Outside of the trip to FBS opponent Ball State, the September 25th trip to James Madison in Harrisonburg is the marquee date on the 2010 Liberty Flames football schedule.

For some of us Liberty alumni from the ’80s, we remember when LU & JMU had a budding rivalry … at least from a Lynchburg point of view.  The Flames secured their first ever victory over a Division I opponent against the Dukes in 1985.  In fact between 1985-1992, LU defeated JMU in 5 of 7 meetings as the Flames made the transition from DII school to Division I-AA Independent.  It would be 8 years before the Dukes would schedule the Flames once again in 2000 at the outset of the Ken Karcher era.  That corresponded with the rise of JMU under Mickey Matthews and the dark period for Liberty.  As a result, JMU took all five meetings between the two teams over the course of the past decade.  The most recent coming in a torrential rain storm last fall.

Courtesy: LibertyFlames.com

It is really tough to judge what could be learned from last year’s showdown because of the weather conditions and the fact that the Dukes followed up their 24-10 victory over LU with four straight losses.  Liberty came off the defeat and strung together six blowout victories.  One thing no one will deny is that the Dukes have earned the respect of the Flames as the series heads north to Harrisonburg this fall.

Much like Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, JMU is giving its football facility a major facelift as well.  Bridgeforth Stadium as seen in a recent pic above is in the midst of a several year renovation that will eventually lead to having a 40-thousand seat arena.  In fact, the school has released an updated artist’s rendering of what the stadium will look like when it reaches completion.

Courtesy: James Madison University

Pretty sweet, eh?  With plans like this it is obvious that much like LU, the folks running JMU have grander plans than staying in the FCS forever.  Under just about every scenario being concocted that would see Liberty stepping up to FBS there is some type of partnership with schools like JMU involved.  So this series of games between our two schools may be much more commonplace in the years to come.

Courtesy: James Madison University

All discussions of JMU football have to begin with head coach Mickey Matthews.  The native Texan has built the Dukes into an FCS powerhouse in his 11 seasons as head coach.  In 2004, he led the Dukes to the FCS National Championship.  The title was all the more amazing when you consider that in the four years prior to their title run they had posted records of 6-5, 2-9, 5-7 & 6-6 generally finishing near the bottom of their conference standings.  Since ’04, Matthews has improved recruiting and typically had the Dukes ranked Top Ten in FCS.  And it hasn’t changed this season as the Dukes are ranked in all of the major preseason polls.

Courtesy: James Madison University

Offensively, quarterback Drew Dudzik sets the tone for the Dukes offense.  He split time with smack-talking Justin Thorpe in ’09 against the Flames and throughout the season due to a foot injury.  But he is now healthy and this spring he was declared the starter by Matthews for the 2010 season.  He has the ability to create excitement through the air and with his feet as well.  On the ground, Thorpe led the Dukes in rushing in ’09 with 654 yards & 5 TDs while averaging 4.4 yards a carry.  With Dudzik now the unquestioned starter, his opportunities may be more limited this fall.  The top returning running back is Jamal Sullivan who rushed for 451 yards and 4 TDs as a tailback.  The top returning receiver is backup tailback Scott Noble who had 16 receptions for 235 yards and 1 TD in 2009.  Obviously the Dukes will be looking for someone to step up as a receiver in 2010.

Courtesy: James Madison University

The good news on the defensive side of the ball for JMU from a Liberty perspective is that Arthur Moats is now a Buffalo Bill and can longer harass opposing QBs (11 sacks & 24.5 Tackles for Loss in ’09).  But the Dukes have a ton coming back led by linebacker Pat Williams (87 Tackles including 8 for loss in ’09) & safety Jakarie Jackson (team-high 3 INTs in ’09).  Truth be told, the Dukes had troubles shutting down conference opponents for much of last season.  But as they showed in the monsoon in Lynchburg last fall, they can certainly make it difficult on even gifted players like Mike Brown.

Frankly I believe this may be the year the tide swings back to the Flames.  JMU is not as invincible on their homefield as some might suspect.  And with the construction and the fact that the Dukes will be coming off a bye week and a road trip to Virginia Tech two weeks before, there are plenty of distractions that could be to the Flames’ advantage.  While I am far from guaranteeing an LU victory, I like Coach Rocco’s chances in Harrisonburg.