HARRISONBURG — First-year James Madison coach Mike Houston will tell you how seamlessly his players have adapted to their new coaching staff.

At the bye week, the Dukes are 6-1 and an unbeaten 4-0 in Colonial Athletic Association action. The team is primed to reach the FCS playoffs, currently ranked No. 8 in the STATS FCS Poll and ranked No. 5 in the FCS Coaches Poll.

“I think our kids have done a really good job of playing together and keeping their focus with tunnel vision,” Houston said. “That shows a lot of maturity and commitment to each other and that’s been the biggest surprise.

“We’re a first-year staff coming into a situation where there’s been a lot of turnover the last couple years with coaches, so it says a lot about the character of the young men I have on the roster that they’ve been able to do that.”

The coaching staff and players have meshed well to get off to a fast start, and with the stretch run in sight, the Daily News-Record hands out its position-by-position grades at the bye week.

QUARTERBACKS: A+

Houston’s biggest decision to date as coach at JMU came in the days before the season started when he put his offense in the hands of junior quarterback Bryan Schor.

Schor battled in camp to beat out South Carolina transfer Connor Mitch and has run with the job.

He has accounted for 18 touchdowns (10 passing and eight rushing) while commanding JMU’s offense, which ranks fourth nationally in total offense.

“Bryan gets better every week,” Houston said.

A few days before JMU beat rival William & Mary, Houston said he and offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick couldn’t have envisioned Schor starting this strong.

“Probably not, especially coming out of the spring,” Houston said. “But I think that’s a credit to Bryan. I think Bryan has embraced the role. I think he has worked very hard to improve himself to be the quarterback that this team needs.”

RUNNING BACKS: A

Senior Khalid Abdullah has emerged as a national player of the year candidate, ranking within the top six for all major rushing categories (total yards, yards per game, yards per carry and touchdowns) in FCS. Junior Cardon Johnson is the CAA’s fourth-leading rusher.

The duo sets the pace for an offense averaging 316 rushing yards per game.

“They’re 1 and 1-A,” New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said of the tandem last week before JMU visited the Wildcats.

Third-string back Trai Sharp ran for 110 yards against Morehead State and fourth-string back Taylor Woods scored three touchdowns in the same game.

WIDE RECEIVERS: B

It took until Week 7 for JMU’s receivers to show off what they were capable of. Six different receivers caught passes as senior Brandon Ravenel and Duke transfer Terrence Alls hauled in passes over the top of New Hampshire’s defense.

Ravenel had three receptions for 55 yards and two touchdowns, and Alls had four catches for 95 yards and two scores.

Until Saturday, JMU had relied on the run and only threw when it needed to, but the game plan against the Wildcats called for the offense to open up its passing game.

Ravenel and Alls have emerged as Schor’s top targets, but Domo Taylor, Rashard Davis, John Miller and Ishmael Hyman have also contributed.

“We roll several different guys out at the position,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we really play whoever practices the best and that’s the beauty of it.”

OFFENSIVE LINE & TIGHT ENDS: A

The five guys – Aaron Stinnie, A.J. Bolden, Kyle Rigney, Matt Frank and Mitchell Kirsch – paving the way for Abdullah, and Johnson and keeping the pocket clean for Schor, have done their jobs.

When Houston arrived at JMU, he wanted to change the philosophy of how JMU’s offensive line would play. Houston and offensive line coach Jamal Powell — the lone holdover from the previous offensive staff — implemented a more downhill approach to make the unit power-based instead of finesse-based.

The veteran group has yet to look out of sync this season.

“We’ve really gelled together and become a family,” Bolden said.

Opposing coaches also rave about tight end Jonathan Kloosterman, but the junior tight end has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B-

Entering the season, JMU’s defensive coaches were concerned about the depth of the defensive line.

Through seven games the unit has held up relatively well considering defensive coordinator Bob Trott and defensive line coach Jeff Hanson use a regular rotation of about six players. Andrew Ankrah, Darrious Carter and Brandon Brown rotate on the outside while Simeyon Robinson, Cornell Urquhart and Martez Stone take reps on the inside.

Robinson has been the position group’s best player — leading the team with seven tackles for loss and four sacks.

“I really like Simeyon Robinson, their defensive tackle,” McDonnell said. “He’s a good football player.”

LINEBACKERS: B+

Junior Brandon Hereford lost out on the starting “Will” linebacker job in preseason camp, but because the two original first-team linebackers Gage Steele and Dimitri Holloway have suffered injuries at different points this season, Hereford’s seen more snaps than both of them.

“I told [Hereford] that we see it as having three starters at inside backer,” Houston said. “That’s a good problem to have.”

Hereford leads the team in tackles with 58. He also has 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

SECONDARY: C

JMU has the worst passing defense in the CAA. The Dukes are giving up an average of 253 passing yards per game.

Part of the problem is JMU has often held large leads in the fourth quarter, forcing opponents to throw aggressively to get back in the game.

After nearly allowing New Hampshire to come back from a 30-point deficit, Houston said JMU must do a better job defensively to get off the field and take advantage of bad throws by picking off passes to halt the opponent’s momentum.

The positive news for JMU is that against William & Mary, senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds recorded a key interception to seal the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

The Dukes lead the CAA in punt return average and kickoff coverage.

The punt return team, anchored by return man Davis, who had punt return touchdowns against Morehead State and Central Connecticut State, is averaging more than 37 yards per return.

Punter Gunnar Kane has also done a nice job, but kicker Tyler Gray has shown inconsistency. Kane is averaging 42 yard per punt. Gray has made only four of his seven field-goal attempts.

COACHING: A

Houston took over a talented team, but there isn’t any doubt he’s made it his own.

From his decision to start Schor at quarterback, change the philosophy of the offensive line, push the importance of toughness to his defense and trust the experience of his coordinators, Houston’s team is poised for a postseason run.

Kirkpatrick knows how to game plan in order to exploit an opposing defense’s weakness, as evident by moving away from the run game and throwing the ball downfield at New Hampshire. And since CAA play began, Trott has dialed up the blitz at the right time. JMU has 11 sacks in its four league games after none during its non-conference slate.