JMU Football Preview 2024: Bob Chesney Era Begins With Questions

James Madison football has quickly established itself as one of the top G5 programs in FBS college football. The Dukes recruit well, play consistently, and have a large, brash fanbase.'

That's a surefire recipe to attract curious bettors. Indeed, JMU football odds are more salient than they've ever been in 2024, with the Dukes finally eligible to win the Sun Belt and compete for one of the 12 spots in the expanded college football playoff.'

Today, I'm getting back to my roots and previewing my alma mater's 2024 football team.'

I'm hoping this will be a good primer not only for fans, but also for bettors more interested in the college football betting side of the equation. (I imagine many readers might fall into both camps.)

After a few conversations with people I trust, and a fair amount of roster research, here's my early look at the 2024 JMU football program.'

JMU Football Season Preview

Let's recap the wild prologue to the 2024 season so we're all on the same page.

In 2022, JMU made one of most successful transitions to FBS in the modern history of college football, finishing with an 8-3 record. The Dukes were the de facto winners of the Sun Belt East. (In practice, JMU was transitionally ineligible for the championship during its first two seasons.)

In 2023, JMU beat in-state big brother Virginia and reigning Sun Belt champ Troy en route to a 10-0 start. College GameDay came a'callin. The Dukes finished 11-1 and appeared to be the clear-cut best team in the Sun Belt.'

Putting together some information now from a few different sources. Will continue to ask around, but for now, here’s what I have been told:#JMU offered Cignetti a seven-digit contract. It was still less than what Indiana offered, but it was a pretty decent offer, all things…

– Chase Kiddy (@chaseakiddy) November 30, 2023

Enter Indianas, who scooped up JMU coach Curt Cignetti (along with many other key coaches and players) in anticipation of a new era of divisionless college football scheduling in the Big Ten.'

JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne, then in his final months on the job ahead of his pending retirement, reached down into the FCS ranks to find yet another strong hire. Bourne tapped Holy Cross head coach Bob Chesney, who built a national power in Worcester, Massachusetts, from practically nothing.'

In the wake of Cignetti's departure, JMU lost many major contributors – DL James Carpenter, DB D'Angelo Ponds, LB Jailyn Walker, LB Aiden Fisher, QB Jordan McCloud, and RB Kaelon Black, just to name a few.'

Chesney has replaced some of this talent drain by holding some of JMU's incoming recruiting class together and hitting the transfer portal. He's assembled a strong coaching staff, with some former coaches from Holy Cross joining him. Fans and bettors can expect a typically well-coached JMU club.

Still, it's inarguable that this JMU team will take noticeable steps back from its climactic 2023 peak under Cignetti.'

JMU will still field a perfectly competitive team in a potentially weak season for the Sun Belt. Its institutional strength, momentum, and recruiting base will cover up some of the offseason deficits.'

However, JMU may need some lucky breaks and fortuitous development to earn its first official Sun Belt East crown. College Football Playoff chatter is likely better saved for 2025.'

Let's get specific about some of my preseason observations and assumptions.'

The Run Game

For my money, the strength of JMU's team this year will be the ground game.'

JMU's Ayo Adeyi will be one of the better returning running backs at the FBS level this year after playing the previous three seasons at North Texas. He struggles in pass protection but will be in the mix for 1,000 yards and a first-team SBC designation at the end of the season if he stays healthy.'

Adeyi is also running behind an offensive line that may ultimately be the strength of the team.'

Tanner Morris has 24 starts at center over the last two seasons. Cole Potts has 38 starts as an interior lineman since 2021 and should slot in at right guard once again this year.'

Tyshawn Wyatt should return from a season-ending injury against Old Dominion to play left tackle.''

Keep an eye on Jesse Ramil, who transferred from FCS Saint Francis (Pa.) and has the potential and mechanics to blossom into the best OL on the team.'

The Quarterback Room

I'll talk about expected starter Dylan Morris specifically in a minute, but let's stick with the larger positional group for a moment.'

One of the only real weaknesses JMU has shown since it began the FBS transition in 2022 is quarterback depth. No team likes losing a starting quarterback, but there's a difference between moving down to a player who is less effective and resorting to players who are ineffective.

Unfortunately, JMU has mostly had the latter over the last two seasons.'

When Todd Centeio was a late scratch against Marshall in 2022, the offense was unwatchable. The following week, the Cignetti staff practically punted on the Louisville game rather than risk any more injuries.

The 2023 season eventually became a success story for McCloud, but the fact that the coaching staff had no real idea who the correct play was for Week 1 last season is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the accumulated talent on the roster.'

Morris could be the next Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, but if he gets hurt, and the rest of the room hasn't dramatically improved, this team could be in big trouble.

Dylan Morris

Over the last decade, JMU has had great success in identifying successful quarterbacks already at the NCAA level and luring them to Harrisonburg via JMU's campus charm and facilities. In fact, the only real home-grown quarterback JMU has had since the end of the Mickey era is Cole Johnson. Everyone else was a transfer.

So I'm not skeptical of Morris on those grounds. The scuttlebutt out of camp is that Morris has an unorthodox throwing motion, which is probably going to get more attention than necessary. If the ball is getting to the receivers, and there's not some unusually high number of knockdowns at the line of scrimmage, I'm not losing too much sleep over the throwing motion at the college level.'

If there's something to worry about with Morris, it's his playing history. This is a guy who's thrown 30 passes since the 2021 season. He hasn't played as a starter in a long time.'

Maybe he'll be good. Maybe he'll even be awesome. Maybe he learned a ton from his time on the two-deep of the 2023 national runner-up Washington Huskies.'

Maybe he'll join Centeio and Vad Lee and Bryan Schor and Ben DiNucci as one of the guys who came here from somewhere else and finished his career in style.'

But I rarely hear anyone mention this, and I do think it's at least worth bringing up. Morris might have been a P5 quarterback, but his last real action was as the head man for a four-win team, three seasons ago, which ended with his coach getting fired.'

It is not a given that he's a plug-and-play success story.

The Passing Game

Let's broaden the conversation out from Morris to the overall passing game.'

I have no idea what this is going to look like. None. Zero.'

It's very hard to project anything when virtually everything is new. This is a new head coach, new offensive coordinator, new quarterback, and largely untested pass-catchers.'

Taji Hudson is one name to watch. He earned three starts last season and finished with eight catches for 88 yards.'

Maxwell Moss is a potential projected starter. He caught two passes in 2023. Many of the other receivers on the roster have fewer than that.'

Cameron Ross appears to be the most game-tested of the group. He's a junior who started six games at UConn and finished the season with more than 500 yards.'

The entire tight end room, as far as I can tell, has 15 career catches.'

A lack of historical production does not automatically mean bad things. But if you're looking for a black box, this is it. It's very hard to know what this passing game looks like, or how effective it will be, until JMU takes the field in Charlotte on Aug. 31.'

The Defense

JMU has made a living in recent years off a ferocious defense led by an elite defensive front with an effective pass rush.'

That powerful pass rush has often covered for a leaky secondary, which hasn't been truly great since the Mike Houston era. Rashad Robinson, Jimmy Moreland, Raven Greene – those guys. It's been a few years.'

The entire 2023 starting defensive front has departed, with many of the impact players from the front six now starting in the Big Ten.'

Tons of college football prep work these last couple weeks. Here’s one very interesting projected starting defense from a power conference

DE: Mikail Kamara
NG: CJ West
NG: James Carpenter

Star: Jacob Mangum-Farrar
LB: Jailin Walker
LB: Aiden Fisher

Rover: Amare Ferrell
CB:…

– Chase Kiddy (@chaseakiddy) July 9, 2024

  
Read Full Article