JMU football starts its 2025 season Saturday at 6 p.m. with a home opener against Weber State.

Whether you’re a new fan, a casual fan tuning in with the calendar nearing September or a sicko back for more JMU football content, we wanted to create a guide to get you ready for what could be a special JMU football season.

Here’s the JMU Sports News 2025 Football Season Preview. Enjoy!

Editor’s note: Enjoying our coverage? Feel free to buy us a coffee or beer. We use the majority of these contributions to cover website/podcast hosting fees, contributor payments, travel for game coverage, etc. Your support is much appreciated! 

Preseason predictions

Let’s summarize what the national experts are saying about the 2025 Dukes.

Phil Steele — Steele predicts JMU football to win the Sun Belt East. We spoke to him this summer, and here’s a snippet of what he told us:

“When you go position by position, they’ve got arguably the best talent in the Sun Belt Conference.”

“Best set of running backs in the Sun Belt Conference.”

“Defensively, they’re solid throughout.”

“I think they should win the Sun Belt this season.”

Our full interview with Phil can be found here.

Athlon Sports — “The Sun Belt ranks among college football’s most wide-open conferences for the 2025 season. James Madison is Athlon’s preseason pick to win the conference, with Georgia Southern and Old Dominion a small step behind in the East Division. However, in the West, as many as five teams deserve consideration for the top spot in the division predictions. Texas State is a slight favorite in the West, but Louisiana, South Alabama, and Arkansas State aren’t too far behind. Also, Southern Miss could surprise under new coach Charles Huff.” – Athlon’s Steve Lassan.

ESPN SP+ — Bill Connelly’s system pegs JMU as the Sun Belt’s best. Here’s what he wrote in his preview: “There are enough new pieces here that success isn’t guaranteed, but the combination of proven talent and proven smaller-school playmakers — especially at a school that has more than proven that FCS stars can become FBS stalwarts — makes JMU the preseason conference favorite. It’s up to the Dukes to close the deal this time.”

ESPN FPI — The Dukes top ESPN’s Football Power Index, among SBC teams. They’re ranked 76th nationally, as FPI seems to hate the SBC and most of the G5. 

The Athletic — Chris Vannini picks the Dukes to win the SBC. He wrote: “James Madison just keeps winning and should again, whether Alonza Barnett III or Sluka wins the starting quarterback job, but this also could be Clay Helton’s best team at Georgia Southern.”

Split Zone Duo: SZD has JMU as the favorite in the East and a potential playoff contender. Alex Kirsher told us this in an interview this month:

“One way in which I think JMU is pretty Boise-like is that the Dukes have been able, not the Dukes have never been picked over at all, but to avoid the worst of that.”

He’s bullish on JMU because of returning players like RT Patrick McMurtrie and RB George Pettaway, among others.

“It makes you believe in the culture they’re building.”

Playoff potential?

Most national pundits make JMU the Sun Belt favorite. So could a College Football Playoff appearance be in the cards?

The five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic spots in the 12-team playoff. Last year, Boise State made the field as the Mountain West champ. Could JMU make the field if it wins the SBC title? It’s quite possible.

Here’s what the oddsmakers say about JMU’s playoff chances among G5 peers:

Boise State’s odds to make the playoff, via FanDuel: +172
Tulane: +880
JMU: +980
Memphis: +1120
Navy: +1200
Liberty: +1300

What needs to happen for JMU to make the playoff field? Well, first, the Dukes need to win the Sun Belt to have a chance at an automatic berth into the field. That’s priority No. 1.

Next, JMU needs to take advantage of its nonconference games. Weber State isn’t a major showdown, but games with Louisville, Liberty, and Washington State are massive chances for the Dukes to build their playoff resume. Going 2-1 in those three marquee games would position them to compete.

Finally, JMU fans should root for G5 chaos and Sun Belt strength. The tougher the Sun Belt looks/the better it performs in nonconference games, the better chance the league’s champion makes the playoff.

Additionally, if Boise State or another G5 program like Tulane goes undefeated, would undefeated JMU have a chance to make the field or would the other big-name program earn the nod? If other G5 league champions have one or more defeats, it makes it easier for the Dukes to earn a spot in the field.

The playoff dreams feel real, but they’re still really far away. JMU needs to deliver at least an 11-2 record with a Sun Belt championship to have a legitimate shot. A 12-1 JMU with a competitive loss to Louisville will be firmly in the mix. It’ll be hard for 13-0 JMU to miss the field. 

Biggest storylines

After a 9-4 debut season, Bob Chesney enters Year 2 with huge expectations as the Dukes’ coach. Here are the top storylines JMUSN is monitoring this season. 

Who starts at QB … in Week 12?

Look, the Dukes have three starting caliber QBs in Alonza Barnett, Matthew Sluka, and Camden Coleman. Sluka (Holy Cross/UNLV) and Coleman (Richmond) are experienced transfers, while Barnett is the Dukes’ incumbent. He’s coming off a torn ACL, however, throwing his Week 1 status into question. 

JMU could win a bunch of games with any of the three guys. Which one maximizes the offense’s potential and can have the offense humming in late November? It doesn’t matter as much who starts Week 1 — see the 2023 team that started Barnett and was cooking with Jordan McCloud as the starter by season’s end — but rather who ends the season as the guy. Watching this QB room develop will be fascinating.

Can Chesney win on the road?

The Dukes were 5-1 at home in 2024, but they went 3-3 on the road with ugly losses to ULM, Georgia Southern, and App State. The Dukes were a different team outside of Bridgeforth Stadium. Can Chesney get his team to win meaningful road games at the FBS level?

A road schedule of Louisville, Liberty, Georgia State, Texas State, Marshall, and Coastal Carolina will test this team. If the Dukes want to be great, they need to win on the road. 

What’s next?

JMU’s athletic department has ambitious dreams, including the possibility of future Power Conference membership. There are also plans to renovate the stadium. Those off-field storylines deserve monitoring this fall, especially if JMU has a great season on the field.

Our final projected starting lineup

This is our guess at what the Dukes will look like in Week 1, not what we’d like to see the Dukes do — otherwise RB Jobi Malary would be RB1!

Offense

QB: Matthew Sluka or Alonza Barnett

RB: George Pettaway and Ayo Adeyi

WR: Nick DeGennaro

WR: Isaiah Alston or Landon Ellis

WR (slot): Jaylan Sanchez

TE: Josh Phifer or Logan Kyle

LT: Joseph Simmons

LG: Carter Sweazie

C: Zach Greenberg

RG: Josh Toner or Riley Robell

RT: Patrick McMurtrie

I have the least clarity about slot WR, where Braeden Wisloski and Michael Scott are also extremely talented. The Dukes have three potential standouts at slot.

Defense/special teams

DE: Xavier Holmes

DT: Immanuel Bush

DT: Andrew Taddeo

DE: Amar Thomas

LB: Trent Hendrick

LB: Gannon Weathersby

Nickel: DJ Barksdale

CB: Mekhi Rodgers

CB: Chantz Harley or Elijah Culp

SS: Jacob Thomas

FS: Tyler Brown or Curtis Harris-Lopez

K: Morgan Suarez

P: Patrick Rea

KR/PR: Braeden Wisloski/Wayne Knight

I’m higher on Amar Thomas after hearing reports from JMU football’s media day. By most accounts, the redshirt junior is developing well and will be tough to keep off the field at defensive end. Notre Dame transfer Aiden Gobaira should also play a ton at DE, as should Sahir West. Robert Morris transfer Turner Schmidt has upside at edge, too.

Schedule analysis

Here’s JMU’s full schedule:

• Weber State, Aug. 30
• At Louisville, Sept. 5
• Bye week
• At Liberty, Sept. 20
• Georgia Southern, Sept. 27
• At Georgia State, Oct. 4
• Louisiana, Oct. 11
• Old Dominion, Oct. 18
• At Texas State, Oct. 28
• At Marshall, Nov. 8
• App State, Nov. 15
• Washington State, Nov. 22
• At Coastal Carolina, Nov. 29

The nonconference games are huge opportunities, and the Dukes play the projected top two teams in the West in Louisiana and Texas State.

ESPN2 Games against Louisville (Friday) and Texas State (Tuesday) are massive games. The Dukes will have a chance to impress a national audience in those two instances, and they won’t be competing with NFL games either. Looking good in those games could go a long way toward impressing the playoff committee.

The overall difficulty of the schedule depends largely on the success of three rivals — App State, Marshall, and Coastal Carolina. If any of those three teams exceeds preseason expectations, it’s a gauntlet. If those three teams all have down years, however, the schedule is really manageable after September. Each of those three teams have major question marks after undergoing some combination of coaching/coordinator and quarterback turnover.

This might be the most entertaining schedule in program history. If the Dukes can navigate it with one or fewer losses, they’ll be a top-25 team by season’s end.

Read more schedule analysis here. 

The bottom line

JMU’s roster looks stacked. There’s coaching continuity with Bob Chesney returning to lead the program. The schedule sets up well for a potential playoff push. 

Entering Week 1, there’s unbridled optimism in Harrisonburg. Can the Dukes deliver?

Photo courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications