2015 James Madison Dukes football team

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 (CAA). 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.

2015 James Madison Dukes football
CAA co-champion
ConferenceColonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATSNo. 11
FCS CoachesNo. 11
Record9–3 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinatorBrett Elliott (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinatorZak Kuhr (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorSteve Sisa (2nd season)
Home stadiumBridgeforth Stadium
Seasons
← 2014
2016 →
2015 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Richmond +^   6 2     10 4  
No. 11 James Madison +^   6 2     9 3  
No. 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 Poll

On January 6, 2016, Withers resigned to become the head coach at Texas State.[1] He finished at James Madison with a two-year record of 18–7.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 56:00 pmMorehead State*No. 12MZW 56–722,080
September 124:00 pmLehigh*No. 13
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
MZW 55–1715,949
September 193:00 pmAlbanyNo. 12
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
CSNW 42–2818,659
September 267:00 pmat SMU*No. 9ESPN3W 48–4522,314
October 312:00 pmStony BrookNo. 6
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
CSNW 38–2021,653
October 103:00 pmat TowsonNo. 5CSNW 51–308,224
October 173:00 pmat ElonNo. 5W 51–08,342
October 243:30 pmNo. 11 Richmond No. 4
CSNL 49–5926,069
October 314:00 pmat No. 16 William & MaryNo. 9NBCSNL 41–449,414
November 143:30 pmat DelawareNo. 14CSNW 24–2116,994
November 2112:00 pmVillanovaNo. 12
  • Bridgeforth Stadium
  • Harrisonburg, VA
CSNW 38–2917,028
December 51:00 pmColgate*No. 8
ESPN3L 38–4415,045

[2]

Game summaries

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Morehead State

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

Lehigh

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

Albany

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1 2 3 4 Total
Great Danes 7 7 0 14 28
#12 Dukes 14 0 21 7 42
1 2 3 4 Total
#9 Dukes 10 7 17 14 48
Mustangs 7 7 17 14 45

Stony Brook

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

Towson

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

Elon

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

Richmond

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

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

William & Mary

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

Delaware

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

Villanova

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

FCS Playoffs

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Second Round–Colgate

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

Ranking movements

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCS12131296 (4)5 (8)5 (12)4 (18)9141412811
Coaches13111085 (1)55 (2)3 (3)9141110611

References

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  1. ^ "Texas State hires JMU's Withers as head coach". January 7, 2016.
  2. ^ "2015 James Madison Dukes Football Schedule". James Madison University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 2, 2015.