There are so many elements to a potential future-game contract that can derail it before the document is even printed.

Securing non-conference football opponents is an elusive task, but James Madison managed to sidestep any issues in order to schedule a series with a Big Sky school for the first time ever.

“Do each of you have an opening that might work out and are those openings close enough in years that they make sense?” JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne said. “For instance, we’ve talked to teams where one of us may have an availability to play now and then it’s four or five years down the road until you can return that game. And that doesn’t make a great deal of sense.”

Foes not only must be interested in meeting one another, but dates and venues have to be decided on, means to travel have to be approved and the finances have to work for both sides.

Dukes assistant athletic director for sports programs Kevin White, who handles scheduling for football, said: “All of this could get done and then your coach says, ‘No way, Jose,’ and then we’re not playing the game.”

Thankfully, for JMU and Weber State, no problems stood in the way of a Wednesday announcement that the two programs will meet in a home-and-home series. The Dukes will play in Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah on Sept. 18, 2021 and then the Wildcats will make their second ever appearance at Bridgeforth Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022.

JMU beat Weber State in Harrisonburg 31-28 in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FCS postseason on a game-winning field goal from Ethan Ratke as time expired.

“I had a brief conversation with their prior athletic director when they were here to play in the playoffs a year or so back,” Bourne said. “And we talked about at that time, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be a great matchup if we could do a home-and-home if the stars ever aligned and our schedules would make sense to do it?’ So we’ve been chatting on and off and in all honesty, the real heavy level of lifting started probably when Kevin White opened that dialogue four or five months ago.”

White said JMU has a goal of scheduling at least six home games per year and that the series with Weber State helped the Dukes accomplish the goal for 2021 and 2022 while also completing those seasons’ non-conference slates.

In 2021, JMU will host Morehead State on Sept. 4 and Campbell on Nov. 6 in addition to traveling to Weber State and the Dukes’ Colonial Athletic Association contests. In 2022, JMU is scheduled to host Norfolk State on Sept. 10 and receive a $600,000 payout to play at FBS Louisville on Nov. 5 on top of the home matchup with Weber State and the CAA contests.

“So, it fills a lot of voids for us,” White said. “A game our fans can identify with, a great competitive game by two teams that are very well coached and it brings closure to our schedule in ’21 and ’22.”

The 2021 season will be the first since 2006 that the Dukes don’t face an FBS opponent, but Bourne said a meeting with the Wildcats is worth it.

“What it will force us to do is be pretty prudent with our dollars leading up to the ’21 season,” Bourne said. “This year and next year we need to find a way to end our season and allocate a certain amount of money over the next two years to help make up for that guarantee that we’re not getting that year from an FBS opponent, but we can do that. I wouldn’t want to do that on a consistent basis, but I think once in a while it does make rational sense to move in that direction.”

Both Bourne and White said first-year coach Curt Cignetti was on board with the decision.

JMU and Weber State are each on runs of success with the Dukes having appeared in each of the last five postseasons and the Wildcats having made three straight appearances in the FCS playoffs. The Dukes are currently ranked No. 2 in the STATS FCS Top 25 and Weber State is ranked No. 4.

“I have to tip my hat off to [Cignetti] as well because he was willing to play the game,” White said. “And Curt is real easy as it pertains to scheduling. For him, it’s yes or no. It’s not a lot of fluff. It’s not a lot of rhetoric. It’s either he’s in or he’s out, so it doesn’t take you very long to understand where you stand with him. So far with scheduling, he’s been easy.”

Bourne said the series is positive for JMU, its football team, its fans and for Weber State.

“Now this one is further away then what we would normally schedule,” Bourne said. “And we’ll also be going out there to play at elevation, which for those of us that go there often it’s not that big of deal, but if you’re from the east and you’re not accustomed to 6- or 7,000 feet above sea level, there’s a definite challenge in that. But we feel like they’re a great matchup. They’re a Top 10 matchup. ... We just feel like it’ll be a great opportunity for our kids to go out there and play that game and in turn, it gives their squad a chance to come here and play in our stadium and get a chance to play a CAA member.”