2015 James Madison Dukes football team

2015 James Madison Dukes football
CAA Co–Champions
FCS Playoffs Second Round vs Colgate, L 38–44
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	#11
FCS Coaches	#11
2015 record	9–3 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Everett Withers (2nd year)
Co-offensive coordinator	Brett Elliott (1st year)
Co-offensive coordinator	Zak Kuhr (2nd year)
Defensive coordinator	Steve Sisa (2nd year)
Home stadium	Bridgeforth Stadium (Capacity: 24,877)

2015 CAA football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#4 Richmond +^		6	–	2					10	–	4
#11 James Madison +^		6	–	2					9	–	3
#12 William & Mary +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
Towson		5	–	3					7	–	4
New Hampshire ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Villanova		5	–	3					6	–	5
Stony Brook		3	–	5					5	–	5
Delaware		3	–	5					4	–	7
Elon		3	–	5					4	–	7
Maine		3	–	5					3	–	8
Albany		2	–	6					3	–	8
Rhode Island		1	–	7					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

The 2015 James Madison Dukes football team represented James Madison University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second year head coach Everett Withers and played their home games at Bridgeforth Stadium and Zane Showker Field. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes finished the regular season 9–2 to share the CAA championship with William & Mary and Richmond, who all finished with identical 6–2 conference records. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the second round to Colgate and finish the season 9–3.

Previous season

In 2014, the Dukes finished with a record of 9–4, 6–2 in CAA play, to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs and hosted Liberty in the first round. The Dukes lost to the Flames, 21–26, and were eliminated from the playoffs.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	6:00 PM	Morehead State*	#12	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA	MZ	W 56–7	22,080
September 12	4:00 PM	Lehigh*	#13	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA	MZ	W 55–17	15,949
September 19	3:00 PM	Albany	#12	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA	CSN	W 42–28	18,659
September 26	7:00 PM	at SMU*	#9	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX	ESPN3	W 48–45	22,314
October 3	12:00 PM	Stony Brook	#6	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA	CSN	W 38–20	21,653
October 10	3:00 PM	at Towson	#5	Johnny Unitas Stadium • Towson, MD	CSN	W 51–30	8,224
October 17	3:00 PM	at Elon	#5	Rhodes Stadium • Elon, NC		W 51–0	8,342
October 24	3:30 PM	#11 Richmond	#4	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA (College Gameday)	CSN	L 49–59	26,069
October 31	4:00 PM	at #16 William & Mary	#9	Zable Stadium • Williamsburg, VA (Rivalry)	NBCSN	L 41–44	9,414
November 14	3:30 PM	at Delaware	#14	Delaware Stadium • Newark, DE (Rivalry)	CSN	W 24–21	16,994
November 21	12:00 PM	Villanova	#12	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA	CSN	W 38–29	17,028
December 5	1:00 PM	Colgate*	#8	Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 38–44	15,045
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Game notes

Morehead State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	0	0	7
#12 Dukes	14	14	21	7	56

See also: 2015 Morehead State Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–2	2010	W 48–7

Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountain Hawks	7	7	3	0	17
#13 Dukes	10	28	7	10	55

See also: 2015 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2014	W 31–28

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	7	7	0	14	28
#12 Dukes	14	0	21	7	42

See also: 2015 Albany Great Danes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2014	W 31–28

SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Dukes	10	7	17	14	48
Mustangs	7	7	17	14	45

See also: 2015 SMU Mustangs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seawolves	7	0	0	13	20
#6 Dukes	21	7	10	0	38

See also: 2015 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–1	2014	W 27–24

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Dukes	14	10	17	10	51
Tigers	6	11	6	7	30

See also: 2015 Towson Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–6–1	2014	W 62–7

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Dukes	13	21	10	7	51
Phoenix	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2015 Elon Phoenix football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–0	2014	W 59–27

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Spiders	7	21	14	17	59
#4 Dukes	14	14	7	14	49

See also: 2015 Richmond Spiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–17	2014	W 55–20

ESPN's College GameDay broadcast from the JMU campus for the first time.

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Dukes	21	6	7	7	41
#16 Tribe	9	14	7	14	44

See also: 2015 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
21–16	2014	W 31–24

Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Dukes	7	0	7	10	24
Fightin' Blue Hens	7	0	14	0	21

See also: 2015 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–14	2014	L 23–30 OT

Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	7	15	29
#12 Dukes	14	7	3	14	38

See also: 2015 Villanova Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–11	2014	L 31–49

FCS Playoffs

Second Round–Colgate

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	10	14	14	6	44
#8 Dukes	0	28	3	7	38

See also: 2015 Colgate Raiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	12	13	12	9	6 (4)	5 (8)	5 (12)	4 (18)	9	14	14	12	8	11
Coaches	13	11	10	8	5 (1)	5	5 (2)	3 (3)	9	14	11	10	6	11