All week, the college football world seemed eager to poke holes in James Madison’s CFP spot. Saturday gave them the ammo they were waiting for, as Oregon jumped out fast and dropped 34 points before halftime on the way to a comfortable win. Almost instantly, the usual voices rushed in, treating the result as proof that Group of Five teams don’t belong on this stage.

Now, the Oregon Ducks did give James Madison a hard time; however, that doesn’t mean they weren’t capable of going up against them. Even before joining the FBS, James Madison was already a powerhouse in FCS. The Dukes won two national championships and finished in the top three nationally five times in their final six FCS seasons. That success gave them the confidence to move up to the Sun Belt Conference in 2022, where they proved their capability of fighting against top FBS teams.

This season, they scored more points in their CFP game than the 2014 Florida State, 2015 Michigan State, 2015 Oklahoma, 2016 Washington, 2016 Ohio State, 2017 Clemson, 2018 Notre Dame, 2019 Ohio State, 2020 Notre Dame, 2021 Cincinnati, 2021 Michigan, 2023 Alabama, 2024 Indiana, 2024 SMU, 2024 Clemson, 2024 Tennessee, 2024 Boise State, and 2024 Georgia.

What’s also getting lost is that Oregon’s been on the other side of this before. In their 2024 CFP matchup with Ohio State, the Ducks were run off the field early and trailed 34–8 at the break, pretty close to Saturday’s 34–6 halftime score. Oregon went on to lose that one by 20 points, 41–21, which is actually a bigger gap than the 17-point win they posted over JMU this time around.

However, they weren’t written off, and neither was the criticism so loud.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt has been one of the most vocal skeptics of JMU, openly arguing that the College Football Playoff should stop giving spots to programs like Tulane and James Madison. After the Ducks game, Klatt said that the Dukes belong in a Group of Five–only postseason, pointing to the final score as evidence that they can’t hang with Power Four programs.

“I genuinely feel bad for these JMU players,” Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt said on X. “They are a good football team who should be competing for a national championship on the appropriate level…now, most will only remember them for tonight…not their fault that CFB can’t figure out a proper post-season structure.”

Still, we cannot discredit how lopsided the score was predicted to be halfway through the third quarter and how the Dukes managed to show why they belong in the conversation.

The final score read 51–34, but for most of the night, it looked like it might get really out of hand for the Dukes. Oregon raced out to a 48–13 lead midway through the third quarter. However, James Madison refused to fold, outscoring the Ducks 20–3 over the final quarter and a half.

Also, Oregon set the tone early when quarterback Dante Moore hit Jamari Johnson on a 41-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the game. Johnson snagged the ball one-handed and powered his way into the end zone while dragging two defenders, giving the Ducks a lead they never gave back.

Yet, James Madison answered with composure. Morgan Suarez capped a 15-play, 8:03 drive with a 30-yard field goal on the Dukes’ next possession, showing patience and toughness despite the early deficit. Oregon then went on a run of four straight touchdowns before Suarez connected again just before halftime, trimming the score to 34–6.

Facing a massive hole, JMU was forced to abandon its usual ground-heavy approach, despite entering the night ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards per game. Still, the Dukes kept fighting. Sun Belt Player of the Year Alonza Barnett III finished 23-of-48 through the air and sparked the second-half push with a 47-yard touchdown strike to Nick DeGennaro on James Madison’s opening drive of the third quarter.

So even though the Dukes never got close enough to truly put the outcome in doubt, the cracks they forced Oregon to show on both offense and defense were enough to leave head coach Dan Lanning frustrated. Madison’s journey of earning the Sun Belt’s first-ever berth into the College Football Playoff, as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions, just cannot be ignored.

As Madison coach Bob Chesney said, “In order to accomplish what we did to get here, I think there are things we should be really proud of. And obviously, ending it on this night the way it ended is not ideal…But at the same time, it doesn’t take away from what we did during the course of the year.”

HC Dan Lanning admits disappointment

Right after Oregon’s win over James Madison in the opening round of the College Football Playoff, Dan Lanning wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.

“There’s a standard here,” he said. “There’s certainly a standard of performance. Our players know that, and they know what championship football looks like, and the second half didn’t look like that.”

“To not be able to come out and have the same success in the second half that we had the first half is certainly disappointing, and I think our players will certainly learn from that,” Lanning said.

When asked to describe what he was feeling, the Ducks’ head coach dodged the question, but his tone said plenty.

“I probably wouldn’t describe it,” he said.

Lanning knew the second-half version of Oregon that showed up at Autzen Stadium wasn’t good enough to make a real playoff push. For a team with much bigger ambitions, another quarterfinal exit would fall well short of the standard they’ve set for themselves. And it was James Madison Dukes who strengthened that doubt.

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