BARBER: Bowl Eligibility No Small Accomplishment for Rebuilt Dukes

By Mike Barber
JMUSports.com Correspondent

HARRISONBURG, Va. – As his team's offense struggled to move the ball two weeks ago at Georgia Southern, James Madison coach Bob Chesney took note of one player in the offensive huddles on the sideline and during timeouts, encouraging his teammates to keep fighting.

It was safety Chris Shearin, a transfer from Connecticut.

"He was in every single offensive huddle as a defensive player, trying to be there for guys he met a few months ago," Chesney said this week.

For all the success the Dukes have had in Chesney's first season leading the program, and after Saturday's 32-15 win over Southern Miss that includes qualifying for a bowl game, perhaps the biggest accomplishment has been fostering a cohesive team out of a roster that had to be completely rebuilt in the offseason.

"Your hope is for the greatest of them all. It's to do what we did a year ago and to have no dropoff and to be just as good as a team and to give this community and this school everything that they deserve," Chesney said. "But ultimately, you do know that there are 58 new guys on this roster, with a new coaching staff and a new offense and defense and special teams philosophy, with new strength and conditioning coaches. There's a lot in here that you understand how delicate it is."

When asked about becoming bowl eligible immediately following JMU's homecoming victory over the Golden Eagles, Chesney said his thoughts immediately went to the months after he was hired, when he and his coaching staff worked out of Bridgeforth Stadium press boxes, scrambling to evaluate every player whose name hit the NCAA transfer portal.

Hired to pursue bowl berths and league championships, Chesney's immediate mission was far more humble.

"When the positives happen, I look back and just think about how much work went into this," Chesney said. "Going back to December. Being up in those press boxes and trying to field a team and get guys together so that we would have enough to play football."

There is plenty more football to be played and that was the message player after player delivered when asked about notching win No. 6, the one that clinched bowl eligibility.

The Dukes are just a game back of first place in the Sun Belt's East Division going into this week's open date.

"It definitely means a lot, but we also have bigger goals as a team," defensive tackle Darold DeNgohe said. "We also want to get better and we're trying to get to the Sun Belt Conference championship."

A year ago the Dukes' bowl chances were a looming question that captivated much of the Commonwealth.

JMU had set a new standard for success while transitioning up from the FCS.

Since 2013, 10 teams have made the climb up to the FBS. Only JMU opted to play full FBS slates during each of the two reclassifying years.

No transitioning team, going back to 2000, has played as many FBS foes as the 22 JMU took on the past two seasons.

Despite that, the Dukes' 19-5 mark was the best of any of those teams.

In their final year transitioning to the FBS, they were ineligible for a bowl, but could be selected if not enough teams qualified.

As JMU bulldozed its way to an 11-1 regular-season mark, there was no doubt it would be among the first in line for a spot, if one became available.

It ultimately did, and the Dukes made their bowl debut at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.

This year, there are no such restrictions on the program, which has now fully reclassified. And with Saturday's win, JMU earned the right to appear in a second straight postseason game.

For the 47-year-old Chesney, it will be his first bowl game. He played his college ball at Division III Dickinson College and spent the first 23 years of his coaching career at the D-III, D-II and FCS levels, before landing the JMU job after last season.

"I've been with him my entire career in college," said cornerback Terrence Spence, who played for Chesney at Holy Cross before transferring to JMU to follow him. "To have him come in here and keep the program running as it was and be bowl eligible his first year is awesome. I'm very grateful to be a part of it."

Saturday's victory made that possible with four games remaining in the regular season. It was sparked by Cam Ross's 94-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Ross knows how significant picking up that sixth win is. He spent four years at UConn before transferring to JMU this offseason, only reaching a bowl game once.

"I've definitely been on the other side, when we couldn't reach six," Ross said. "We're grateful for it, but there's so much more on the plate that we know we can get."

Calendar