UNC Football: Early Opponent Preview James Madison
Leading up to the first game of the season, Keeping It Heel will be doing opponent previews in reverse order.
Previous Previews:
NC State / The Citadel / Duke / Georgia Tech / Virginia / Miami/ Virginia Tech / Florida State / Pittsburgh
This Week: James Madison
The James Madison Dukes are the third game for the Heels this year. They play in the Colonial Athletic Association and will be UNC’s first FCS team this year. Only one win against an FCS team counts toward bowl eligibility, so a win here does count toward bowl eligibility, but a loss would do a lot more damage, not only to the season but the recruiting trail as well.
So what do we need to know about the James Madison Dukes?
Head Coach: Mike Houston. Career Record 43-19 (0-0 at JMU). James Madison is his third Head Coaching job. He became head coach when former UNC Head Coach, Everett Withers, left James Madison for Texas State. Houston used to coach at the Citadel, which just happens to be the other FCS school Carolina plays this season.
Best Graduate: DE Charles Haley. Hall of Famer, five-time Pro Bowler, and two-time All-Pro. Haley is also a five-time Super Bowl champion. You know how many other players have five Super Bowl Championships? Zero. Career has 498 tackles, 100.5 sacks, 26 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions.
Second Best Graduate: WR Gary Clark. Four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro. Clark is also a two-time Super Bowl champion. Career has 699 receptions for 10,856 yards and 65 touchdowns.
Best current player: RB Cardon Johnson. Last season he rushed for 1,037 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught 17 receptions for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson was the leading rusher for the Dukes last season. With Carolina’s weakness being in the run defense, expect James Madison to hand off to Johnson a lot.
Last Season: Went 9-3. Finished tied for first in the CAA with a 6-2 record. Season highlights include winning their first seven in a row by an average score of 49-21. The Dukes beat SMU last season and ended the season losing three of their last five, including both games to ranked opponents. They made it to the second round of the FCS playoffs before losing to Colgate 44-38 in what was considered a pretty big upset.
This Season: UNC is the only FBS opponent on the 11 game schedule. Six of their opponents finished last season with a winning record. As long as the new coach keeps the train rolling, James Madison should have another big season. A 9-2 record heading into the post season appears attainable particularly with a lot of their tough games being at home.
Matchup: Saturday, September 17th at Chapel Hill. Time: 3:30 PM
Prediction: This is second-straight season that the Heels will be playing two FCS teams in a season.
Last year it hurt them in the Playoff Committee’s eyes. Unfortunately the Heels will have to face the same criticism this season because there was not time to schedule an FBS opponent. The committee also doesn’t seem to care about the quality of FCS opponents either as NC A&T was one of the best last season.
The only real advantage is that the two games are further apart. JMU is the Heels third game of the season, while the Citadel is the 11th. Last season, the two FCS games were games two and four and weighed heavily on the committee’s mind.
By the time the second game comes along several CFP rankings should have come out, meaning that the two FCS wins may not carry as much damage this time around.
Final score: UNC 63, James Madison 14. The game is over before it begins. TJ Logan rushes for over 150 yards and three scores as Elijah Hood takes an early rest after one quarter of play.
This will be the first game the Heels play against a non-power five school. In fact their two FCS games are the only two non-power five contests of the year. This game should be a chance for the Heels to rest their starters before the long haul of the season ahead.