HARRISONBURG — For the third time in four years, James Madison will open its football season with a different head coach.

The Dukes usher in the Mike Houston era today at 6 p.m. against Morehead State at Bridgeforth Stadium.

Featuring a roster comprised of veterans, including 14 seniors that have experienced the changes from Mickey Matthews to Everett Withers to Houston, JMU begins the year with high expectations, ranked No. 12 in the STATS FCS preseason poll and picked to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association by the league’s coaches.

“The thing I stressed to them was that I chose them and our staff chose them,” Houston said. “We all chose to be to here, we want to be here and we’re here for the long haul. I want them to have the most enjoyable senior year they can possibly have. I think that group has really been the backbone of us sticking together and having a productive preseason.”

Throughout the August camp, JMU players worked to perfect a new defense and a new offense, which will be unveiled tonight.

New defensive coordinator Bob Trott installed a base 4-2-5 scheme, while new offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick implemented a balanced spread attack.

Kirkpatrick said he would have most of the first offensive series scripted for his unit in order to get the ball in the hands of the right skill players quickly.

Last year when JMU opened up with Morehead State, running backs Khalid Abdullah and Cardon Johnson combined for 225 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in the 56-7 victory. To aid new starting quarterback Bryan Schor – a junior – the Dukes plan to lean on their duo of skilled rushers, especially early.

“Cardon and Khalid have been great since I’ve got here,” Houston said. “The thing I’m excited about is to see them in a game. I’ve seen them in a lot of practices and in a lot of drills against our defense, but I finally get to see them against another opponent.”

Fourth-year Morehead State coach Rob Tenyer said he remembers well what Abdullah and Johnson did to his defense last fall.

“That’s about the best one-two punch that I’ve seen in a long time, especially at this level,” Tenyer said. “Either of those guys could probably be starting at a lower-tier FBS school like in the MAC or Sun Belt.”

The backs that combined for over 2,000 yards last season will run behind an offensive line that changed its mentality to match Houston’s way of thinking.

Houston comes to Harrisonburg after two seasons at The Citadel — an academy, naturally running an option offense. The Citadel used run plays on 88-percent of occasions in 2015.

JMU’s offense won’t line up in the wishbone at all, but the attitude revolving around running the football frequently has stayed with Houston.

“The coaches want to be a hard-nosed football team upfront,” Johnson said. “From camp through this first game week, I think our offensive line has improved a lot.”

“I want to be very balanced on offense and with the quarterbacks and receivers we have back, we should be able to throw it effectively,” Houston said. “But I do think you have to be able to run the ball in order to win. You look at the champions of FCS, FBS and NFL, they all run it effectively in order to win.”

On defense, JMU players say Houston and Trott have kept the terminology and responsibilities simple enough to allow them to play without thinking too much. Principles stay the same in the 4-2-5 and the situational packages that Trott likes to use.

Trott said he didn’t want to over complicate schemes for a unit highlighted by two preseason All-Americans – defensive end Andrew Ankrah and cornerback Taylor Reynolds.

Last month, scouts from different NFL teams showed up daily at JMU preseason practice to see Reynolds.

“The defense allows us to play faster and use multiple packages this year. There is a lot of flexibility,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds and the rest of JMU’s secondary will face a tough first test. Morehead State senior quarterback Austin Gahafer is the FCS active leader in career passing yards.

JMU is 33-11 all-time in home openers.