HARRISONBURG — Tyree Chavious isn’t afraid to tell the truth about it — his first step in preparation for the 2016 season was difficult.

“In spring ball I was terrible,” he said. “I went from left guard to right tackle.”

At the time Chavious didn’t know the position change was made for the same reasons he would be called upon to start in James Madison’s FCS Playoff quarterfinal against Sam Houston State on Friday.

But back in March, JMU needed the redshirt freshman to switch spots on the offensive line. The team’s all-conference right tackle, Mitchell Kirsch, missed all 15 practices with a shoulder injury.

Chavious said it took time for him to get comfortable at his new position. The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder had played in a triple-option offense at Rosewood High School in Goldsboro, N.C., so he said his offensive line coach Jamal Powell had worked with him to improve pass-blocking technique.

Triple-option offenses are run-first units. JMU, under new offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick was readying to have a balanced attack.

“Still, even now, I struggle with my pass set,” Chavious said. “I’m good at going forward,but to sit back and actually defend against somebody is where I hit trouble.

“After the spring game Coach Powell asked me how I thought I did on a scale from one to 10. I was like, ‘I think did about an eight, coach.’ He said, ‘How about a four?’”

Chavious’ teammates and coaches have said he’s improved drastically since the spring while working as Kirsch’s understudy.

Throughout the regular season Chavious took all the second-team snaps at practice and appeared with the second-team offense in a few of JMU’s lopsided results.

Then the same situation that prompted Chavious’ move to tackle popped up again. In JMU’s regular-season finale against Elon, Kirsch went down with a leg injury right before halftime.

Chavious stepped in and Madison won 63-14.

Two weeks later, in the second round of the FCS Playoffs against New Hampshire, Kirsch tried to play through pain but couldn’t. Chavious subbed in for Kirsch just two series into the first quarter.

“They had the one guy [Cam] Shorey, who was All-CAA,” Chavious said. “That was who lined up on me the majority of the time, so I felt like it was a big game for me to step into for the first time. I held my own.”

Then Friday night came. Kirsch was sidelined and Chavious earned his first start.

“I thought Mitch was going to go, but he didn’t and I had to step up to the plate,” Chavious said.

Chavious washed down the opposing Sam Houston State defensive end to pave a path for Dukes running back Khalid Abdullah to score the game’s first points on a 14-yard touchdown run.

By all accounts, it was the just the beginning of a good night for the Chavious.

“I’m very proud of him,” JMU coach Mike Houston said. “He had big shoes to fill. Mitchell is a great player and I look forward to hopefully getting Mitchell back next week, but the one thing we knew about Tyree is that Tyree has a lot of God-given ability.

“He’s just inexperienced. It’s his first year playing and I couldn’t be more proud of the performance he had.”

JMU junior quarterback Bryan Schor seconded Houston’s thoughts.

“To come into a playoff game against a really good and athletic defensive line, Tyree played great,” Schor said. “He did everything we asked him to do. He didn’t seem nervous at all to me pregame. I talked to him a bit and he had a big smile on his face. I knew he was ready for the challenge, so I never worried for a minute with Tyree out there.”

As for Chavious, he said he thought he played well against the Bearkats, too.

“On a scale from one to 10, I’d probably say about a seven,” Chavious said with a big smile, soaking in the win at his locker postgame. “I’m not an eight yet, but I’ve definitely improved since the spring.”