{"id":198976,"date":"2025-12-23T01:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/198976\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T01:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:21:12","slug":"football-season-ends-but-dukes-fans-have-much-to-celebrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/198976\/","title":{"rendered":"Football season ends, but Dukes fans have much to celebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nJMU fans toss streamers to celebrate a score during the College Football Playoff game Dec. 20, 2025 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. The Dukes gained more yardage and scored more points than any other Oregon opponent this year. <\/p>\n

As the clock wound down on a\u00a0historic 2025 football season<\/a>\u00a0Saturday at the University of Oregon,\u00a0James Madison University President Jim Schmidt<\/a>\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0help but\u00a0reflect with\u00a0pride on the team\u2019s accomplishments and the program\u2019s trajectory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a bit of a fairytale story,\u201d Schmidt said from Autzen Stadium, where more than 55,000 Ducks fans lived up to their reputation for creating one of the nation\u2019s best\u00a0home\u2011field advantages with their\u00a0sustained roar. \u201cHere we are, a team\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0only been\u00a0in\u00a0the FBS for four years. No one gave us a chance\u00a0of getting\u00a0here, and here we are.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0never been prouder of these Dukes, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0even more bullish on the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schmidt spoke hours earlier to\u00a0nearly\u00a01,000\u00a0JMU supporters at a pregame tailgate across the street from the stadium, where excitement was already surging.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025-pres-jim-tailgate-speech\"
\nJMU President Jim Schmidt and his wife, Kim, address fans during a tailgate party before the Dukes’ College Football Playoff game Dec. 20, 2025 against Oregon.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s talking about JMU,\u201d he told the crowd, drawing boisterous cheers. \u201cThey\u2019re\u00a0not talking about any of the higher\u2011ranked teams.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0talking about this team. And I love it that we get underestimated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While national pundits gave JMU little chance of upsetting Oregon, the nation\u2019s No. 5 team, Dukes fans, including more\u00a0than 200 members of the\u00a0Marching Royal Dukes<\/a>,\u00a0traveled to Portland and Eugene by the thousands to show their support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fan events began Thursday night.\u00a0Speaking Friday to a crowd of more than 300 at\u00a0Besaws\u00a0restaurant in Portland, 110 miles north of Eugene, Schmidt expressed his excitement about the JMU milestone.\u00a0\u201cPurple and\u00a0gold\u00a0has\u00a0a winning team in Virginia,\u201d he said, \u201cand now we\u2019re headed to the national playoffs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025-besaws-fan-event\"
\nJMU fans gather at Besaws in Portland, Oregon on Dec. 19, 2025 to celebrate the JMU football team the night before its first College Football Playoff game against Oregon.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized that this year\u2019s success is just one step in the program\u2019s broader ascent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cReaching the playoffs is not the pinnacle of JMU football,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0another rung on our climb to national prominence. Fasten your seatbelts. We have some big plans, some bold ideas, for the future of JMU football and for JMU Nation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Athletics Director Matt Roan<\/a>\u00a0echoed that sentiment, telling fans that JMU is uniquely positioned to thrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have something that not a lot of places have,\u201d Roan said. \u201cThey can put labels on us all they want.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0nothing mid\u2011major here. This is a power program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025-cfp-jmu-fans\"
\nJMU fans cheer on the Dukes Dec. 20, 2025, during their first round College Football Playoff game against Oregon.<\/p>\n

Among supporters in attendance was Neal Wilkinson, a former football Duke who played from 1984 to 1988. Wilkinson said he never could have imagined the program growing to its current stature while he was a player.\u00a0\u201cYou look at the stadium, the facilities, everything back then.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0impossible to look\u00a0forward\u00a0and forecast that we would ever be here,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0the program\u2019s rise\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0surprise him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter following JMU all these years, it\u2019s the culture,\u201d Wilkinson said. \u201cThe term \u2018JMU Nation\u2019 says it all.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a special place.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0just different, and not just football. All the sports, all the academics, everything about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for traveling cross\u2011country to support the\u00a0Dukes?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t miss it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0tried\u00a0and true. I bleed purple.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"jmu-cfp-players-huddle\"
\nThe JMU offense huddles up between plays during its first round College Football Playoff game Dec. 20, 2025 against Oregon.<\/p>\n

As Dukes fans filed out of Autzen Stadium, they could take solace in the football team\u2019s resilience. The final score, a 51-34 Oregon win,\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0tell the whole story. The team gained 509 yards, more than any other\u00a0Oregon opponent; 23 first downs; 0 turnovers and 34 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0get the outcome they wanted but they fought hard and\u00a0represented\u00a0their school well. Awesome season,\u201d one fan noted in an Instagram post that reflected a sentiment shared by many.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JMU fans toss streamers to celebrate a score during the College Football Playoff game Dec. 20, 2025 at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-198976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}