The James Madison Dukes football program is no stranger to playoff atmospheres. JMU qualified for the FCS Playoffs every season from 2014-21, reaching three national championship games and winning one, becoming one of the blue-bloods in their leagues.
But James Madison envisioned success beyond FCS championships. The Dukes strived to compete for national championships at the highest level. Thus in 2022, the program elevated to the FBS. It only took four seasons until that vision materialized, 2,800 miles northwest of Harrisonburg, VA.
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James Madison made history as the first Sun Belt team to compete in the 12-year history of the College Football Playoff, defying the odds and placing an exclamation point on a dream season. However, the Dukes’ playoff run was short-lived as the Sun Belt champs were ousted 51-34 by Oregon in a hostile environment.
“I thought our guys played hard and played hard for the entire course of the game, it just never really amounted to anything,” James Madison head coach Bob Chesney said. “The complementary football that we’ve been playing all year just really didn’t show up. There were spurts on offense and moments on defense, there were moments on special teams, and there were obviously really bad moments on all sides of the ball. We needed to play elite football. We needed to play our best football of the entire year. We needed to match up really well with them and play an aggressive style. The lack of complementary football was what really ailed us today.”
The first half between the first-time opponents was a lopsided affair. Oregon generated touchdowns on each of its first five drives, and James Madison could not keep pace — as the Dukes’ top 10 scoring offense never reached the end zone in the first 30 minutes of action. JMU kicked Morgan Suarez scored a field goal on the opening drive and then added a second one in the waning seconds of the second quarter, sending JMU into the half down 34-6.
“You know, starting off, (James Madison) had loaded boxes inside,” Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said. “We were able to get the ball on the perimeter. We were able to take shots where we thought we could win. You know, we connected on a couple of those.”
Oregon’s touchdown barrage subsided in the second half as the underdogs from Harrisonburg were able to force punts and turnovers. The Dukes outscored the Ducks 28-17 over the final 30 minutes, but the four-touchdown margin created in the first half allowed Oregon to proceed unbothered. Despite the losing effort, James Madison accrued 509 yards (Oregon had 514) and 34 points — when no other opponent produced more than 382 yards or 30 points on Oregon’s vaunted defense all season long.
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“You go through the yards, 509 to 514, you go through some other things in there, we did hang with them,” Chesney said. “But I think with the scoreboard itself, every time we got down there, we shots ourselves in the foot. If we did not do that, if we did not end with 13 penalties, is this a little bit of a different game? Maybe. But at the same time, that’s a tough offense to stop. I think it’s tough for a lot of teams in the entire country to stop. But I thought we hung in there with our offense.”
Skill position talent was on full display in Eugene. On the winning side, Oregon quarterback Dante Moore shined in his first playoff start with 313 passing yards and four touchdowns (two to Malik Benson), while freshmen Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. carried the run game with a combined 166 yards on 16 carries. For the Sun Belt champions, quarterback Alonza Barnett III fired for 273 yards and two touchdowns, while explosive tailback Wayne Knight racked up 110 in the defeat.
“From my perspective, I thought that we matched up really well against those guys,” James Madison wide receiver Nick DeGennaro said. “I thought we had a really good plan. I thought the athletes we had in our receiving corps did a really good job, not just myself, but a bunch of guys made a bunch of really big plays. I thought we were able to run by them. Credit to them, but they had some good athletes as well. Competitively speaking, on the edge, we matched up really well and I think it showed, but wish it ended a little bit different.”
JMU entered the matchup with a microscope on it, considering its status as a relatively-new FBS program as well as the first Sun Belt team to qualify on the College Football Playoff’s grand stage. The Dukes came within 17 points of an Oregon squad that defeated FBS opponents by an average margin exceeding 20 points. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore talked about James Madison’s worthiness in the 12-team CFP bracket, as the Dukes clinched an automatic bid as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions.
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“I want to give JMU their kudos,” Moore said as his opening statement. “They have a great coaching staff, great players. They fought their tails off and they deserve to be one of the 12 teams in there.”
Oregon (12-1, 8-1 Big Ten) advances to the Orange Bowl where the Ducks battle Big 12 champion Texas Tech at Hard Rock Stadium. After ending up on the wrong side of a lopsided Rose Bowl last year, Dan Lanning and the Ducks responded with the program’s first playoff win since 2014. Still, the fourth-year head coach believes his group is capable of playing at a higher level as it continues its quest for a first national championship.
“I don’t think we played at all close to our standard,” Lanning said. “Credit to JMU for figuring some stuff out at halftime and not credit to us for not being able to sustain and play the way we need to be able to play down the stretch. You know, I think our team realizes this is a growth moment for us, an opportunity to continue to improve and get better, but we’re gonna play better football to be able to reach our goals when it’s all said and done.”
James Madison (12-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) watched its 11-game win streak and storybook season simultaneously evaporate Saturday night in the Pacific Northwest. Head coach Bob Chesney coached his final game of a 2-year tenure, and he will now transition to his new job with at UCLA. But before he takes the plane to Hollywood, Chesney recognized the accomplishments of this historic team which set a new standard and built excitement around JMU football, unlike anything it had seen before.
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“I stood on the end zone there and made sure I gave every kid on this team a hug as they walked off this field,” Chesney said. “I told them to be proud of what they did all year. As disappointing as today is and tonight is, just be really, really proud of what they accomplished over the course of the year.”
