The New Neighbors: Troy vs. James Madison & Old Dominion
The last two teams to join the Sun Belt are James Madison and Old Dominion. One is a total stranger to the Trojans: Troy has not competed against the Monarchs in any team sport ever. Their football program began in 2007 and moved to FBS in 2013.
The other has exactly two meetings with Troy State football, and both of them came in the FCS Playoffs.
The first matchup saw Troy limping into the playoffs with a 7-4 record (as opposed to the previous year’s unbeaten squad) to take on 9-2 James Madison. It was the Dukes’ best season since their last playoff appearance in 1991.
The Trojans held on in the first two quarters, trailing 17-10 at the half, but the Dukes took off in the second half, putting up 28 points. The Trojans just couldn’t hang on.
The images we found come from the Breeze archives, James Madison’s student newspaper. They’re extremely dark, and it’s hard to tell what’s happening. Just look at this one:
The darkness is beautiful, almost haunting. You can barely tell that Troy State quarterback Brock Nutter is being sacked.
The images are fuzzy, much like the memories of these mid-1990s playoff runs.
The next year, both teams ended up in the playoffs. Troy’s second-ever unbeaten season came to an end at the hands of Georgia Southern. James Madison went 6-4 before falling short against Appalachian State.
Troy continued its drive, making the playoffs every year but one, before putting together a one-loss season in 1999. That year the Dukes brought in a coach named Mickey Matthews, with the intention of turning the program around.
He basically did that in one season. JMU went from 3-8 in 1998 to 8-3 in 1999, getting them back to the playoffs for the first time in four years. The Dukes’ opponent? Troy State.
This time, the Trojans were the home team. This time, they were in command.
Five years and one day after the last matchup, Troy State got revenge. The Trojans outscored the Dukes 24-0 in the first three quarters, and half of those points came from the eventual Buck Buchanan Award (read: FCS Defensive MVP) Al Lucas, who moonlighted as a running back.
When he didn’t have the ball in his hands, he was leading a pretty stout defense. Here’s the chart for each of JMU’s drives this game:
Each drive is colored by quarter. With the exception of the 53-yard drive (which ended in a missed field goal), Troy held the Dukes to 26 yards of offense and five punts in the first half.
The only drive in the second half that resulted in points was the 14-yarder. The others were either interceptions (11, 22) or turnovers on downs. Troy tied the series with a 27-7 win, which incidentally gave the Trojans a 53-52 points lead as well.
As for the Dukes, Coach Matthews’ tenure was the beginning of a magical run. He led JMU to an FCS title in 2004, as well as the Dukes’ historic upset of No. 10 Virginia Tech in 2010. Only one other FCS team has toppled a ranked FBS opponent, and you know exactly who they are.
Matthews was replaced by former Texas State coach Everett Withers, who was replaced by Mike Houston. He led the Dukes back to the promised land: the 2016 FCS title and the 2017 Championship.
His replacement, current coach Curt Cignetti, took the Dukes to the 2019 title game, and last year, they lost in the semis to eventual national champion Sam Houston State.
Troy still has one more national title to its credit, though the Dukes have plenty of time to surpass Troy before they join FBS. They do not have enough time to overtake Troy in conference championships, though.
With almost a century’s head start, Troy has far more history and statistics than ODU. They are 1-for-1 in bowl games, but what the Monarchs lack in football history they make up for on the diamond and the hardwood, including Sun Belt titles from the 1980s (1985 baseball, 1986 basketball).
In fact, the Lady Monarchs basketball team captured either a regular season or tournament title every year in the conference except one. The men have 12 NCAA tournament appearances and two NIT Final Four appearances.
JMU and ODU together bring 17 NCAA baseball tournament appearances to the conference, and one College World Series appearance from the Dukes.
Both of these teams are better fits for the East, with Marshall, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina. That being said, the value in these two isn’t just on the gridiron, and for the Sun Belt, diverse investment is a powerful way to grow.