If there were any questions about the health of James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III, they have been answered with an exclamation point.

Barnett suffered a season-ending knee injury against Marshall last year in the final game of the regular season and missed the Dukes’ 27-17 win over Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl.

The Dukes standout sat out spring drills and as late as mid-August there were questions as to whether or not he would be ready to play when the season began.

Those fears have been put to rest as Barnett has led James Madison to a 2-1 start including a solid 31-13 win at Liberty last Saturday in the initial Battle of the Blue Ridge between the two Virginia schools. Barnett threw for a touchdown and scored twice on runs.

The Dukes were the pre-season pick to win the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division with Georgia Southern selected to finish second. One of those two teams will become an immediate front runner as they open SBC play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at James Madison.

Second-year coach Bob Chesney who was hired after six highly successful years at Holy Cross to replace Curt Cignetti after the latter went to Indiana, has maintained the success level put in place by Cignetti and while the talent level is high everything hinges on a healthy and productive Barnett.

“Alonza is pretty awesome and to see him get out there and play football again and have a chance to do it at the level he’s doing it at…,” Chesney said. “He’s long, explosive, powerful and he’s really smart. He’s a very intelligent football player and I just love the way he plays.”

Barnett is a redshirt junior who is in his third year as a starter and he’s been the catalyst for a Dukes offense which is explosive and capable of controlling a game which it did against Liberty, especially in the second half.

The game was tied 10-10 at the half, but it was all JMU in the second half with the defense playing especially well, Chesney said.

The Dukes defense is one of the best in the country. It ranks sixth in total defense allowing 215 yards per game and the pass defense is the second best in the NCAA. Liberty had 213 yards, only 75 rushing.

“I though he (Barnett) did a really good job (against Liberty) but what we did a really good job of was that we were efficient on first downs,” Chesney said.  “We were able to not get ourselves into those fourth-and-two gotta have it, backed up having to go for it. We were not in those scenarios.”

Chesney will be looking for that same efficiency against a Georgia Southern defense which has struggled this season to say the least. In last Saturday’s 45-17 win over Maine the Eagles (2-2) limited the Black Bears to 248 yards but overall are giving up 481.5 yards per game while averaging 386.3 offensively.

Barnett, a redshirt junior, has thrown for 445 yards and three touchdowns while running for 97 and he has a plethora of weapons to pick from in directing one of the best offenses in the conference.

Running backs Wayne Knight (190 yards) and George Pettaway (132) along with backup quarterback Matthew Sluka (121) and Ayo Adeyi (115) lead a punishing ground game while Knight with nine catches and Landon Ellis with eight for 115 yards are Barnett’s favorite targets.

Fans may remember Sluka as the quarterback who quit at UNLV last year after four games because he was not getting paid the NIL money he had been promised. With Barnett’s status unsure Chesney took a risk on Sluka not being a disruptive force and it is paying off.

The Dukes had 440 yards total against Liberty, 233 on the ground and for Chesney it was just what the doctor ordered.

“When you’re that balanced it’s phenomenal,” said Chesney who now finds himself being mentioned as one of the top candidates to be considered for the opening at nearby Virginia Tech as well as any other jobs which may crop up this season.

“I thought we were able to control the game pretty well,” Chesney said. “The first half we were very average in a lot of different ways. The second half was just about us playing better football, on defense in particular.”

After beating Weber State 45-10 in its opener James Madison lost at Louisville, 28-14, before knocking off the Flames. The Dukes needed a score with 1:19 left to forge a 10-10 intermission tie. After that it was all JMU as it stifled the Flames throughout.

“The second half we came out and played a much better brand of football,” Chesney said. “I thought our offensive line, our tight ends and our running backs were absolutely dominant.”

This is the fourth meeting between the Dukes and the Eagles since JMU joined the Sun Belt and the home team has won each game.