Oregon prepares for dual-threat challenge from James Madison’s Alonza Barnett III

EUGENE — James Madison’s hopes of staying competitive against Oregon rest largely on Alonza Barnett III.

The Sun Belt Player of the Year, Barnett enters Saturday’s College Football Playoff game completing 59.9% of his passes for 2,533 yards with 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions and 544 rushing yards and 14 scores.

“He can move with his legs, but I think what he doesn’t get enough credit for is the ability to connect on deep balls downfield,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “They are a team that has a great play-action game. They are able to hit shots on post routes and able to attack you down the field vertically.”

The No. 5 Ducks have one of the top pass defenses in the country, and certainly the best Barnett and the No. 12 seed Dukes have ever faced. But the opposing quarterbacks Oregon has faced this season has been mostly overmatched, with the exception of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, USC’s Jayden Maiava and Washington’s Demond Williams Jr., whose dual-threat abilities are most like Barnett.

Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said Barnett will “have some NFL opportunities” and cited his 21.5 mph speed.

Safety Dillon Thieneman said Oregon will lean on some of its plans against Washington to combat the running ability of Barnett.

“He’s able to move the pocket a little bit, he can throw on the run,” Thieneman said. “He can definitely hit guys deep. They’ve got some good receivers, some vertical threats.”

Barnett has three career 300-yard passing games and three career games with six touchdowns. He threw for four touchdowns against Texas State and ran for four scores against Old Dominion, one of the best pass defenses he’s faced.

Oregon has allowed more than 200 passing yards in just two games this season and only Maiava and Penn State’s Drew Allar threw for multiple scores against UO.

Barnett recognizes the enormity of the challenge presented by the Ducks, whose size up front and “savvy” play in the secondary stand out.

“When you look at the front four they’re huge,” Barnett said. “They’re dancing bears, as I’ve referred to them. They’re big guys that can move.”

Barnett is coming off a dreadful passing performance against Troy in the Sun Belt Championship game in which he was 10 of 25 for just 93 yards with one touchdown and one interception. For the Dukes to have any chance of keeping things competitive, Barnett has to be far more accurate.

“That’s going to be a necessity as we go,” JMU coach Bob Chesney said. “That was not it at all. Some of the RPO game we just could not connect; dropped a couple of passes, missed a couple of throws and couldn’t get much going on that side.”