2018 James Madison Dukes football team

The 2018 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Mike Houston and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Delaware in the first round before losing to Colgate in the second round.

2018 James Madison Dukes football
ConferenceColonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATSNo. 9
FCS CoachesNo. 10
2018 record9–4 (6–2 CAA)
Head coachMike Houston (3rd season)
Offensive coordinatorDonnie Kirkpatrick (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorBob Trott (3rd season)
Home stadiumBridgeforth Stadium
(Capacity: 24,877)
2018 CAA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 4 Maine $^  7 –1     10 –4  
No. 9 James Madison ^  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 16 Stony Brook ^  5 –3     7 –5  
No. 20 Towson ^  5 –3     7 –5  
No. 24 Delaware ^  5 –3     7 –5  
No. 19 Elon ^  4 –3     6 –5  
Rhode Island  4 –4     6 –5  
William & Mary  3 –4     4 –6  
New Hampshire  3 –5     4 –7  
Villanova  2 –6     5 –6  
Richmond  2 –6     4 –7  
Albany  1 –7     3 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 7, 2018, Mike Houston was formally announced and hired as the next coach of East Carolina, alongside nine staff members.[1]

Previous season

The Dukes finished the 2017 season 14–1, 8–0 in CAA play to become CAA champions. They finished the regular season undefeated for the second time in school history (the other being 1975, before the Dukes joined the NCAA). In the FCS Playoffs they defeated Stony Brook, Weber State, and South Dakota State to advance to the FCS National Championship Game for the second consecutive year. They were unable to defend their 2016 National Championship, falling in the 2017 title game to North Dakota State.

Preseason

CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Dukes were predicted to win the CAA championship.[2]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1James Madison241 (21)
2New Hampshire206 (2)
3Delaware182
4Stony Brook169
5Elon168 (1)
6Villanova164
7Richmond127
8Maine81
9Albany78
10Towson74
11William & Mary55
12Rhode Island39

Preseason All-CAA Team

The Dukes had six players selected to the preseason all-CAA team, including cornerback Rashad Robinson being selected as preseason defensive player of the year.

Award watch lists
Award Player Position Year
Buck Buchanan Award[3] Rashad Robinson CB SR

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 112:00 p.m.at NC State*No. 2
ESPNUL 13–2456,073
September 86:00 p.m.at Norfolk State*No. 2
ESPN3W 17–0[lower-alpha 1]6,482
September 137:30 p.m.[lower-alpha 2]Robert Morris*No. 2
NBCS WA+W 73–718,112
September 223:30 p.m.William & MaryNo. 2
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA (rivalry)
NBCS WA+W 51–025,130
September 293:00 p.m.at RichmondNo. 2
NBCS WA+W 63–108,217
October 61:30 p.m.No. 10 ElonNo. 2
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
MASN/SNYL 24–2725,484
October 131:00 p.m.at VillanovaNo. 6
FCS/FSGOW 37–05,219
October 273:30 p.m.No. 15 Stony BrookNo. 3
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
MASN/SNYW 13–1025,244
November 31:00 p.m.at New HampshireNo. 3
FCSL 24–357,741
November 102:00 p.m.Rhode IslandNo. 9
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
MASN/SNYW 48–3124,199
November 172:00 p.mat No. 15 TowsonNo. 7
CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLiveW 38–177,208
November 243:00 p.m.No. 21 Delaware*No. 6
ESPN3W 20–67,297
December 11:00 p.m.at No. 9 Colgate*No. 6
ESPN3L 20–236,418
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Source:[4]

  1. The JMU–Norfolk State game was mutually ended after first quarter due to inclement weather.
  2. Moved from Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

at NC State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Dukes 7 0 3 3 13
Wolfpack 0 17 0 7 24
See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

at Norfolk State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Dukes 17 17
Spartans 0 0
See also: 2018 Norfolk State Spartans football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–0 2017 W, 75–14

Due to inclement weather, the JMU–Norfolk State game was mutually ended after the first quarter.

Robert Morris
1 2 3 4 Total
Colonials 0 0 0 7 7
No. 2 Dukes 21 31 14 7 73
See also: 2018 Robert Morris Colonials football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

William & Mary
1 2 3 4 Total
Tribe 0 0 0 0 0
No. 2 Dukes 7 10 21 13 51
See also: 2018 William & Mary Tribe football team and James Madison–William & Mary football rivalry
Overall record Last meeting Result
23–17 2017 W, 46–14

at Richmond
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 2 Dukes 7 28 21 7 63
Spiders 3 7 0 0 10
See also: 2018 Richmond Spiders football team and James Madison–Richmond football rivalry
Overall record Last meeting Result
17–18 2017 W, 20–13

Elon
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 Phoenix 0 7 3 17 27
No. 2 Dukes 3 6 3 12 24
See also: 2018 Elon Phoenix football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–0 2017 W, 31–3

at Villanova
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Dukes 10 6 14 7 37
Wildcats 0 0 0 0 0
See also: 2018 Villanova Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
15–11 2017 W, 30–8

Stony Brook
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Seawolves 0 10 0 0 10
No. 3 Dukes 7 0 0 6 13
See also: 2018 Stony Brook Seawolves football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–1 2017 FCS Playoffs W, 26–7

at New Hampshire
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Dukes 3 0 7 14 24
Wildcats 14 7 7 7 35
See also: 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
10–8 2017 W, 21–0

Rhode Island
1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 7 7 10 7 31
No. 9 Dukes 14 13 7 14 48
See also: 2018 Rhode Island Rams football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
10–3 2017 W, 38–3

at Towson
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 7 Dukes 7 17 7 7 38
No. 15 Tigers 7 3 0 7 17
See also: 2018 Towson Tigers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
20–6–1 2015 W, 51–30

FCS Playoffs

Delaware–First Round
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Fightin' Blue Hens 0 3 3 0 6
No. 6 Dukes 3 9 8 0 20
See also: 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team and Delaware–James Madison football rivalry
Overall record Last meeting Result
11–14[5] 2017 W, 20–10

at Colgate–Second Round
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Dukes 7 3 3 7 20
No. 9 Raiders 3 3 14 3 23
See also: 2018 Colgate Raiders football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–2[5] 2015 FCS Playoffs L, 38–44

Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final 
STATS FCS 2 (6) 2 (1) 2 (2) 2 (2) 2 (3) 2 (3) 6–T 4 3 3 9 7 6 9 
Coaches 2 (3) 2 2 (1) 2 2 2 8 5 3 3 10 8 6 10

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2019 NFL Draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
7227Jimmy MorelandCBWashington Redskins

References
  1. Pace, Blake (December 5, 2018). "Nine former staff members from JMU join Mike Houston at ECU". www.breezejmu.org. The Breeze. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  2. Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  3. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  4. "2018 James Madison Dukes Football Schedule". James Madison University Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  5. "Football All-Time Records". Retrieved August 17, 2017.
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