James Madison Dukes 2024 College Football Preview
Posted June 22, 2024
2023 Recap
Record – 11-2
ATS – 8-5
James Madison is a super-sophisticated football machine sent back in time from the year 2178 for the purposes of putting opponents in woodchippers every Saturday, and dominating mankind **.
Last year James Madison rattled off an 11-win regular season but we’re ineligible to play for the Sun Belt title (again) thanks to the corrupt NCAA establishment. The Dukes were 10-0 at one point but dropped an OT classic vs Appalachian St to end the dreams of a perfect season. Letdown the following week? Nope. They DISEMBOWLED Coastal Carolina 56-14 in the regular season finale. We found out that the Dukes might actually be human in the Armed Forces Bowl when they fell to Air Force by a score of 31-21.
Let’s see what new HC Bob Chesney has to work with in 2024.
** Fact Check: No evidence to the contrary.
James Madison Dukes 2024 Outlook
OFFENSE
James Madison did some great things LY behind the leadership of star QB Jordan McCloud (3,657, 35-10 TD to INT) but he’s no longer with the program and neither are their top-two RBs or top-six (!) pass catchers from last year’s team. Those THROW GAME targets included a pair of 1,000-yard WRs so there’s a lot of retooling on the horizon. The QB position appears to be in good shape with the addition of Dylan Morris from Washington (!), and whilst Morris has a mediocre 20-17 career TD to INT mark, he’ll almost certainly prosper with the drop in class. The Dukes added some excellent RB pieces thru the portal including one of our favorite Group of Five players Ayo Adeyi who rushed for over 1,800 yards the L2Y with North Texas whilst averaging an impossible 7 YPC (!) in each of those campaigns. We’re not thrilled with the WR/TE depth chart as they’re an inexperienced bunch and the most talented transfer they scooped up was Cameron Ross (UConn) who’s underachieved during his career, even when healthy. Three starters return up front including center Tanner Morris and they’ve got a lot of experienced depth to call upon. The offense won’t be as potent as LY’s version but the ground game should work a lot better (134 YPG, #93 LY).
DEFENSE
If you thought the changes on offense we’re YUUUGE, consider that the defense only brings back three starters and loses 14 of their top-17 tacklers from the 2023 stop unit that ranked #30 in the nation in total defense (334 YPG). James Madison has allowed fewer than 90 YPG rushing to their opponents in each of the last FIVE seasons (!), but can they do it again with so many new faces? The Dukes’ devastating DL has to be completely rebuilt with transfers but at least they did a good job of stocking the cupboard in that regard. They’re really gonna miss elite pass-rushing DE Jalen Green (15.5 sacks LY) and it’ll be interesting to see if a combination of bodies can replace his production and ability to PENETRATE. The LB unit and secondary are also full of transfers so it’s hard to project how things will go. Keep your eye on LB Jacob Dobbs (Holy Cross) to be a much-needed productive presence in the middle of the defense. The Dukes have a great track record but we expect the defense to take a step backwards in 2023, especially when it comes to the pass rush (45 sacks LY, #6 FBS).
SPECIAL TEAMS
RUH ROH.
The Dukes were a solid #33 in the Phil Steele special teams rankings LY but they’ll be without their excellent PK Camden Wise (16/18 FG, 53/53 XP LY) and dangerous PR Josh Sarratt (12.9). Thankfully, they still have one of the best punters in the Sun Belt in Ryan Hanson (40.6, 38.5 net LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Sweet. The non-conference games feature three TOMATO CANS and they get a dream draw from the West (at ULM, Southern Miss). The Dukes get to play Coastal Carolina and Marshall at home but will have to travel to face mighty Appalachian St at the end of November.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Old Dominion (Nov 16)
The Monarchs are always live to pull an upset out of nowhere and James Madison has the epic road showdown with Appalachian St up next. This doesn’t look like a great spot to back the road chalk.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 22
Over 8 -115
Under 8 -115
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
That number looks about right. It’s tempting to take the ‘over’ based on the past success of this program but we’ll wait and see if a ‘7.5’ pops up over the summer. Highly doubtful, but who knows?
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The Dukes are 107-23 over the L10Y including a sparkling 62-8 record at home.
James Madison University has no historical ties with former President James Madison but it was named in his honor in 1938 as Madison College. It later became James Madison University in 1977. Our thanks to the fascist overlords at Wikipedia for that delectable TRIVIA TASTER.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
This will be an interesting season for James Madison. There’s an unbelievable amount of roster turnover and a new head coach to lead the way. The Dukes made an excellent hire in bagging HC Bob Chesney who did some fine work at Holy Cross. It’s hard to know exactly what to expect from these guys but we think the floor is a bowl game and the ceiling is a divisional crown if they can stay in the mix and find a way to beat Appalachian St.
Good luck, Dukes!