# 2018 James Madison Dukes football team

The 2018 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Mike Houston and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Delaware in the first round before losing to Colgate in the second round.
On December 7, 2018, Mike Houston was formally announced and hired as the next coach of East Carolina, alongside nine staff members.

## Preseason
### CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Dukes were predicted to win the CAA championship.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | James Madison | 241 (21) |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 206 (2) |
| 3 | Delaware | 182 |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 169 |
| 5 | Elon | 168 (1) |
| 6 | Villanova | 164 |
| 7 | Richmond | 127 |
| 8 | Maine | 81 |
| 9 | Albany | 78 |
| 10 | Towson | 74 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 55 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 39 |

### Preseason All-CAA Team

The Dukes had six players selected to the preseason all-CAA team, including cornerback Rashad Robinson being selected as preseason defensive player of the year.

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Rashad Robinson | CB | SR |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 12:00 p.m. | at NC State* | No. 2 | Carter–Finley StadiumRaleigh, NC | ESPNU | L 13–24 | 56,073 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | at Norfolk State* | No. 2 | William "Dick" Price StadiumNorfolk, VA | ESPN3 | W 17–0 | 6,482 |
| September 13 | 7:30 p.m. | Robert Morris* | No. 2 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | NBCS WA+ | W 73–7 | 18,112 |
| September 22 | 3:30 p.m. | William & Mary | No. 2 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (rivalry) | NBCS WA+ | W 51–0 | 25,130 |
| September 29 | 3:00 p.m. | at Richmond | No. 2 | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA (rivalry) | NBCS WA+ | W 63–10 | 8,217 |
| October 6 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 10 Elon | No. 2 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN/SNY | L 24–27 | 25,484 |
| October 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Villanova | No. 6 | Villanova StadiumVillanova, PA | FCS/FSGO | W 37–0 | 5,219 |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 15 Stony Brook | No. 3 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN/SNY | W 13–10 | 25,244 |
| November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | at New Hampshire | No. 3 | Wildcat StadiumDurham, NH | FCS | L 24–35 | 7,741 |
| November 10 | 2:00 p.m. | Rhode Island | No. 9 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN/SNY | W 48–31 | 24,199 |
| November 17 | 2:00 p.m | at No. 15 Towson | No. 7 | Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson, MD | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | W 38–17 | 7,208 |
| November 24 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 21 Delaware* | No. 6 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs First Round/rivalry) | ESPN3 | W 20–6 | 7,297 |
| December 1 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Colgate* | No. 6 | Crown Field at Andy Kerr StadiumHamilton, NY (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 20–23 | 6,418 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
Source:
* ↑ The JMU–Norfolk State game was mutually ended after first quarter due to inclement weather.
* ↑ Moved from Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

## Game summaries
### At NC State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Wolfpack | 0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### At Norfolk State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Dukes | 17 | | | | 17 |
| Spartans | 0 | | | | 0 |
Due to inclement weather, the JMU–Norfolk State game was mutually ended after the first quarter.

### Robert Morris

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonials | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 2 Dukes | 21 | 31 | 14 | 7 | 73 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tribe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 2 Dukes | 7 | 10 | 21 | 13 | 51 |

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Dukes | 7 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 63 |
| Spiders | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Phoenix | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 27 |
| No. 2 Dukes | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 24 |

### At Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Dukes | 10 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 37 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Seawolves | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 3 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 |

### At New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Dukes | 3 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
| No. 9 Dukes | 14 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 48 |

### At Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Dukes | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| No. 15 Tigers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Delaware–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 6 Dukes | 3 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 20 |

### At Colgate–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Dukes | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| No. 9 Raiders | 3 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 23 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = 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 | 2 (6) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 6–T | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Coaches | 2 (3) | 2 | 2 (1) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 7 | 227 | Jimmy Moreland | CB | Washington Redskins |