# 2015 James Madison Dukes football team

The 2015 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Everett Withers and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium and Zane Showker Field. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Dukes finished the regular season 9–2 to share the CAA championship with William & Mary and Richmond, who all finished with identical 6–2 conference records. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost in the second round to Colgate and finish the season 9–3.
On January 6, 2016, Withers resigned to become the head coach at Texas State. He finished at James Madison with a two-year record of 18–7.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 6:00 pm | Morehead State* | No. 12 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MZ | W 56–7 | 22,080 |
| September 12 | 4:00 pm | Lehigh* | No. 13 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MZ | W 55–17 | 15,949 |
| September 19 | 3:00 pm | Albany | No. 12 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | CSN | W 42–28 | 18,659 |
| September 26 | 7:00 pm | at SMU* | No. 9 | Gerald J. Ford StadiumUniversity Park, TX | ESPN3 | W 48–45 | 22,314 |
| October 3 | 12:00 pm | Stony Brook | No. 6 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | CSN | W 38–20 | 21,653 |
| October 10 | 3:00 pm | at Towson | No. 5 | Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson, MD | CSN | W 51–30 | 8,224 |
| October 17 | 3:00 pm | at Elon | No. 5 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | | W 51–0 | 8,342 |
| October 24 | 3:30 pm | No. 11 Richmond | No. 4 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (College Gameday, rivalry) | CSN | L 49–59 | 26,069 |
| October 31 | 4:00 pm | at No. 16 William & Mary | No. 9 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA (rivalry) | NBCSN | L 41–44 | 9,414 |
| November 14 | 3:30 pm | at Delaware | No. 14 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (rivalry) | CSN | W 24–21 | 16,994 |
| November 21 | 12:00 pm | Villanova | No. 12 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | CSN | W 38–29 | 17,028 |
| December 5 | 1:00 pm | Colgate* | No. 8 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 38–44 | 15,045 |
| *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 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 |

### Lehigh

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountain Hawks | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| #13 Dukes | 10 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 55 |

### Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| #12 Dukes | 14 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 42 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #9 Dukes | 10 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 48 |
| Mustangs | 7 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 45 |

### Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seawolves | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
| #6 Dukes | 21 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 38 |

### Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Dukes | 14 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 51 |
| Tigers | 6 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 30 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Dukes | 13 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 51 |
| Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Spiders | 7 | 21 | 14 | 17 | 59 |
| #4 Dukes | 14 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 49 |
ESPN's College GameDay broadcast from the JMU campus for the first time.

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #9 Dukes | 21 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 41 |
| #16 Tribe | 9 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 44 |

### Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #14 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| Fightin' Blue Hens | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
| #12 Dukes | 14 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round–Colgate

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 10 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 |
| #8 Dukes | 0 | 28 | 3 | 7 | 38 |

## 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 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 (4) | 5 (8) | 5 (12) | 4 (18) | 9 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 11 |
| Coaches | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 5 (1) | 5 | 5 (2) | 3 (3) | 9 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 11 |