Cumbie, Tech is 3-5 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Cumbie is 3-8 ATS as a favorite.
In their I-A games, Tech ran ball for 69.7 yards/game.
Bulldogs are 1-8 ATS in their last nine conference games.
Tech’s only win is 25-17 over I-AA Nicholls State.

Home team won last five series games.
MTSU lost 40-24/45-16 in last two visits to Ruston.

Texas-El Paso @ Western Kentucky (-19.5)
Texas-El Paso (0-5, 0-2)
Miners lost their I-A games by 33-18-10-20 points, scoring 13.8 ppg.
UTEP has been outrushed 927-314 in its I-A games.
UTEP has 4 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
Miners have 26 starts back on offensive line, mostly at I-AA level.
Soph QB Locklear came with the new coach from I-AA Austin Peay.

UTEP is 6-8 ATS in last 14 games as a road underdog.
UTEP is 18-12 ATS in last 30 conference games.
Miners are 12-9 ATS in last 21 games coming off a loss.
UTEP lost 27-24 to I-AA Southern Utah.
Under is 3-1 in their I-AA games this season.

Western Kentucky (3-2, 1-0)
WKU won its C-USA opener, 49-21 at Middle Tennessee.
WKU’s losses: 63-0 at Alabama, 21-20 at Boston College.
Hilltoppers have 9 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
WKU has 91 starts back on offensive line.
Soph QB Veltkamp is 76-108/883 passing (8 TD’s, 4 INTs).

WKU is 9-7 ATS in last 16 games as a home favorite.
WKU is 16-9-1 ATS in last 26 conference games.
Hilltoppers are 9-6 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss.
WKU outgained BC 355-279 in their loss in Boston Sept 28.
WKU’s other I-A win was 26-21 over Toledo.

Western Kentucky won last four series games (1-3 ATS)
Miners lost 40-16/35-27 in last two visits to WKU.

Two more Conference USA games are on the slate for Thursday, but we also add a little Sun Belt flavor. Coastal Carolina and James Madison draw the headline billing on ESPN2, while UTEP and Western Kentucky take center stage on ESPNU. Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech will be on CBS Sports Network, so we’ve got a trio of cable contests on October 10.