2020 James Madison Dukes football team
American college football season
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The 2020 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Curt Cignetti and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium.
| 2020 James Madison Dukes football | |
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CAA South Division champion Lambert Cup winner | |
NCAA Division I Semifinal, L 35–38 vs. Sam Houston State | |
| Conference | Colonial Athletic Association |
| South Division | |
| Ranking | |
| STATS | No. 3 |
| FCS Coaches | No. 3 |
| Record | 7–1 (3–0 CAA) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Shane Montgomery (2nd season) |
| Offensive scheme | Spread |
| Defensive coordinator | Corey Hetherman (2nd season) |
| Base defense | 4–3 |
| Home stadium | Bridgeforth Stadium |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Delaware x$^ | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Rhode Island † | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Villanova | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maine | 2 | – | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stony Brook | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albany † | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire † | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 3 James Madison x^ | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Richmond | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William & Mary | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elon | 0 | – | 4 | 1 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On July 17, 2020, the Colonial Athletic Association announced that it would not play fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that they would permit conference members to compete as independents for the fall 2020 season if they still wanted to compete.[1] At the time of the conference postponement, JMU announced that they would opt to compete as an independent for the fall season,[2] however they officially suspended their fall campaign on August 7 preceding the impending postponement of the NCAA FCS Playoffs.[3][4]
In September, the NCAA announced changes for the Division I Football championship, with a 16-team playoff being conducted from April 18 to May 15.[5]
The Dukes finished the regular season undefeated and won the CAA South Division title. The Dukes were not selected as the conference champions, instead the championship was awarded to Delaware (who also finished the regular season undefeated). The Dukes received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they defeated VMI and North Dakota before losing in the semifinals at Sam Houston State, the eventual national champions, whom they blew a 27–10 lead to a matter of minutes.
Schedule
James Madison had originally scheduled non-conference games at North Carolina and at home against Chattanooga and Merrimack, that were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The CAA released its revised spring conference schedule on October 27, 2020. For the spring season, the CAA was divided into a North and a South division, with James Madison placed in the South Division.[6]
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 20, 2021 | 12:00 p.m. | Morehead State* | No. 2 | NBCSW/FloFootball | W 52–0 | ||||
| February 27, 2021 | 12:00 p.m. | Robert Morris* | No. 2 |
| NBCSW/FloFootball | W 36–16 | |||
| March 6, 2021 | 1:30 p.m. | at Elon | No. 1 | FloFootball | W 20–17 | ||||
| March 13, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | William & Mary | No. 1 |
| FloFootball | Postponed | |||
| March 27, 2021 | 1:00 p.m. | at William & Mary | No. 1 | FloFootball | W 38–10 | ||||
| April 3, 2021 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 15 Richmond | No. 1 | FloFootball | Postponed | ||||
| April 10, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. | Elon | No. 1 |
| FloFootball | Postponed | |||
| April 17, 2021 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 11 Richmond | No. 1 |
| FloFootball | W 23–6 | |||
| April 24, 2021 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 11 VMI* | No. 1 |
| ESPN3 | W 31–24 | |||
| May 2, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 7 North Dakota* | No. 1 |
| ESPN2 | W 34–21 | |||
| May 8, 2021 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 4 Sam Houston State* | No. 1 |
| ABC | L 35–38 | |||
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