HARRISONBURG — It would be an understatement to say A.J. Bolden is enjoying his junior year at James Madison.
Each Saturday, the starting left guard helps an offensive line — a unit in sync through six games — pave the way for one of the nation’s best rushing offenses. JMU is averaging nearly 340 yards on the ground per game.
When the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder isn’t pancaking opposing defenders to clear a path for running back Khalid Abdullah or going through drills at practice, he’s probably hanging out with his fellow offensive linemen.
“We’re together off the field, too,” Bolden said. “I go over to their houses. We go bowling on Mondays. It’s the little things that you do outside of football that helps, but people don’t really get to see that because they only see what we do on the field.”
Bolden said his score of “about 180” gives him the title of best bowler on the offensive line.
“We do extra film sessions together. We hang out in the summertime,” he said. “We run our own drills together. We’ve really gelled together.”
The sense of togetherness, or as Bolden calls it “a family atmosphere,” is what he had been searching for since graduating from Millbrook High School.
His freshman season at the University of Toledo wasn’t nearly as fun.
“What made me get down on myself was the fact that I was redshirting,” Bolden said. “I had a chance to travel to the Missouri game, but when I wasn’t traveling, I didn’t feel like I was really a part of the team.”
Most of the other redshirt freshmen at the school had family nearby, so those that didn’t travel to road games often went home on weekends. Bolden’s closest family was more than 300 miles away in Buffalo, N.Y.
He said he felt “stuck” at Toledo, watching Netflix or college football in his dorm room instead of being on the road with his teammates. So he opted for change.
Bolden is one of a handful of transfers from the FBS level making an impact for No. 7 JMU and first-year coach Mike Houston.
Duke transfer wide receiver Terrence Alls is the team’s second-leading receiver with 16 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Virginia transfer Darrious Carter forced a key second-half fumble and recovered it in JMU’s win over William & Mary on Saturday.
Former West Virginia walk-on defensive tackle Martez Stone has found a home in Harrisonburg, too. The senior has 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Madison’s starting kick returner, Robbie Walker, played the last two seasons at Ohio University. He’s averaging more than 21 yards per return.
“I was talking to a few other schools — Nevada, Towson and Stony Brook,” Walker said. “It was one of those things where I didn’t know if I wanted to stay at the FBS or go to FCS because of the year off I’d have to take. I thought I could use my redshirt, but at the same time it’s still a big deal to take a year off. Then I felt like some of the other schools weren’t quite the match that JMU was with the offense I wanted to play in.”
Carter said he also was attracted to JMU because he didn’t want to waste a year sitting on the sideline while waiting to play at another FBS school.
Walker hasn’t seen much time at wide receiver for the Dukes after hauling in 14 catches for 145 yards at Ohio, but found his niche on special teams.
“I thought special teams would be a great outlet for that,” Walker said. “It’s the same thing when you have players that go on to the NFL. Special teams are where you make it. I was trying to get on every special-teams unit. Kick return is just where I got my opportunity.”
Junior quarterback Bryan Schor said there’s one reason above all others for transfer players finding success at JMU. Schor replaced Georgia Tech transfer Vad Lee, who graduated in 2016 after two record-setting seasons with the Dukes.
“We’ve really built a new team every year here at JMU,” Schor said. “The people that we’ve got to come to JMU have been good, quality guys like Terrence coming in from an ACC school. He fit right in.”
Houston said JMU would continue to bring in transfers as long as the player “fits in.”
“You have to investigate why players are transferring because that’s the key right there. We’ve got a good locker room,” Houston said. “I’m going to be very cautious with what type of people I bring into that locker room.”
JMU backup quarterback Connor Mitch has appeared in four games and thrown for 68 yards after moving on from the University of South Carolina, where he started two games last fall. Additionally, Kansas transfer Ishmael Hyman has made two catches for 24 yards after missing the first three games of the season due to injury.
