James Madison Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

James Madison College Football Preview 2024

Nothing stops. That’s the expectation at James Madison.

Yeah, Curt Cignetti is a great head coach, and now he’s off trying to make Indiana good at college football. So what?

Go win the Sun Belt.

JMU has been on a fantastic run for just over 35 years, playing in the 1987 FCS Playoffs under Joe Purzycki, keeping it all going under Rip Scherer, making an appearance under Alex Wood, and when he couldn’t maintain the pace it was Mickey Matthews who took the program to a national title in 2004.

And then Everett Withers with two playoff appearances, and then Mike Houston with a national title and two more playoffs, and then …

It could be argued that Cignetti achieved the biggest accomplishment of the bunch by leading three straight FCS Playoff runs and turning JMU into an instant Sun Belt powerhouse with a 19-5 record in the first two seasons at the FBS level.

Cignetti took a slew of stars with him to Bloomington, but there is no grace period. It’s James Madison. It’s going to keep winning. How do you do that?

You get another guy who knows how to win.

Bob Chesney took Holy Cross to four straight FCS Playoffs, before that led Assumption to two playoff appearances, and at just 46 he won 111 games at three different stops.

There might be the tiniest of steps back considering all the players needing to be replaced, but that might mean a ten-win season instead of 11.

James Madison Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy comes over from Holy Cross, and he knows how to get an offense to work. The Crusaders were second in the FCS in third down conversions converting 52% of its chances, but they also were fantastic at hitting the deep shots. So how did that work?

Holy Cross was third in the nation in rushing, averaging 264 yards per game.

All of the parts are gone from the Duke backfield, but Ayo Adeyi will go off. The North Texas transfer ran for 2,230 yards and 16 touchdowns over the last three seasons, and Tyler Purdy comes over from Holy Cross after running for almost 1,000 yards last year. And at quarterback …

- Jordan McCloud was one of the best players in the Sun Belt last season, and now he’s at Texas State. Dylan Morris is a talent, but the former star recruit for Washington hasn’t proven himself quite yet, even with over 3,700 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in his four years of mostly backup work. He has to keep the interceptions down, but if he can hit the deep ball, everything will be fine.

The receiving corps lost all its top parts and has to rely on a slew of backups to step up. UConn transfer Cam Ross caught 114 passes over his time, and he’ll be the veteran the O needs.

- The offensive line is the only spot on the offense with the veterans to be okay right away. Center Tanner Morris and guard Cole Potts are two of the Sun Belt’s best at their respective positions, and Holy Cross transfer Pat McMurtrie will fit in right away at one of the tackle spots.

James Madison Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The run defense took over everything else. The Dukes were good overall defensively, but outside of the bowl game loss to Air Force, they stuffed everyone. Now they have to replace just about everyone, and former Duke defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill is coming in to fit all the pieces together.

The line suffered the biggest losses with the possibility of four transfers starting. Immanuel Bush is back to be a part of the rotation on the nose, but the new guys will be the stars.

Terry Lockett is a good get from Syracuse on one end, and Eric O’Neill is a terror on the other side coming off an 80-tackle, 5.5 sack, 23.5 tackle for loss season at LIU.

But the real transfer star should be at …

- Linebacker. Holy Cross transfer Jacob Dobbs made 432 tackles with 22.5 sacks in his time in Worcester, and now he should be a statistical monster in the JMU linebacking corps. Fresno State transfer Raymond Scott and veteran Trent Hendrick will combine in the middle.

- The secondary doesn’t have the depth, but it has four home grown players back including safety Jacob Thomas - who finished fourth on the team with 54 stops - and Chauncey Logan at corner, who made 45 stops with six broken up passes.

Key To The James Madison Football Season

Get the Holy Cross offense going right away in Harrisonburg.
Plenty of parts are there to be good, but the passing attack has to be sharp, the turnovers have to be at a minimum, and the ground game has to be great every time out.

Holy Cross was a killer running the ball, and it was the same for James Madison going 10-0 when running for 100 yards or more. Over the last two seasons, the Dukes went 1-3 when failing to get to 100. But …

James Madison Key Player

Dylan Morris, QB Sr.
Or Billy Atkins. Someone not only has to take over the rebuilt offense, but has to thrive with Jordan McCloud gone. He was the Sun Belt Player of the Year with 3,657 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, and he ran for eight scores.

Morris has the talent, but he wasn’t able to break though and take over the Washington gig. He might not run like McCloud did, but he can wing it.

James Madison Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Ayo Adeyi, RB Sr.
A small, slippery runner, Adeyi was good in his first two seasons with North Texas, and then last year he ripped off over 1,000 yards and six scores averaging over seven yards per pop. He’ll blow up in the JMU attack.

Top Transfer Out: James Carpenter, DT Sr.
A whole lot of James Madison players will be missed. McCloud is one, and all the guys who left for Indiana were strong. Carpenter might be the toughest loss considering how much reworking the D line has to do. The Sun Belt all-star made 104 tackles with 9.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss over the last two seasons.

James Madison Key Game

at Appalachian State, Nov. 23
There are several tough games in the Sun Belt East - the home game early on against Coastal Carolina matters - but there’s no going to the conference title game without winning at App State. Last year was a 26-23 loss, 2022 was a 32-28 win - this one should be just as good.

10 Best James Madison Football Players

1. Jacob Dobbs, LB Sr.
2. Chauncey Logan, CB Jr.
3. Ayo Adeyi, RB Sr.
4. Dylan Morris, QB Sr.
5. Jacob Thomas, S Jr.
6. Eric O’Neill, DE Jr.
7. Cole Potts, OG Jr.
8. Tanner Morris, C Sr.
9. Terry Lockett, DE Jr.
10. Pat McMurtrie, OT Sr.

James Madison 2023 Fun Stats

- 1st Quarter Scoring: James Madison 99, Opponents 27

- Fumbles: Opponents 19 (lost 8), James Madison 14 (lost 4)

- Sacks: James Madison 45 for 316 yards, Opponents 24 cop 158 yards

James Madison Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’s assumed James Madison will keep everything going despite all the changes and all of the new pieces and all of the lost parts, and if it can, the wins will be there early.

There might be problems at North Carolina in mid-September, but starting at least 4-1 against Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, Ball State, and ULM is a must before hosting Coastal Carolina.

There’s no Texas State or Troy to deal with from the West, and missing South Alabama, Arkansas State, and Louisiana isn’t a bad deal.

It also helps to go almost a month from mid-October to mid-November before going Old Dominion and dealing with the showdown against Appalachian State.

It’ll still be an amazing year, even if there’s once again a late loss to App State. As mentioned before, a rebuild at JMU will still be really good.

Set The James Madison Win Total At … 8

Likely Wins: Ball State, at Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, at ULM

50/50 Games: at Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, at Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Marshall, at Old Dominion, Southern Miss

Likely Losses: at North Carolina

2024 James Madison Football Schedule

Aug 31 at Charlotte
Sept 7 Gardner-Webb
Sept 14 OPEN DATE
Sept 21 at North Carolina
Sept 28 Ball State
Oct 5 at ULM
Oct 10 Coastal Carolina
Oct 19 at Georgia Southern
Oct 26 Southern Miss
Nov 2 OPEN DATE
Nov 9 Georgia State
Nov 16 at Old Dominion
Nov 23 at Appalachian State
Nov 30 Marshall

Missing: Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy

Related: College Football Preview 2024: CFN 134 Team Previews, Rankings, Top Players, Win Totals & Schedules