Welcome to the big time, James Madison. The Dukes are now in the FBS after their two national championships at the FBS level, and this will be year one in the highest division of college football. JMU is in the Sun Belt and will be welcoming some quality opponents to Bridgeforth Stadium this season, while also looking to show they can deliveron the road.
Ahead of Saturday’s opener at home against Middle Tennessee State, here are the three key games of the season in order by date.
Middle Tennessee State, Sept. 3
It’s the first game of the season and the first time they play an FBS team as an FBS team. Winners of the Bahamas Bowl, MTSU ended the season winning three of their last four games. They have a stingy defense that likes to get after the quarterback, and quarterback Nicholas Vattiato can sling it. Aside from a disastrous five-interception game against Western Kentucky, he managed to throw five touchdowns and just one interception. In his final four games of last season, he threw just one pick. It will be a test, but it’s a great measuring stick for the Dukes to kick off.
At Appalachian State, Sept. 24
App. State finished as runners-up in the conference, losing to Louisiana in the championship game. But they are the reigning winners of the Sun Belt’s Group A, the same division JMU is in. It will be a real test against the legit threat to win the conference. This is far and away one of the trickier road games JMU will have, and it comes at an intimidating place to play by Sun Belt Standards.
At Louisville, Nov. 5
A big test on the road against the Cardinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference. This comes late in the season, so it will be interesting to see how the Dukes approach it if they manage to somehow be in contention in their conference. Louisville is a team that isn’t all that consistent, and JMU has a real chance to compete. After scoring a combined 103 points against Syracuse and Duke late last season, the Cards scored just 49 in their last two games which were both losses, allowing 83 points to Kentucky and Air Force.
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