100 Days, 100 Reasons G6 Football Matters

JMU offensive line coach Chris Malone spent the week before Virginia Tech delivering one message to his players. Malone had played at Virginia Tech — a former All-Big East offensive guard for the Hokies. He knew what Blacksburg thought of James Madison.

“I kept telling these guys this week, ‘you’re the guys Tech didn’t want,’” Malone said. “I hope they got that message.”

They got the message.

James Madison 21, No. 13 Virginia Tech 16. Sept. 11, 2010. Lane Stadium. A crowd of 66,233 — most of them Hokies fans — watched an FCS program from the Colonial Athletic Association end Frank Beamer’s perfect record against FCS opponents. Virginia Tech had beaten JMU in all six previous meetings by a combined 90-0 in the last two. The Dukes became only the third FCS team to beat a ranked FBS opponent, after Appalachian State’s 34-32 win at No. 5 Michigan in 2007.

JMU trailed 10-0 when quarterback Drew Dudzik dropped back on third-and-17 from his own 23. He hit tailback Jamal Sullivan with a swing pass going left. Sullivan caught it in the flat, juked past a linebacker, broke two more tackles near the sideline and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown. Virginia Tech had out-gained JMU 164-15 before that play. The game changed on one catch.

Both of JMU’s second-half touchdowns came on Dudzik runs, and both drives were kept alive by 15-yard penalties on the Hokies. With 5:23 left and the Dukes protecting a 21-16 lead, linebacker Stephon Robertson stripped the ball from Darren Evans at the JMU 19. Leavander Jones recovered. JMU ran out the clock.

“It was like a dream come true when the clock hit zero,” Jones said. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, we did it!’”

The JMU band paraded through Lane Stadium’s hallways after the final whistle, celebrating in enemy territory. Back in Harrisonburg, an estimated 2,000 students rushed the field at Bridgeforth Stadium to celebrate a win they had only heard about.

JMU safety Vidal Nelson said the Dukes knew early. “Once we got out there, we knew we could play with these guys,” Nelson said. “As the game went on, our confidence shot up and we just kept making plays.”

Mickey Matthews had coached JMU to the 2004 FCS national championship. He called the Virginia Tech win bigger.

“This is the biggest win of my professional career,” Matthews said. “I told our players, ‘God doesn’t give you many of these successes in your career, whether you’re a player or you’re a coach.’”

The Dukes reached No. 3 in the FCS polls after the upset. They finished 6-5 — five losses, all to ranked opponents, four by seven points or fewer — but knocked off No. 1 William & Mary in November. The talent and the fight were there. The sustained dominance had not arrived yet.

Six years later, the Dukes won the 2016 FCS national championship under Mike Houston, finishing 14-1. They reached the FCS title game again in 2017 and 2019 and made the FCS semifinals in 2020 and 2021 under Curt Cignetti.

In 2022, JMU moved to the Football Bowl Subdivision and joined the Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes are 40-11 in four FBS seasons, with three postseason appearances — including the College Football Playoff in 2025 — and a Sun Belt championship.

The guys Tech didn’t want won a national title, moved to FBS and made the playoff. Virginia Tech hasn’t.