2015 James Madison Dukes football team
The 2015 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Everett Withers and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium and Zane Showker Field. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Dukes finished the regular season 9–2 to share the CAA championship with William & Mary and Richmond, who all finished with identical 6–2 conference records. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost in the second round to Colgate and finish the season 9–3.
2015 James Madison Dukes football | |
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CAA co-champion | |
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 38–44 vs. Colgate | |
Conference | Colonial Athletic Association |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 11 |
FCS Coaches | No. 11 |
2015 record | 9–3 (6–2 CAA) |
Head coach | Everett Withers (2nd season) |
Co-offensive coordinator | Brett Elliott (1st season) |
Co-offensive coordinator | Zak Kuhr (2nd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Steve Sisa (2nd season) |
Home stadium | Bridgeforth Stadium (Capacity: 24,877) |
2015 Colonial Athletic Association football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 4 Richmond +^ | 6 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 11 James Madison +^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 William & Mary +^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Towson | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Hampshire ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Villanova | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stony Brook | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Delaware | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elon | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maine | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albany | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rhode Island | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On January 6, 2016, Withers resigned to become the head coach at Texas State.[1] He finished at James Madison with a two year record of 18–7.
Previous season
In 2014, the Dukes finished with a record of 9–4, 6–2 in CAA play, to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs and hosted Liberty in the first round. The Dukes lost to the Flames, 21–26, and were eliminated from the playoffs.
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 5 | 6:00 PM | Morehead State* | No. 12 |
| MZ | W 56–7 | 22,080 |
September 12 | 4:00 PM | Lehigh* | No. 13 |
| MZ | W 55–17 | 15,949 |
September 19 | 3:00 PM | Albany | No. 12 |
| CSN | W 42–28 | 18,659 |
September 26 | 7:00 PM | at SMU* | No. 9 | ESPN3 | W 48–45 | 22,314 | |
October 3 | 12:00 PM | Stony Brook | No. 6 |
| CSN | W 38–20 | 21,653 |
October 10 | 3:00 PM | at Towson | No. 5 | CSN | W 51–30 | 8,224 | |
October 17 | 3:00 PM | at Elon | No. 5 | W 51–0 | 8,342 | ||
October 24 | 3:30 PM | No. 11 Richmond![]() | No. 4 |
| CSN | L 49–59 | 26,069 |
October 31 | 4:00 PM | at No. 16 William & Mary | No. 9 | NBCSN | L 41–44 | 9,414 | |
November 14 | 3:30 PM | at Delaware | No. 14 | CSN | W 24–21 | 16,994 | |
November 21 | 12:00 PM | Villanova | No. 12 |
| CSN | W 38–29 | 17,028 |
December 5 | 1:00 PM | Colgate* | No. 8 |
| ESPN3 | L 38–44 | 15,045 |
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Game summaries
Morehead State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
#12 Dukes | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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5–2 | 2010 | W 48–7 |
Lehigh
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Mountain Hawks | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
#13 Dukes | 10 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 55 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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2–1 | 2014 | W 31–28 |
Albany
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Great Danes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
#12 Dukes | 14 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 42 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
2–0 | 2014 | W 31–28 |
SMU
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#9 Dukes | 10 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 48 |
Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 45 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
First meeting |
Stony Brook
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seawolves | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
#6 Dukes | 21 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 38 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
1–1 | 2014 | W 27–24 |
Towson
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#5 Dukes | 14 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 51 |
Tigers | 6 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
19–6–1 | 2014 | W 62–7 |
Elon
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#5 Dukes | 13 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 51 |
Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
3–0 | 2014 | W 59–27 |
Richmond
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#11 Spiders | 7 | 21 | 14 | 17 | 59 |
#4 Dukes | 14 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 49 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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15–17 | 2014 | W 55–20 |
ESPN's College GameDay broadcast from the JMU campus for the first time.
William & Mary
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#9 Dukes | 21 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 41 |
#16 Tribe | 9 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 44 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
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21–16 | 2014 | W 31–24 |
Delaware
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
#14 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
Fightin' Blue Hens | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
8–14 | 2014 | L 23–30 OT |
Villanova
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
#12 Dukes | 14 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 38 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
12–11 | 2014 | L 31–49 |
FCS Playoffs
Second Round–Colgate
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raiders | 10 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 |
#8 Dukes | 0 | 28 | 3 | 7 | 38 |
Overall record | Last meeting | Result |
---|---|---|
First meeting |
Ranking movements
Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final | |||||||
STATS FCS | 12 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 (4) | 5 (8) | 5 (12) | 4 (18) | 9 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 11 | |||||||
Coaches | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 5 (1) | 5 | 5 (2) | 3 (3) | 9 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 11 |
References
- http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14518816/texas-state-hires-james-madison-everett-withers-head-coach
- "2015 James Madison Dukes Football Schedule". James Madison University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 2, 2015.