JMU Is 7-0

And Why I Am Loving Every Single Moment

Last night, James Madison’s football team went into Huntington, West Virginia and took down Marshall 20-9 in a game where the defense put on a masterclass in front of the nation on ESPN. Jalen Green accounted for 5 of JMU’s 8 sacks, the defense didn’t allow a single point to be scored on them (a safety and kickoff return accounting for Marshall’s tally) and for the second time this year, the Dukes held a rush heavy team to NEGATIVE rushing yards. Punter Ryan Hanson went 7 for 7 on punts inside the 20, including 3 inside the 1, and Jordan McCloud gained a lot of fans with a solid performance, but furthermore, coming back into the game after being injured to lead the Dukes to two consecutive touchdown drives that would seal the game away.

As a result, the Dukes have improved to 7-0 on the year, 15-3 since becoming fully FBS in 2022, and have beaten all 10 of the Sun Belt opponents they have faced, avenging their losses to Georgia Southern and Marshall from last year in consecutive weeks. Unsurprisingly, noise for the Dukes to be ranked in the AP not only grows louder with each week, but their glaring omission from the Sun Belt Championship and postseason ineligibility from the NCAA becomes more egregious. 

Don’t stop reading. This isn’t going to be an elongated whinefest about why JMU is being slighted. I’ll leave that to others. Personally, and honestly, this is the most fun I have had as a JMU football fan for regular season games in quite a while. Apart from the Bucknell game, each win JMU has amassed this season seems to not only show how the Dukes can win in different ways, but piles on program building significance. Beating UVA after not playing them for 40 years in a game that was charged with all kinds of emotion was no small feat, and holding off a likely bowl bound Utah State team in their house is also big. 

Then to follow that up in conference, beating last year’s Sun Belt Champion Troy on the road, along with the West runner up South Alabama showed that the Dukes want to dominate the whole conference. Since those losses, both Troy and South Alabama have been obliterating their competition, and their offenses look a lot different than they did when they played JMU. The most complete game JMU played came against Georgia Southern, again nationally televised, and we all know the rock fight we saw last night. The win against GSU was the first in a long time for the Dukes and the win against Marshall was a first for the program. 

So, why do a schedule recap when you’re 7-0? What’s the point of all of this even if we aren’t eligible (technically) for the postseason? Well, for me at least, it helps to reiterate how much I have enjoyed every single win this year. Yes, even Bucknell. If we are being honest with ourselves, we were frustrated with not playing complete games in the beginning of the season, yet we kept winning. Now the team is rounding into form, gearing up to take on more competition inside the Sun Belt East (and UCONN) that would love nothing more than to knock us down a peg or 3. 

That for me is incredibly exciting. While it does suck that the players and coaches that deserve the accolades and attention that comes with a postseason game aren’t guaranteed this opportunity, maybe we should listen to our own head coach. Cignetti has said, “We aren’t here to go to bowl games, we are here to win championships”. That’s all I needed to hear to know where his mindset and the mindset of his staff and the players are. We still have 5 games left on the schedule, all which will be high intensity. Since the Dukes can’t compete for the Sun Belt Championship, the East is truly up for grabs.

And honestly, what a great showing JMU has done so far this year and since moving up to FBS, and they have the opportunity to solidify this season into something truly special. Next weekend against ODU, an 8 PM kick off and wanting to get a win against the Monarchs in Bridgeforth will have the stadium at a fever pitch, and again nationally televised. Throw in a little HalloHomecoming and we know what kind of unhinged crowd that’s going to bring. Then there’s going to a much-improved Georgia State, a well-known name in UCONN, and rekindled rivalries with Appalachian State and the Beach Chickens, both of which we KNOW will want to avenge their own losses against the Dukes from 2022. 

Every single game moving forward has significance, which will make each win all the sweeter. I genuinely take after the mindset of the teams and coaches and say let’s go 1-0 every week. Silly football talk, I know. But as fans, it’s hard not to speculate and consider the fact that at the absolute worst this team looks like it would finish up at 9-3 in its second year of an FBS “transition” and realistically has a chance to go 12-0, either way putting two big old middle fingers up to the NCAA. I may avoid trolls on Twitter, but JMU is trolling the transition rules and NCAA between the lines, and I am here for it. 

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free Saturday that will be full of great games. We already got our win for the week and our players get a little extra rest. But moreover, enjoy every single moment of this journey JMU football has taken us on since 2022, and especially in 2023. This sort of success isn’t mandated or our divine right, so we should live in and appreciate the euphoria this team has allowed us to experience. Get mad and fight with the NCAA and trolling detractors (y’all know which school they come from the most), but don’t lose sight of how special this team is and has been. JMU is 7-0, and we are right where we belong in the Sun Belt, where every single conference game matters. Go Dukes!