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
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 20–23 vs. Colgate
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 9
FCS Coaches	No. 10
2018 record	9–4 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Mike Houston (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Donnie Kirkpatrick (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Trott (3rd season)
Home stadium	Bridgeforth 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)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

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.

Offense Marcus Marshall – RB Jahee Jackson – OL

Defense Darrious Carter – DL Jimmy Moreland – DB Rashad Robinson – DB

Special teams Harry O'Kelly – P

Award watch lists

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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	12:00 p.m.	at NC State*	No. 2	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	ESPNU	L 13–24	56,073
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at Norfolk State*	No. 2	William "Dick" Price Stadium Norfolk, VA	ESPN3	W 17–0[lower-alpha 1]	6,482
September 13	7:30 p.m.[lower-alpha 2]	Robert Morris*	No. 2	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	NBCS WA+	W 73–7	18,112
September 22	3:30 p.m.	William & Mary	No. 2	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (rivalry)	NBCS WA+	W 51–0	25,130
September 29	3:00 p.m.	at Richmond	No. 2	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA (rivalry)	NBCS WA+	W 63–10	8,217
October 6	1:30 p.m.	No. 10 Elon	No. 2	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MASN/SNY	L 24–27	25,484
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Villanova	No. 6	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FCS/FSGO	W 37–0	5,219
October 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 15 Stony Brook	No. 3	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MASN/SNY	W 13–10	25,244
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire	No. 3	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FCS	L 24–35	7,741
November 10	2:00 p.m.	Rhode Island	No. 9	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MASN/SNY	W 48–31	24,199
November 17	2:00 p.m	at No. 15 Towson	No. 7	Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	W 38–17	7,208
November 24	3:00 p.m.	No. 21 Delaware*	No. 6	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs First Round/rivalry)	ESPN3	W 20–6	7,297
December 1	1:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Colgate*	No. 6	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 20–23	6,418
*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

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	227	Jimmy Moreland	CB	Washington 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.