There were three options James Carpenter seriously considered while he waited to make his college decision.

The defensive lineman from Roanoke Catholic High School had a scholarship offer from Division II UVa-Wise, and then there was James Madison, where he wanted to join the FCS powerhouse — but didn’t know if he’d have the opportunity to do so.

“My sister went to JMU and I had been here before,” Carpenter, a third-year redshirt freshman, said after Dukes practice on Tuesday. “So, I was going to come here as a normal student if I didn’t get a chance on the football team anyway.”

But the summer before his senior year, he said, he visited camps at various colleges and then throughout that final prep season sent his film to coaches everywhere. JMU was interested enough to provide a preferred walk-on spot, and Carpenter, who admits he’s a tad undersized for Division I and was coming from a smaller high school program, said he was eager to take the Dukes up on their offer.

“I just thought it was kind of cool that I was going to be part of the JMU football team,” Carpenter said. “I was just going with the flow to see how everything went, but I really had no idea when I was going to play.”

His chance for game action came sooner than he or, maybe, anyone else in the program anticipated, though. After he redshirted in 2019, the Dukes needed him during this past spring and he adequately filled the void on a depleted defensive line.

Carpenter was the VaSID Defensive Rookie of the Year for tallying 21 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.

“We had key guys go down last fall, and in that moment,” Carpenter said, “when Mike [Greene] moved to D-end, I realized there’s a spot open and I’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity. As time went on, I realized each and every day that I could do this and I’m capable of this.”

He said he watched the way Greene practiced and learned from the All-American. Carpenter noted all the lessons he’d try to pick up from defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, too, and applied them, leading him to find his place as a starter at defensive tackle for the Dukes.

This preseason, Carpenter is still trying to prove himself, he said, and ultimately build on what he accomplished this past spring. JMU has added three transfers to its defensive line and returned a pair of defensive linemen who were injured during the spring, so Carpenter’s competition is stiffer.

“I try and use my quickness, hands and everything,” Carpenter said. “I’m not 6-2 or 6-3 and so I use everything else – hands, hips, feet. I’m using all that to be the best I can.”

He said he uses leverage well, which compensates for his lack of size. According to Carpenter, his teammates like to joke with him that he’s only 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, but he said he’s 6-foot-1.

“But having fresh bodies is really all we care about,” he said, pointing out a deeper JMU front should cause problems for opposing offensive lines.

Carpenter said this fall he should be able to benefit from Greene’s move back to defensive tackle, too.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Carpenter said. “He opens up more and if he’s getting double-teamed, that’ll leave me one-on-one, so it’s going to be nice playing with him and with him opening things up for a lot of people.”

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- James Madison’s special teams units should benefit from the depth the Dukes added during the short offseason. At times this past spring because of injuries to first- and second-teamers on offense and defense, JMU was forced to put inexperienced players in special teams roles. But if practice is any indication, the punt, punt return, kick and kick return teams should feature players who have previously seen significant action on offense or defense in the past.

- Dukes cornerback Wesley McCormick was in full pads on Tuesday. Earlier this preseason, JMU coach Curt Cignetti said McCormick would be delayed in his return to the practice field because of offseason sports-hernia surgery.

- JMU redshirt freshman wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr. never hesitates to take the extra rep in practice. Whenever the wide receivers are put into pairs for a drill, there sometimes are uneven numbers for the position unit. On multiple occasions, Wells Jr. has hustled to do the drill twice so the last player in the drill has a partner.

Wells Jr. was also spotted Tuesday after practice working extra with McCormick, as the receiver and cornerback drilled each other on what happens when the ball is snapped. That is getting off the line scrimmage for Wells and pressing the receiver for McCormick.