2018 James Madison Dukes football team

2018 James Madison Dukes football
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
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
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

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 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
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]

Preseason edit

CAA Poll edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

Schedule edit

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^[a]	6,482
September 13	7:30 p.m.^[b]	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	Crown Field at 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]

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

Game summaries edit

At NC State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Dukes	7	0	3	3	13
Wolfpack	0	17	0	7	24

At Norfolk State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Dukes	17				17
Spartans	0				0

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

Robert Morris edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	0	0	7	7
No. 2 Dukes	21	31	14	7	73

William & Mary edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tribe	0	0	0	0	0
No. 2 Dukes	7	10	21	13	51

At Richmond edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Dukes	7	28	21	7	63
Spiders	3	7	0	0	10

Elon edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Phoenix	0	7	3	17	27
No. 2 Dukes	3	6	3	12	24

At Villanova edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Dukes	10	6	14	7	37
Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

Stony Brook edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Seawolves	0	10	0	0	10
No. 3 Dukes	7	0	0	6	13

At New Hampshire edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Dukes	3	0	7	14	24
Wildcats	14	7	7	7	35

Rhode Island edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	7	7	10	7	31
No. 9 Dukes	14	13	7	14	48

At Towson edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Dukes	7	17	7	7	38
No. 15 Tigers	7	3	0	7	17

FCS Playoffs edit

Delaware–First Round edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	3	3	0	6
No. 6 Dukes	3	9	8	0	20

At Colgate–Second Round edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Dukes	7	3	3	7	20
No. 9 Raiders	3	3	14	3	23

Ranking movements edit

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
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 edit

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

References edit

^ 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.
^ Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
^ "2018 James Madison Dukes Football Schedule". James Madison University Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2018.

[4] The JMU–Norfolk State game was mutually ended after first quarter due to inclement weather.

[5] Moved from Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

[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.

[6] "2018 James Madison Dukes Football Schedule". James Madison University Department of Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2018.

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