Georgia State Panthers vs. James Madison Dukes, 11/09/2024, 3:30pm CST

Dukes 38 – Panthers 7, Attendance: 25,709

Weather: Sunny, 56; Ticket: $22 JMU (Face $46), Parking: $225 (StubHub)

“The Real Deal” by Tree

The Logistics:

James Madison University is in Harrisonburg which is a reasonably easy two-hour drive from DC. Given that proximity it almost qualifies as a bedroom community of the capital. More accurately, it is a college town. I had spent some time in Harrisonburg from JMU campus tours with my sons to pit stops when driving down to Virginia Tech. From that small exposure, I would give the town a thumbs up. For this game, I was driving up from the Hampton Roads area, so my drive was a little longer but even prettier than the drive from DC. In terms of lodging, I would not underestimate the popularity of JMU games. If you want to stay in town, book very early. If you miss that opportunity, the drive from western DC suburbs is easy enough and the hotels are likely to be a lot cheaper.

The Site:

The Dukes play at Bridgeforth Stadium which is easily visible from Interstate 81. While only seating about 25,000, it looks far bigger from the freeway. The tailgating lots for JMU are a mix of reserved, cash, and free lots. Most free lots are on the campus / stadium side north of I81. We had a 3:30pm kick and were told that a 10am arrival on campus would probably allow you to get a free tailgating spot in one of the many small lots. Based on the published rules, the free lots are not open until 4 hours before kickoff, but maybe there’s some flexibility there. Aside from the challenge of having to find a spot on campus, there is the risk of ending up in a dead lot. Those are lots where folks just park and then walk over the bigger reserved / paid lots. On the plus side, they are free. The reserved parking spots are for season ticket holders, and so you will be dependent on third party sites like StubHub and SeatGeek. For our game, there were few spots available, and they started out at around $200.

Despite the price, we were happy to see that there were a few Convo permits available. Our extensive research (ie some feedback we got on a JMU reddit thread) was that the Convo lot was the best tailgating. We decided to bite the bullet and get a pass in Convo. This lot is on the other side of I81 but there are both shuttles and a pedestrian tunnel to get you to the stadium. I arrived a little after 10am and was able to grab a great spot on the outer rim with plenty of grass. There were already several groups tailgating, but I would not call the lot crowded. More folks showed up through the afternoon, but it was never fully packed. We were fine with that. Our immediate neighbors were a lot of fun and proved to be helpful as well. There was corn hole, some celebratory shots for a new grandfather in our group, and good food.

Our only hiccup was when our grill temporarily passed out. The folks next door allowed us to throw our second batch of half-done burgers on their grill, allowing us to avoid a case of e coli. Miraculously, I was able to clear the gas line so I could grill the remaining sliders. By then our group was full so we paid it forward. Our younger tailgate neighbors on the other side were heavy on flip cup but light on food. We like to think our small contribution helped to steer them to game time sobriety.

The tailgating at the Convo lot is good enough to warrant some early planning to secure a spot before they sell out. Alternatively, a free lot is always an option although it comes with a small degree of risk. There are parking shuttles, but they did not seem to fully cover the campus so bear that in mind. Luckily the JMU website is a good one with maps to help steer your way.

It should be clear by now JMU is not a small school where you roll up, tailgate and buy your ticket at the gate. JMU games seem to sell out a month or two before the actual game. Living reasonably close to JMU for many years, I often considered catching a game on the spur of the moment. I discovered that can be expensive despite the Dukes recent entry into the FBS. A couple of years ago, I had planned to buy JMU tickets for a late season game only to find they had jumped up to over $300 on Stubhub. For this game, I managed to buy one of the last pairs of tickets from JMU for a November game in late September. They were upper deck, in the corner, but they were only $46 each. I then turned around and sold that extra ticket for about $68. In the end, my ticket was about $22. The late committing members of our group ended up paying about $90 a ticket, although admittedly in slightly better seats.

I say slightly better as a stadium of only 25,000 is not going to have any bad seats. The overall design is a bit different. The home side has several tiers of seats, while the visitors side and the single end zone section each have one tier. The latter is limited by a building behind it. The other end zone has only the scoreboard with another building behind it. They are almost exclusively bleacher style sitting although seatbacks are allowed / rented. I never made it to my seat as the rest of the group had determined that there were enough empty seats in their section that I could sit with them. We were in the upper deck but on the forty-yard line. The seats were great but future expansion may be challenging. I heard conflicting feedback on the ability to expand the stadium. Some said the buildings surrounding it were not a problem, while others said that was precisely why there was a limit on future stadium growth.

Our in-game experience was positive. The fans were friendly, even when I spilled my nearly full coke filled souvenir cup. I managed to stop the deluge before it struck my neighbors to the front, but it was still a very amateur move. However, they accepted my clumsiness with aplomb. Perhaps that final shot of pregame Fireball was a poor choice. The concessions were standard although the tie-in to Dukes Mayo was clever marketing. Notably, water was discounted down to $1. The fan attire was mostly jeans and sweatshirts given that it was going to get brisk with a halftime sunset. It did not deter some of the students from making dubious fashion choices from girls in skimpy outfits to guys bare-chested in overalls. No wonder colds run rampant on college campuses.

The fans were loud – cued up by the sound system blaring “Who let the dogs out”. A completely appropriate choice given the Dukes mascot – a royally dressed bulldog. I laughed when I saw some fans similarly dressed in crowns and capes. The JMU band also contributed to the environment. While big and loud, the sound was still good. The signature cheer of “Let’s Go Duuuuukes” was heard often. The best part of the game environment, however, is reserved for when JMU scores a touchdown and purple and gold streamers rain from the stadium. It is effective because the fans make the investment in launching full streamer rolls from the top on down. I had two or three nearly full streamers that landed at my feet during the game. I (and other fans) then re-launched the streamers on the next score. Though not as funny as the flying tortillas of Texas Tech, they were more visually impressive.

The Game:

James Madison football had an impressive record in the FCS with two runner-up finishes to go with two national championships. The eighteen years of FCS playoffs are impressive, particularly when combined with many NFL players such as Charles Haley, Gary Clark and Arthur Moats. When T-Pain’s “All we do is win” blares on the sound system, it is not false bravado. It was not surprising that the Dukes made an easy transition to the FBS.

Georgia State’s move up from the FCS was not nearly as smooth, although the program had improved in the last few years. They did manage to upset a good Vanderbilt team earlier in the season, so we hoped the 2-7 Panthers could provide some opposition to the 7-2 Dukes. They did not. The Panthers looked like a freshman team coming up to scrimmage the varsity. JMU quickly jumped out to a fourteen-point first quarter lead. Georgia State did manage to put together one touchdown drive in the 2nd quarter, but JMU promptly answered with two more touchdowns. It was 28-7 at half time and the rout was on. The Panthers wisely left their cheerleaders at home. Good thing because they probably would have lost them to the Dukes as well.

There were no turnovers in the game, so it is not that Georgia State was sloppy. JMU was just a much better team. Alas, the Dukes fell apart after this game, losing their next three games and a chance at winning the Sun Belt. They did manage to beat WKU in the Boca Raton Bowl to end their season.

Personal Notes:

No stadium visit comes off completely clean and we did have a couple of hiccups at JMU. I initially loved my parking spot as it gave me lots of visibility of our banners and signs on the street. Or at least it did until the local police parked their ATV trailer right in front of our tent on the road. There went the guerrilla marketing. We did meet the cops later, and as expected, they were good guys with the right attitude for patrolling a tailgate lot. All the fans I met were very friendly. However, one of our group did come across a couple of JMU fans who gave him grief for wearing his University of Indiana windbreaker. Neither he or I could figure why someone from JMU would have a grudge against Indiana. It took us about ten minutes to recall that IU poached JMU’s last coach, Curt Cignetti, along with 13 Dukes. Wearing the IU gear was an unintentional poke in the eye of the JMU fans. Given the circumstances, I say “no blood, no foul” on the very isolated bad behavior of a couple of the Duke faithful.

James Madison fans like to refer to the campus as “The happiest place on Earth”. They are not too far off. Despite a freeway cutting between it, the campus has a comfortable feel despite an eclectic mix of architectural themes. It has enough separation between the different styles that the campus works. I loved the tradition and quite frankly the scenic drive to the stadium. Add to this a rabid fan base and a strong history of winning football, and it becomes a must-see destination.

I do not say that lightly or often for smaller FBS schools, but JMU has a big time feel. The only downside is that until they expand the stadium, you need to plan any trip to see the Dukes well in advance. This will keep the costs in line with the small school experience. Just rolling into Harrisonburg would be a more expensive experience, but even then, it is still probably worth it.

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