This weekend, UNC will face a dangerous non-conference foe, one that hails from the Sun Belt Conference. This program also recently made the jump from FCS to FBS football after winning multiple national titles in the lower subdivision. When this team returns from its relatively remote mountain town, the Tar Heels will have to be on their guard to avoid an upset.

Oh, you thought I was talking about App State? Nope, Mack Brown will avoid them like the plague if he can help it. This is about James Madison, which bears a striking resemblance to the Mountaineers. Aside from the aforementioned reasons, JMU has a robust, well-traveled fan base, one that no doubt contributed to the sellout of Kenan Stadium for Saturday’s game. Brown acknowledged as much earlier this week.

“James Madison has a great fan base,” Brown said. “They’ve already bought their tickets. And they’re going to be very, very excited to come.”

You only have to ask Virginia about the JMU fans, who practically took over Charlottesville when the Dukes stunned the Cavaliers last season. It was part of a 10-0 start for JMU, which hosted College GameDay on campus and even broke into the national rankings.

All of these things are a testament to a healthy soccer culture in JMU’s home base of Harrisonburg, Virginia, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains just west of Shenandoah National Park. Catie Harper, a JMU alumna who covers the Dukes for the city’s Daily News-Record, told Chapelboro that local love for the team extends beyond those affiliated with the university.

“Fans live and die by JMU football. And it’s not just the alumni of the school that love this program,” Harper said. “Harrisonburg is so big as a city. (On) Saturdays, the stadium will be full, and it might not even be filled with people who went to the school — it’s just people from the surrounding city. Because it’s a mountain town; there’s not much to do once you get outside the city limits.”

In the bigger picture, the state of Virginia has no professional sports teams. For residents of Harrisonburg, the major cities of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore are a two-hour drive away. So when the city’s residents cling to what has been, by far, Virginia’s most successful college football program of the 21st century, the Dukes naturally take on a mythical quality, according to Harper.

“A lot of these football players for JMU, if you walk by a little kid, they’re professional athletes in their eyes,” she said. “They’re bigger than life here.”

Winning certainly helps. James Madison won FCS national titles in 2004 and 2016 and hasn’t had a losing season since 2002. The university itself is experiencing growth as well, with an undergraduate population that rivals UNC’s and a massive alumni network that extends far beyond the school’s geographic footprint.

JMU head coach Bob Chesney has also emphasized the importance of community service, having his players regularly interact with fans in and around the city. As if the Dukes weren’t popular enough, Harper said this has only made the fandom more passionate.

“There are players that people like to follow because they’re fun to watch on the court, or they’re fun to watch off the court and people get to know them,” Harper said. “It’s just a bunch of different things that have come together that have been a perfect storm for this program to grow and take over the community and this state.”

And speaking of that alumni network, the Triangle is only a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Harrisonburg. In other words, it’s easy work for the JMU traveling brigade.

“A lot of these fans and alumni would probably travel hours and hours to see the football team play,” Harper said. “And certainly not against a team that’s on the level of UNC.”

The message is clear: The Dukes fear no program, big or small. They certainly don’t fear a Carolina team still searching for stability at quarterback. Tar Heel coaches have said they need to play their best game of the season to turn 3-0 into 4-0. Or they risk discovering what others know all too well: James Madison is one of the fathers of the college football upset.

Main image via James Madison Athletics

Chapelboro.com charges no subscription fees and you can support our local journalism efforts directly here. Want to see more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring you free local news and community information by subscribing to our newsletter.

Related Stories