# 2017 James Madison Dukes football team

The 2017 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Mike Houston and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium and Zane Showker Field. They are 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 and also finished undefeated in the regular season for the second time in school history (the other being 1975, before the Dukes joined the NCAA). They received an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Stony Brook, Weber State, and South Dakota State to advance to the National Championship Game for the second straight season, where they were defeated 17–13 by North Dakota State.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | at East Carolina* | No. 1 | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPN3 | W 34–14 | 40,169 |
| September 9 | 6:00 p.m. | East Tennessee State* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | CSN MA+, MadiZone | W 52–10 | 24,722 |
| September 16 | 3:30 p.m. | Norfolk State* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN2, MadiZone | W 75–14 | 23,118 |
| September 23 | 1:30 p.m. | Maine | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MASN, MadiZone | W 28–10 | 25,330 |
| September 30 | 3:30 p.m. | at Delaware | No. 1 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (rivalry) | CSN+, CSN-P | W 20–10 | 16,372 |
| October 14 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 11 Villanova | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (College GameDay) | CSL, MASN2 | W 30–8 | 25,993 |
| October 21 | 3:30 p.m. | at William & Mary | No. 1 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA (rivalry) | Cox Yurview, WHSV | W 46–14 | 13,125 |
| October 28 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 17 New Hampshire | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | MadiZone | W 21–0 | 25,298 |
| November 4 | Noon | at Rhode Island | No. 1 | Meade StadiumKingston, RI | CSL | W 38–3 | 3,227 |
| November 11 | 3:30 p.m. | Richmond | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (rivalry) | MASN2 | W 20–13 | 24,586 |
| November 18 | Noon | at No. 11 Elon | No. 1 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | W 31–3 | 8,662 |
| December 2 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 Stony Brook* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 26–7 | 16,449 |
| December 8 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 11 Weber State* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | ESPN2 | W 31–28 | 13,497 |
| December 16 | 4:30 p.m. | No. 6 South Dakota State* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Semifinals) | ESPNU | W 51–16 | 16,528 |
| January 6 | 12:00 p.m. | vs. No. 2 North Dakota State* | No. 1 | Toyota StadiumFrisco, TX (FCS National Championship Game) | ESPN2 | L 13–17 | 19,090 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 0 | 14 | 13 | 34 |
| Pirates | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |

### East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 21 | 7 | 17 | 7 | 52 |

### Norfolk State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 9 | 35 | 17 | 14 | 75 |

### Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Black Bears | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### At Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Fightin' Blue Hens | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 3 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 30 |

### At William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 46 |
| Tribe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### At Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 0 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 38 |
| Rams | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spiders | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |

### At Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| No. 11 Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round–Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Seawolves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 6 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 26 |

### Quarterfinals–Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 31 |

### Semifinals–South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Jackrabbits | 0 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 14 | 30 | 0 | 51 |

### National Championship–North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Bison | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 3 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 13 |

## 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 | 1 (134) | 1 (152) | 1 (148) | 1 (156) | 1 (154) | 1 (157) | 1 (160) | 1 (160) | 1 (157) | 1 (156) | 1 (162) | 1 (163) | 1 (153) | 2 |
| Coaches | 1 (20) | 1 (25) | 1 (24) | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 2 (1) |