Delaware–James Madison football rivalry

Delaware–James Madison football rivalry

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens James Madison Dukes
Sport	College football
First meeting	October 29, 1983 Delaware, 26–23
Latest meeting	October 23, 2021 James Madison, 22–10
Next meeting	September 18, 2027
Statistics
Meetings total	27
All-time series	Delaware leads, 14–13
Largest victory	James Madison, 41–7 (2008)
Longest win streak	Delaware, 4 (1995–1998) James Madison, 5 (2015–present)
Current win streak	James Madison, 5 (2015–present)

150km
100miles

James Madison

Delaware

  

Locations of Delaware and James Madison

The Delaware–James Madison football rivalry is the U.S. college football rivalry between the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and the James Madison Dukes. As of the 2025 FBS season, it will be a dormant matchup between two similarly sized Division I FBS schools in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

History

The rivalry became an annual affair in 1993 when the Dukes joined the football-only Yankee Conference. In 1997, the Yankee Conference was absorbed by the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), with the rivalry continuing in that league through the 2006 season. The multi-sports conference now known as the Coastal Athletic Association took over A-10 football in 2007, creating the technically separate entity of CAA Football to govern that sport. The two universities remained conference rivals through the 2021 season, although the annual rivalry ended after the 2017 season due to changes in the CAA Football scheduling format. During this period, the teams have combined for three National Championships (Delaware in 2003; James Madison in 2004 and 2016), four National Runners-up (Delaware in 2007 and 2010; James Madison in 2017 and 2019), and 14 Conference Championships (Delaware in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, and 2020 and James Madison in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019).

On November 6, 2021, it was announced that the James Madison football program had accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS Subdivision and would join the Sun Belt Conference prior to the 2022 football season.

On November 27, 2023, it was announced that the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football program also had accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS Subdivision and would join the Conference USA prior to the 2025 football season. On January 17, 2024, both schools announced a four game, home-and-home football series beginning in 2027 in Newark, DE.

Game results

Delaware victories

James Madison victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	October 29, 1983	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	26–23
2	September 8, 1984	Newark, DE	Delaware	32–3
3	November 30, 1991	Newark, DE	James Madison	42–352OT
4	October 9, 1993	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	42–38
5	October 8, 1994	Newark, DE	James Madison	30–10
6	October 21, 1995	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	48–19
7	October 26, 1996	Newark, DE	Delaware	27–13
8	October 18, 1997	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	49–27
9	November 21, 1998	Newark, DE	Delaware	28–14
10	September 25, 1999	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	21–7
11	October 28, 2000	Newark, DE	Delaware	33–14
12	November 3, 2001	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	28–3
13	October 12, 2002	Newark, DE	Delaware	23–10
14	November 6, 2004	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	20–13

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
15	October 22, 2005	Newark, DE	Delaware	34–28
16	November 4, 2006	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	44–24
17	November 3, 2007	Newark, DE	Delaware	37–34
18	November 1, 2008	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	41–7
19	October 31, 2009	Newark, DE	James Madison	20–8
20	October 2, 2010	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	13–10
21	September 28, 2013	Newark, DE	Delaware	29–22
22	September 27, 2014	Harrisonburg, VA	Delaware	30–23OT
23	November 14, 2015	Newark, DE	James Madison	24–21
24	October 1, 2016	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	43–20
25	September 30, 2017	Newark, DE	James Madison	20–10
26	November 24, 2018	Harrisonburg, VA	James Madison	20–6
27	October 23, 2021	Newark, DE	James Madison	22–10
Series: Delaware leads 14–13

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games