HARRISONBURG — The path to playing time is there for Brandon Polk.

Of the three FBS transfer additions James Madison made this summer, Polk is the one with the best shot to see game action immediately.

“Brandon Polk has played a lot of football,” Dukes coach Curt Cignetti said. “He started 16 games at Penn State. He has the ability to come in and make an impact right away.”

The Nittany Lions used Polk in the slot, out wide, to carry the football and to return kicks. He had four receiving touchdowns and a rushing score during his time in State College, Pa.

“I’m excited to see what he can do,” Cignetti said. “And what he can add to our offense in terms of explosive plays.”

Polk, a graduate transfer with only one year of eligibility to play out with the Dukes, also provides JMU with experience early in the season when the program will be without its top wide receiver Riley Stapleton, who is suspended for the first three games of the year.

As for West Virginia transfer wide receiver Dillon Spalding and Temple transfer defensive end Antonio Colclough, neither has taken any game reps in their careers. Spalding suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his only August training camp with the Mountaineers last year and both players were redshirted in their freshman years at their respective past schools. Though, Spalding went through spring practice at West Virginia and hauled in a touchdown catch during the team’s spring game this past April.

“I’m anxious to see how Dillon Spalding and Antonio Colclough compete,” Cignetti said.

JMU fifth-year senior cornerback Rashad Robinson said all three imports have meshed well with the rest of the roster during summer drills.

“We do team workouts in the evening twice a week with seven-on-seven and they’ve been coming on well,” Robinson said. “They’ve been learning the offense and we’ve really taken them into the family, so everything is going well.”

Rhode Island’s 6-5 finish last year changed how its program is viewed.

“The accomplishment of getting a winning season at the campus was something that hadn’t happened in a while,” sixth-year Rams coach Jim Fleming said, “and there had been a lot of conversations about the place of football at the University of Rhode Island. I think we silenced that.”

Victories over Delaware and New Hampshire in 2018 helped legitimize Rhode Island within the league and has given players confidence heading into this season, according to Fleming.

Rhode Island wide receiver Aaron Parker and offensive lineman Kyle Murphy were named to the Colonial Athletic Associations preseason all-conference team while the Rams were picked to finish eighth. In each of the last five years, Rhode Island wasn’t picked to finish better than 11th, and in each of the last three years, was picked to finish last.

“The first goal for any coach is to have a winning season and it’s an important, important piece,” Fleming said. “But we’re also looking for the magic number, which is eight wins, and if we go back and look at our season, you can find two games that could’ve made a difference. That’s where our kids are. They’re satisfied and proud of what they’ve done, recognized internally at the university in a different way and now it’s a question of us taking a step in competitive maturity.”

New Hampshire safety Pop Lacey put it bluntly.

“We’re looking forward to a big year,” Lacey said. “And honestly we believe we have the best secondary in the country.”

The Wildcats boast a defensive backfield with plenty of experience and talent. Lacey is a preseason all-league choice and him and corners Prince Smith Jr., and Isaiah Perkins have combined for more than 70 career starts.

“I don’t know how good it can be, but I know how good it needs to be,” UNH coach Sean McDonnell said of his secondary. “To me, it’s very important and I don’t want to put pressure on them, but these are the kids who want to enjoy that. … They’re the key for us because we can do different things in coverage, they can cover people.”

Safety Evan Horn is back, too, and he led the team in interceptions last year and returned one for a touchdown against James Madison. And McDonnell said Pop Bush is an emerging young player at safety for his program.

“If they stay healthy and play the way they’re capable of playing, they are going to help free up some of our upfront people,” McDonnell said, “and let them run and play natural football down there.”

James Madison junior Harry O’Kelly was named to the FCS Punter of the Year preseason watch list by the Augusta Sports Council on Friday.

O’Kelly averaged 40.1 yards per punt in first two seasons at Madison and last year he pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 24 times out of his 50 total punts. Throughout his career, he’s successfully converted four fake punts.

O’Kelly was one of three punters along with Delaware’s Nick Pritchard and New Hampshire’s Drew Sanborn from the Colonial Athletic Association named to the 28-man watch list.