Marshall Transfer Bush Brings ‘Strong’ Skills To JMU

Jul 27, 2023 Updated 4 hrs ago
NEW ORLEANS — This time last year, Marshall transfer defensive lineman Jamare Edwards was getting set for his first fall camp at James Madison.
His move to Harrisonburg made for a fruitful final season of college football as he recorded 44 tackles with 12.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks en route to a second team All-Sun Belt selection.
After Edwards’ departure, JMU coach Curt Cignetti dipped back into the transfer portal and emerged with another Marshall transfer defensive lineman: Immanuel Bush.
Bush, a Lancaster, S.C., native, not only adds depth to the Dukes’ defensive line unit, but he brings blue-collar strength — a lot of it.
“We know he’s strong, that’s for sure,” Marshall coach Charles Huff told the Daily News-Record at the Sun Belt Conference media day on Wednesday morning. “He was one of the strongest, or at least the top three or four strongest guys on our team. He’s also a guy that’s very humble. He plays the game hard, he’s not for the glitz and the glamor.”
In three seasons at Marshall, Bush played in 22 games, and recorded 35 tackles with 5.5 tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. In his lone game against JMU last October, Bush recorded a career-high 1.5 sacks as he broke into the backfield to bring down Dukes backup Billy Atkins.
At 6-foot-1, 302-pounds, Bush isn’t the prototypical FBS defensive tackle, but he makes up for that with his motivation to play well on the field each snap he plays.
And like Edwards, the Dukes’ game against Marshall may serve as another chip on his shoulder with his new team.
“I think he’s a young man that’s played with a chip on his shoulder for a long time, being told you’re not big enough, you’re not tall enough, you’re not long enough,” Huff said. “He’s definitely a guy, similar to Jamare last year, we know a lot about him. And we know him playing against us is going to be something he’s looking forward to.”
When Bush does play against his former team, Huff said the familiarity with the defensive tackle will be helpful for the Thundering Herd’s offensive line, even though he said they had trouble blocking him in practice at times.
“I think it creates a little bit of inner confidence for our guys because they know the guy,” Huff said. “You watch film on guys, but when you know what the guy does, you’ve gone against the guy before, it creates a little bit more confidence.”
While Marshall will be familiar with Bush come October when the Dukes visit, his absence will be missed by the Thundering Herd’s defensive line — especially first team All-Sun Belt selection Owen Porter.
Porter, who led Marshall with 15 tackles for a loss last fall, said he and Bush built a bond shortly after he arrived in Huntington, W.Va, which is also Porter’s hometown.
“I love Bush,” Porter said. “Bush and I have been friends since the day he got here. He’s been to my house dozens of times, my parents have fed him a lot. I was always confident when he was in there with me. I never had to worry that he was going to get blown up by a double team or anything else.”
Porter added that Bush helped take some of the pressure off of him, as he attracted a lot of attention from opposing teams’ offensive line units.
“He’s a confident player, extremely strong, especially when it comes to pass rushing,” Porter said of Bush. “He took the worry off a lot. I’m going to miss him. He’s a really good player and I assume he’s going to do very, very big things this year.”
As Bush’s former defensive line teammate said he’ll miss Bush, his new one, James Carpenter, is excited to play alongside him this fall.
Not only will Bush be able to team up with Carpenter, he’ll also alleviate some of the pressure off the Dukes’ star nose guard.
And Carpenter welcomed that.
“He’s a beast,” Carpenter said of Bush. “He’s a big body. He’s got some size to him, he’s got experience. I think having him to keep myself fresh, but to also keep him fresh with me or play with each other, he’s going to be good for us.”