2024 James Madison Dukes football team explained

Year:	2024
Team:	James Madison Dukes
Sport:	football
Conference:	Sun Belt Conference
Short Conf:	Sun Belt
Division:	East Division
Record:	8–4
Conf Record:	4–4
Head Coach:	Bob Chesney
Hc Year:	1st
Off Coach:	Dean Kennedy
Oc Year:	1st
Off Scheme:	Spread
Def Coach:	Lyle Hemphill
Dc Year:	1st
Def Scheme:	4–3
Stadium:	Bridgeforth Stadium

The 2024 James Madison Dukes football team represent James Madison University in the Sun Belt Conference's East Division during the 2024 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Dukes are led by Bob Chesney in his first year as the head coach. The Dukes play home games at the Bridgeforth Stadium, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia.^[1]

Preseason

Media poll

In the Sun Belt preseason coaches' poll, the Dukes were picked to finish second place in the East division.^[2]

Media poll (East division)
1	Appalachian State	96 (12)
2	James Madison	79 (2)
3	Coastal Carolina	67
4	Georgia Southern	50
5	Marshall	49
6	Old Dominion	32
7	Georgia State	19

Offensive lineman Cole Potts and punter Ryan Hanson were awarded to be in the preseason All-Sun Belt first team offense and special teams, respectively.^[3] Offensive lineman Tyshawn Wyatt, defensive lineman Eric O'Neill, and cornerback Chauncey Logan were named to the second team.

Schedule

The football schedule was announced on March 1, 2024.^[4]

Personnel

Transfers

Outgoing
D'Angelo Ponds	CB	Indiana
Rykin Maxwell	WR	Murray State
Solomon Vanhorse	RB	Indiana
Sammy Malignaggi	RB	Campbell
Tyrique Tucker	DL	Indiana
Brent Austin	CB	USF
Elijah Sarratt	WR	Indiana
Tyler Stephens	OL	Indiana
Kaelon Black	RB	Indiana
Nick Kidwell	OL	Indiana
Ty Son Lawton	RB	Indiana
James Carpenter	DL	Indiana
Jailin Walker	LB	Indiana
Aiden Fisher	LB	Indiana
Carter Miller	OL	Louisiana–Monroe
Mikail Kamara	DL	Indiana
Zach Horton	TE	Indiana
Kaden Schickel	LS	Michigan State
Jordan McCloud	QB	Texas State
Aaron Gunn	OL	Duquesne
Collin Caroll	TE	Gardner–Webb
Ibrahim Barry	WR	Sussex County CC
Noah Holmes	LB	East Carolina
Seth Naotala	LB	Old Dominion
Taurus Jones	LB	TBD
Abi Nwabuoku-Okonji	DL	Withdrawn
Chauncey Logan	CB	Withdrawn
Tyshawn Wyatt	OT	Withdrawn

Incoming
Khairi Manns	LB	Colorado
Ahmarian Granger	WR	Old Dominion
Rayquan Adkins	CB	Cincinnati
Jobi Malary	RB	Portland State
Chris Fitzgerald	DL	Youngstown State
Jordan Taylor	CB	Tusculum
Cam Ross	WR	UConn
Pat McMurtrie	OT	Holy Cross
Hunter McLain	OL	Virginia Tech
Brionne Penny	WR	San Diego State
Tyler Purdy	RB	Holy Cross
DJ Cotton Jr.	DL	West Virginia
Dylan Morris	QB	Washington
Terry Lockett Jr.	DL	Syracuse
Ja'kai Young	CB	Gardner–Webb
Chris Shearin	CB	UConn
Lloyd Summerall	DE	USF
Raymond Scott	LB	Fresno State
Eric O'Neill	DL	LIU
Logan Kyle	TE	Vanderbilt
George Pettaway	RB	North Carolina
Ayo Adeyi	RB	North Texas
Jesse Ramil	OT	Saint Francis (PA)
AJ Abbasi	DL	West Virginia State
Jacob Dobbs	LB	Holy Cross
Nakai Poole	WR	Mississippi State
Noe Ruelas	K	UConn

Roster

Game summaries

at Charlotte

See also: 2024 Charlotte 49ers football team.

Statistics	JMU	CLT
First downs	16	17
Total yards	417	324
Rushing yards	198	131
Passing yards	219	193
Turnovers	2	3
Time of possession	28:18	31:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing		10/18, 219 yards, 2 TD, INT
Rushing	Alonza Barnett III	9 rushes, 89 yards
Receiving	Omarion Dollison	2 receptions, 80 yards, TD
Charlotte	Passing		22/45, 193 yards, TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Terron Kellman	9 rushes, 76 yards
Receiving	Sean Brown	6 receptions, 70 yards

Gardner–Webb

See also: 2024 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team.

Statistics	GWEB	JMU
First downs	16	15
Total yards	269	285
Rushing yards	109	150
Passing yards	160	135
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	33:58	26:02

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Gardner–Webb	Passing	Tyler Ridell	17/30, 160 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	Edward Saydee	22 rushes, 87 yards
Receiving	Camden Overton	5 receptions, 65 yards
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	14/22, 135 yards
Rushing	George Pettaway	10 rushes, 84 yards
Receiving	George Pettaway	4 receptions, 32 yards

at North Carolina

See also: 2024 North Carolina Tar Heels football team.

Statistics	JMU	UNC
First downs	25	30
Total yards	611	616
Rushing yards	223	141
Passing yards	388	475
Turnovers	1	5
Time of possession	34:04	25:56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	22/34, 388 yards, 5 TD
Rushing	Alonza Barnett III	13 rushes, 99 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Omarion Dollison	3 receptions, 125 yards, TD
North Carolina	Passing		28/48, 475 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing		13 rushes, 139 yards, 3 TD
Receiving		4 receptions, 93 yards

Ball State

See also: 2024 Ball State Cardinals football team.

Statistics	BALL	JMU
First downs	19	29
Total yards	250	522
Rushing yards	77	236
Passing yards	173	286
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	33:41	26:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ball State	Passing	Kadin Semonza	22/35, 168 yards, TD, 3 INT
Rushing	Braedon Sloan	14 carries, 72 yards
Receiving	Tanner Koziol	9 receptions, 78 yards, TD
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	20/28, 280 yards, 5 TD
Rushing	Wayne Knight	6 carries, 63 yards
Receiving	Taylor Thompson	5 receptions, 91 yards, TD

at Louisiana–Monroe

See also: 2024 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team.

Statistics	JMU	ULM
First downs	24	15
Total yards	399	257
Rushing yards	148	110
Passing yards	251	147
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	20–47–0	17–30–1
Time of possession	28:56	31:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	20/47, 251 yards
Rushing	George Pettaway	13 carries, 62 yards
Receiving	Yamir Knight	4 receptions, 67 yards
Louisiana–Monroe	Passing	Aidan Armenta	17/30, 147 yards, TD, INT
Rushing		14 carries, 82 yards, TD
Receiving	Jake Godfrey	7 receptions, 60 yards, TD

Coastal Carolina

See also: 2024 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team.

Statistics	CCU	JMU
First downs	8	20
Total yards	181	421
Rushing yards	79	222
Passing yards	102	199
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	21:06	38:54

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Coastal Carolina	Passing		5/18, 84 yards, TD, 2 INT
Rushing	Braydon Bennett	12 carries, 45 yards
Receiving	Jameson Tucker	2 receptions, 44 yards, TD
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	16/28, 199 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	George Pettaway	13 carries, 89 yards
Receiving	Taylor Thompson	2 receptions, 58 yards, TD

at Georgia Southern

See also: 2024 Georgia Southern Eagles football team.

Statistics	JMU	GASO
First downs	16	24
Total yards	253	405
Rushing yards	67	190
Passing yards	186	215
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	22–41–0	24–33–3
Time of possession	26:01	33:59

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	22/41, 186 yards, TD
Rushing	George Pettaway	13 carries, 63 yards
Receiving	Omarion Dollison	3 receptions, 51 yards, TD
Georgia Southern	Passing		24/33, 215 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing		23 carries, 134 yards
Receiving	Derwin Burgess Jr.	5 receptions, 52 yards, TD

Southern Miss

See also: 2024 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team.

Statistics	USM	JMU
First downs	19	18
Total yards	319	357
Rushing yards	141	199
Passing yards	178	158
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	30:16	29:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Ethan Crawford	11/34, 178 yards, INT
Rushing	Kenyon Clay	8 carries, 69 yards, TD
Receiving	Dannis Jackson	5 receptions, 94 yards
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	15/25, 135 yards, 2 TD, INT
Rushing	George Pettaway	16 carries, 119 yards, TD
Receiving	Wayne Knight	2 receptions, 41 yards

Georgia State

See also: 2024 Georgia State Panthers football team.

Statistics	GAST	JMU
First downs	16	21
Total yards	259	452
Rushing yards	46	211
Passing yards	213	241
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	28:54	31:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Georgia State	Passing	Zach Gibson	24/37, 213 yards, TD
Rushing	Freddie Brock	9 carries, 24 yards
Receiving	Petey Tucker	5 receptions, 54 yards
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	20/30, 241 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	George Pettaway	13 carries, 95 yards, TD
Receiving	Yamir Knight	4 receptions, 65 yards

at Old Dominion (Royal Rivalry)

See also: 2024 Old Dominion Monarchs football team and Royal Rivalry.

Statistics	JMU	ODU
First downs	23	15
Total yards	425	363
Rushing yards	233	174
Passing yards	192	189
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	37:52	22:08

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	18/26, 192 yards, TD
Rushing	George Pettaway	19 carries, 82 yards
Receiving	Yamir Knight	8 receptions, 121 yards, TD
Old Dominion	Passing	Colton Joseph	9/21, 189 yards, INT
Rushing	Aaron Young	17 carries, 116 yards, TD
Receiving	Diante Vines	4 receptions, 89 yards

at Appalachian State

See also: 2024 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team.

Statistics	JMU	APP
First downs	22	17
Total yards	400	361
Rushing yards	168	145
Passing yards	232	216
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	34:05	25:55

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
James Madison	Passing	Alonza Barnett III	21/36, 232 yards, 2 TD, INT
Rushing	George Pettaway	12 carries, 82 yards
Receiving	Yamir Knight	5 receptions, 60 yards, TD
Appalachian State	Passing		12/23, 216 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Ahmani Marshall	24 carries, 108 yards, TD
Receiving	Makai Jackson	5 receptions, 162 yards, TD

Marshall

See also: 2024 Marshall Thundering Herd football team.

Statistics	MRSH	JMU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Marshall	Passing
Rushing
Receiving
James Madison	Passing
Rushing
Receiving

Notes and References

1. Web site: JMU FOOTBALL’S COACHING STAFF UNDER BOB CHESNEY . JMU Sports News . 11 January 2024.
2. Web site: 2024-07-22 . Sun Belt Announces Football Preseason Awards & Poll . 2024-07-23 . sunbeltsports.org . en.
3. Web site: 2024-07-22 . Dukes Picked Second in East Division, Five Named Preseason All-Sun Belt . 2024-07-23 . James Madison University Athletics . en.
4. Web site: 2024 James Madison Football Schedule . FBSchedules.com . January 11, 2024.