Elon, JMU Kick Off 2021 Spring Football Season On Saturday
Rob Washburn
CAA FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE - WEEK 1
Elon and James Madison will kick off the unique spring 2021 season with a pair of non-conference games on Saturday. The Phoenix host Davidson at 1:30 p.m., while the Dukes entertain Morehead State at Noon. JMU and Elon will also have non-conference games on Feb. 27 before conference play in CAA Football gets underway on March 5 and 6 with five games on the schedule.
JMU returns four starters on offense and three on defense from last year's 14-2 squad that captured the CAA Football title and advanced to the FCS national championship game for the third time in the past four years. Elon welcomes back seven starters on offense and eight on defense from a squad that was 5-6 in 2019.
CAA Football will play a six-game conference schedule this spring using a unique divisional format. The North Division will have seven teams - UAlbany, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Stony Brook and Villanova - and the South Division will include four teams - Elon, James Madison, Richmond and William & Mary. Teams in the North Division will face either once (three home, three away), while teams in the South will meet twice, with each team getting a home and away game. Towson announced on October 19 that it would not compete during the 2021 spring season.
CAA Football led all conferences with six teams ranked in the HERO Sports FCS Preseason Top 25 poll, and had five teams ranked in the Athlon Sports FCS Preseason Top 25, which was tied for the most. The HERO poll includes #4 James Madison, #5 Villanova, #12 UAlbany, #13 Delaware, #17 New Hampshire and #21 Elon. The Athlon poll has #4 JMU, #7 Villanova, #14 New Hampshire, #18 UAlbany and #22 Delaware. William & Mary was among others receiving votes in the HERO poll, while Elon and Richmond were "on the cusp" in the Athlon poll.
Six CAA Football players were named to the Athlon Sports FCS Preseason All-America team - Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith, JMU offensive tackle Liam Fornadel, JMU defensive lineman Mike Greene, Villanova linebacker Forrest Rhyne, New Hampshire defensive back Evan Horn and Richmond kick returner Aaron Dykes. Five CAA players were on the HERO Sports preseason All-America squad - JMU's Fornadel, Villanova's Rhyne, Richmond defensive lineman Kobie Turner, UAlbany linebacker Levi Metheny and Delaware defensive back Kedrick Whitehead.