# 2016 James Madison Dukes football team

The 2016 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first year head coach Mike Houston and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium and Zane Showker Field. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 14–1 overall with an 8–0 mark in CAA play to win the conference title. They received the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated New Hampshire, Sam Houston State, and five-time defending champions North Dakota State to advance to the National Championship Game, where they defeated Youngstown State. This was their first national championship since 2004.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | Morehead State* | No. 12 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MadiZone | W 80–7 | 23,626 |
| September 10 | 4:00 pm | Central Connecticut* | No. 12 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MadiZone | W 56–21 | 20,636 |
| September 17 | 3:30 pm | at North Carolina* | No. 11 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ACCN/CSN | L 28–56 | 56,000 |
| September 24 | 12:00 pm | at Maine | No. 11 | Alfond StadiumOrono, ME | ASN | W 31–20 | 8,786 |
| October 1 | 1:30 pm | Delaware | No. 7 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (rivalry) | MadiZone | W 43–20 | 25,236 |
| October 8 | 3:30 pm | William & Mary | No. 7 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (rivalry) | CSN | W 31–24 | 20,354 |
| October 15 | 12:00 pm | at New Hampshire | No. 7 | Wildcat StadiumDurham, NH | ASN | W 42–39 | 8,316 |
| October 29 | 3:30 pm | Rhode Island | No. 8 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MadiZone | W 84–7 | 23,841 |
| November 5 | 3:30 pm | at No. 6 Richmond | No. 7 | Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (rivalry) | CSN | W 47–43 | 8,700 |
| November 12 | 1:00 pm | at No. 9 Villanova | No. 6 | Villanova StadiumVillanova, PA | NNAA | W 20–7 | 6,109 |
| November 19 | 1:30 pm | Elon | No. 6 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MadiZone | W 63–14 | 16,184 |
| December 3 | 2:00 pm | No. 22 New Hampshire* | No. 5 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 55–22 | 13,231 |
| December 9 | 7:00 pm | No. 1 Sam Houston State* | No. 5 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | ESPN2 | W 65–7 | 15,646 |
| December 16 | 7:00 pm | at No. 4 North Dakota State* | No. 5 | FargodomeFargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals) | ESPN2 | W 27–17 | 18,282 |
| January 7, 2017 | 12:00 pm | vs. No. 13 Youngstown State* | No. 5 | Toyota StadiumFrisco, TX (FCS National Championship Game) | ESPN2 | W 28–14 | 14,423 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Morehead State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| #12 Dukes | 28 | 24 | 21 | 7 | 80 |

### Central Connecticut

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Devils | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| #12 Dukes | 21 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 56 |

### At North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Dukes | 21 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| Tar Heels | 14 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 56 |

### At Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Dukes | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Black Bears | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 20 |

### Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
| #7 Dukes | 7 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 43 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tribe | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
| #7 Dukes | 10 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 31 |

### At New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #7 Dukes | 7 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 39 |

### Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| #8 Dukes | 28 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 84 |

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #7 Dukes | 14 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 47 |
| #6 Spiders | 10 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 43 |

### At Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #6 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
| #9 Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| #6 Dukes | 17 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 63 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round–New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #22 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 22 |
| #5 Dukes | 3 | 28 | 21 | 3 | 55 |

### Quarterfinals–Sam Houston State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #1 Bearkats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| #5 Dukes | 21 | 21 | 23 | 0 | 65 |

### Semifinals–North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Dukes | 7 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 27 |
| #4 Bison | 0 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
It was this game that ended NDSU's streak of five consecutive FCS titles.

### Championship–Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #13 Penguins | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| #5 Dukes | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 (1) | 1 (154) |
| Coaches | 11 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 (1) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 (1) | 5 | 1 (26) |
| FCS Playoffs | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 5 | 4 | 4 | Not released | Not released |