HARRISONBURG — Taylor Reynolds remembers the exact moment he bolted to success at James Madison.

“It was my redshirt freshman year and my first game starting,” Reynolds said. “It was against Central Connecticut State and I had an interception return for a touchdown. There’s been more since, but that’s the most important because it started my career.”

In his time at JMU, Reynolds has 11 total interceptions and was named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association team twice.

Today, Reynolds and the entire 14-member senior class will play its final regular-season game at Bridgeforth Stadium when the No. 4 Dukes (9-1, 7-0) host Elon (2-8, 1-6). The group of upperclassmen will be honored during a ceremony prior to the 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

Despite two head coaching changes during their careers, the senior class compiled a 27-14 record to this point. It won the CAA championship outright this season and a share of it last season. By clinching the CAA title last week, those seniors helped Madison earn a berth to FCS Playoffs for the third-straight year.

“There are a lot of moments I remember, but we’ve been through three head coaches and I’ve learned amazing things from all of them,” JMU senior wide receiver Brandon Ravenel said.

Ravenel sits fourth all-time in JMU history with 2,035 career receiving yards.

“When I first came in under Coach [Mickey] Matthews, I learned that I had to take care of myself. Then, with Coach [Everett] Withers, I learned how to survive because he had us go through some hard times,” Ravenel said. “And then when Coach [Mike] Houston and his staff came in, Coach Houston taught me how to be a man and that’ll be something I take with me for the rest of my life.”

With a win this afternoon, Houston can guide JMU to an unblemished 8-0 mark in league play. Since the CAA moved to a one-division format in 2010, only one team — New Hampshire in 2014 — has survived conference action without a loss.

“The success of your team is dictated by what kind of seniors you have,” Houston said. “They’ve led ever since I got here in January. They bought into our coaching staff and motivated the team to stick together through the change. This is a special group.”

Special teams coordinator John Bowers, who has been on staff since 2014 and around the seniors since they were sophomores, said the group was always able to adapt, which has helped translate into wins.

“They’ve always played hard and they’ve always wanted to do well,” Bowers said. “But the thing that they’re doing now is embracing the coaching that they’re getting. They’re seeing that and they’re playing their best football, and if the seniors are playing their best, you’re going to have a pretty good ball club.”

Today, JMU will especially have to lean on its seniors who play on offense. Houston said junior quarterback Bryan Schor won’t play and is still recovering from an injury that put his left arm in a sling during the second quarter of last week’s game at Villanova. True freshman Cole Johnson will start in Schor’s place.

Johnson’s redshirt was pulled when Schor got hurt last week. He completed 5-of-12 throws for 43 yards, but also threw two interceptions.

Houston said junior quarterback Connor Mitch would dress for the first time in a month and be the backup to Johnson.

With Johnson set to start, JMU could run its offense through senior running back Khalid Abdullah. In the midst of an all-conference-caliber year, Abdullah has rushed for 1,175 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Elon coach Rich Skrosky said even if Schor was able to play, he was going to prep his team to slow Abdullah down.

“They are the third or fourth rushing offense in the country with Abdullah and that is their bread and butter,” Skrosky said.

The Phoenix come off a 30-point loss to Rhode Island. On Oct. 29, JMU beat Rhode Island 84-7.