Former Power Five recruits in FCS championship

While most of the attention is focused on Monday’s championship matchup between Alabama and Georgia, Saturday night will feature the championship contest for the Football Championship Subdivision as well.

James Madison and North Dakota State will square off in the game, which will feature several former Power Five recruits. We break down 10 former Power Five signees set to play in the championship matchup between the Dukes and Bison.

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The younger brother of former five-star Georgia running back Keith Marshall, Marcus Marshall elected to travel to the Peach State to play his college ball as well, signing with Georgia Tech over Vanderbilt in 2015. Marshall made an immediate impact with the Jackets, leading the team in rushing in both 2015 and 2016. Despite rushing for 1,273 yards and eight touchdowns during those two seasons combined, Marshall elected to leave Georgia Tech and transfer to James Madison for the 2017 season. Heading into Saturday’s game he’s rushed for 820 yards and 10 touchdowns, both team highs.

Alls had a plethora of offers as a talented high school wide receiver from South Florida, but elected to sign with Duke over Kentucky, Ole Miss, West Virginia and several others. Alls spent three years with the Blue Devils but never really saw consistent playing time, catching eight passes for 70 yards over 17 career games. He transferred to James Madison for the 2016 season and quickly earned a starting job, catching 39 passes for 575 yards and five touchdowns during the team’s run to a national championship. Heading into this weekend, he leads the Dukes in receiving with 53 catches for 681 yards.

Despite being a native of New Jersey and having several offers from schools in the Northeast such as Rutgers, Syracuse and Boston College, Hyman elected to sign with Kansas after taking an official visit to Lawrence during his senior year of high school. He would last just one year with the Jayhawks before transferring to James Madison in 2014 to be closer to home. The move would turn out to be beneficial as he would become an important member of the Dukes' receiving corps. For his career he has 71 catches for 1,061 yards and 11 touchdowns, and is having the best year of his career as a senior. Heading into Saturday’s game he is fourth on the team in receiving yards with 408.

Eldridge elected to stay in-state and sign with Virginia over offers from Illinois, Wake Forest and others. He saw time in each of his first two years with Cavaliers, catching 10 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns combined over those two seasons. He transferred to James Madison for the 2017 season and has been one of the team’s best wide receivers. He ranks second on the team with 41 receptions for 524 yards and four touchdowns.

Little’s recruitment saw interest from a number of Power Five schools and he settled on Maryland over Virginia, N.C. State and Boston College. Despite spending two seasons in College Park he never saw the field and elected to transfer to James Madison for the 2017 season. He ranks 12th on the team in tackles with 36 stops, despite missing two games due to injury.

Ranked as a three-star defensive back out of South Florida powerhouse program American Heritage, Cain committed to Illinois over Rutgers, Virginia and UCF. He moved to receiver after arriving in Champagne, and made an immediate impact, catching 53 passes for 492 yards. But after a coaching change he saw his role reduced as a sophomore and he caught just five passes for 61 yards. He transferred to North Dakota State prior to the start of the 2017 season and he has five catches for 78 yards as well as six tackles through 14 games this season.

Donahue had his share of options as a high school recruit, electing to stay close to home and sign with Maryland over Florida State, West Virginia and Wisconsin. But Donahue never found a role in College Park and elected to transfer to James Madison after not seeing any action in his first two seasons. He’s still waiting to earn a role with the Dukes as well as he’s seen limited action as a reserve with JMU in 2017.

A two-star member of the class of 2014, Carter initially committed to Temple. However, a late offer from Virginia and an official visit to Charlottesville helped change his mind as he flipped to the Cavs just before Christmas in 2013. Carter spent two seasons with Virginia, redshirting and then playing in three games in 2015. He transferred to James Madison for the 2016 season, where he quickly made an impact in the school’s run to the FCS national championship, playing in all 15 games and starting nine. Carter has been even better in 2017, recording 61 total tackles and 7.5 sacks while appearing in all 14 of the Dukes’ contests.

Word had offers from Boston College, Maryland and Pittsburgh, among others, but elected to stay close to home and sign with Virginia. Word made a quick impact with the Cavaliers, playing in 11 games, including two starts, and recording 21 tackles and two sacks as a true freshman in 2016. Despite his success, Word elected to transfer to James Madison during the offseason and found success with the Dukes as well. Word has 29 total tackles and one sack on the season.

Carter had several FCS offers, with Rutgers and Boston College marking his only Power Five opportunities. He made an early commitment to Rutgers and signed with the Scarlet Knights in 2015. He spent two years at Rutgers, redshirting and then playing as a reserve in 2016, making two tackles in five games. He transferred to James Madison for the 2017 season and quickly found a role on defense. He has 27 total tackles and four sacks.