Photo credit: Charlotte Football

It’s football season in the Queen City. Area high schools have already kicked off their regular season, the Carolina Panthers have wrapped up training camp, and most importantly, the Charlotte 49ers are mere days away from their opening contest of 2024. Soon enough Niners from all over the state will be swarming the Normbulance in anticipation of Saturday’s week one matchup.

However, an ominous press conference from head coach Biff Poggi has cast a dark cloud over a once highly anticipated week. Niner Nation’s leading man announced on Tuesday afternoon that eight or nine starters will be unavailable for Saturday night’s season opener against James Madison. It will be tough for Charlotte to overcome the loss of *does math* more than 40% of their projected starters, but the show must go on. According to reports from folks in the room, Poggi’s energy seemed way off. The boisterous, cash talking first time head coach from 2023 was nowhere to be found at that podium.

Thankfully for Poggi, once the Forty-Niners take the field under the lights on campus at 8 P.M. on Saturday, all fears and worries about injured starters will go out the window. The task of competing with one of the country’s premier group of five programs will be the sole focus of Niner Nation, and we’ll all be glad to have college football back in the 704.

If you’re like me, you’re probably unfamiliar with James Madison’s football program. You may know that they were once an FCS powerhouse who seamlessly made the transition to the FBS level. You may know that they were 11-2 last season. You may remember that ESPN took a trip to JMU for College Gameday, only for the Dukes to fall in overtime to Appalachian State, ending the dream of an undefeated season for the Sun Belt favorites.

Outside of that, I don’t have much. James Madison underwent a coaching change this offseason which led to an overhauled roster, and I needed some help to learn about what the Dukes have on the docket for 2024. I reached out to Jack Fitzpatrick of JMU Sports News to talk about the Dukes and familiarize myself with Charlotte’s week one opponent. Here are a couple of quotes from Fitzpatrick for Charlotte fans to digest in an effort to learn about the James Madison Dukes.

Q&A with Jack from JMU Sports News

On James Madison’s new head coach and their significant roster turnover:

“They pulled in Bob Chesney who has won at every stop. One of the brightest young coaches at the FCS level from Holy Cross. They go out, get him, and he brings in a whole new staff. And, much like Charlotte, brings in 60 new faces of transfers. They (JMU) lost their whole roster (when former head coach Curt Cignetti dipped to Indiana). They had to replenish everything. And now they’re going into the season with a lot of question marks around the team. There is a lot of potential on this roster, there are a lot of guys who produced at a lower level, and a lot of guys who have the talent on paper. Now it’s a question of if the new coaching staff can get everything to gel ahead of this first game.”

On the general vibe around the JMU football program heading into the 2024 season:

“There’s still a lot of hope…there’s been this kind of track record of success even when a coach leaves. It makes a lot of fans believe that the JMU culture is kind of set, where you just need someone to come in and man the ship and be a good coach, but the culture is kind of there. They have this championship reputation. They now have this reputation of winning at the FBS level. So, around the program, around the fandom, around everything, there are high hopes going into this year. They expect to compete for the Sun Belt East. They expect to compete in the Sun Belt Championship against whoever wins the Sun Belt West.

JMU players to watch on offense:

“Taji Hudson (wide receiver). He comes in with nine career catches, but he’s expected to be one of the go-to receivers for this team. Started his career at ECU. Transferred to JMU ahead of last season. Actually threw a touchdown pass last year against UVA.”

“Cam Ross, a slot receiver from UConn. When he’s been healthy in his career he’s been fantastic. His issue has been staying healthy.”

“Ayo Adeyi (running back). He’s a fantastic player. Arguably one of the best group of five running backs to hit the transfer portal this year, finds his way to JMU. He should be big for JMU’s offense this year.”

“George Pettaway (running back), a former top 100 recruit, who started his career at UNC…He transferred to JMU and is expected to create this two-headed monster in the backfield.”

JMU players to watch on defense:

“Jacob Dobbs (linebacker). He was named to Bruce Feldman’s freaks list going into last season, and again going into this year. Dude is a monster. Every year he was healthy at Holy Cross he has had triple digit tackles...I believe he’ll be the one with the green dot on the back of his helmet (designating him as the on-field defensive play caller).”

“Chauncey Logan (cornerback). He was a star freshman who had a bit of a sophomore slump last year.”

“The name to keep an eye on that may make a big play or two is Jordan Taylor (cornerback). He’s a division two transfer from Tusclum. He has legitimate track speed, and maybe the best ball skills I’ve ever seen out of a defensive back.”

“The entire defensive line should be fun to watch for JMU fans to watch against Charlotte.”

Prediction for Saturday’s game:

“I may differ from what a lot of JMU fans think. I believe Charlotte’s defense is going to be really good under Ryan Osborn. The Forty Niners defense last season was put in a lot of positions to fail, and they didn’t fail that often. They have studs on that side of the ball. I’m excited to see how the JMU offense performs on the road, in week one, in hostile territory, against what should be a good defense.

“With that being said, I think JMU pulls out a win along the lines of 28-17. Even with Max Brown, I don’t think Charlotte’s offense will be that great. I don’t see them making a jump that drastic in week one.”

There you have it! Jack is obviously (and rightly) bullish on the Dukes chances to walk out of Charlotte with a victory on Saturday night. The Niners have their work cut out for them, but all hope is not lost. Anything can happen on any given Saturday, and Charlotte better hope that Saturday, 8/31 is a given one.