From Walk-On To College Football Playoff, James Carpenter Ready For Final Run

Indiana defensive tackle James Carpenter began his career as a walk-on at James Madison, an FCS program at the time. Back then, he wouldn’t have believed it was possible that he’s now preparing for the College Football Playoff.

Jack Ankony | Dec 17, 2024

Indiana's James Carpenter (99) celebrates with Daniel Ndukwe (91) after Ndukwe blocked a punt against Maryland at Memorial Stadium. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For James Carpenter, describing Friday’s College Football Playoff game at Notre Dame as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is no exaggeration.

While coach Curt Cignetti plans to continue elevating Indiana’s program next year, Carpenter won’t be along for that ride. This is his last chance. The starting defensive tackle is in his sixth and final season of college football.

He began his career with five seasons at James Madison, then followed 12 teammates and eight coaches to Indiana. Many of them have said since day one in Bloomington that this is the type of season they envisioned. Back in August, before the Hoosiers played any games during their 11-1 season, Carpenter believed in the blueprint.

But take it back to his early college days, and what’s awaiting Friday in South Bend wasn’t part of the equation.

“It’s definitely pretty surreal,” Carpenter said. “Just going back to where I started in 2019, walking on at JMU, like I said a couple times, if you told me I would have been here playing for a national championship here at Indiana, I definitely would not have believed you. So that kind of plays into it, just an incredible ride so far. A great five or six years at JMU, then this last year here. So yeah, it’s definitely very surreal, but we definitely want to finish the job.”

Indiana's James Carpenter (99) celebrates after sacking Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (9) at Memorial Stadium. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Carpenter will play on the biggest stage of his career Friday in the College Football Playoff. He started small. He had a successful career at Roanoke Catholic School, which had enrollment of 401 students from pre-K through 12th grade in 2023-24. The class of 2024 had 29 students. The school’s Wikipedia page lists Carpenter as its only notable alum.

As a first-team all-state offensive and defensive lineman, Carpenter helped Roanoke Catholic go 11-0 in 2018 and win the VIS Division III state title his senior year. But that didn’t draw attention from college coaches, aside from Cignetti and his James Madison staff.

Carpenter walked on at James Madison in 2019 – when it was still an FCS program – and appeared in one game before being redshirted. Perhaps unexpectedly, he began to make an impact the following season as he started seven games and was named VaSID defensive rookie of the year.

In 2021, he was an FCS freshman all-american. And by 2022 and 2023, he was a back-to-back second-team All-Sun Belt defensive tackle. Across his five-year career at James Madison, Carpenter made 141 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks.

“I was thinking about it the other day. I've known James Carpenter since 2019, and I was thinking, it's going to be weird being in a defense that doesn't have James Carpenter in it,” Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said.

All of the hard work it took to go from an FCS walk-on to an all-conference player in the Sun Belt culminated in 2024 when Carpenter transferred to Indiana. Some questioned whether Carpenter and his James Madison teammates could replicate their success in the Big Ten – Indiana was picked 17th in the preseason conference poll – but they answered that with a resounding “yes.”

Carpenter has appeared in all 12 games and logged 513 snaps, the most among defensive tackles on the 11-1 Hoosiers. At 6-foot-2 and 288 pounds, he’s played a key role in the middle of the nation’s top run defense that gives up just 70.8 yards per game on the ground. Carpenter is second among Hoosiers with 9.5 tackles for loss and five sacks, only behind All-American end Mikail Kamara, a fellow James Madison transfer.

Haines has been with Carpenter since the beginning at James Madison, and even he’s amazed by the trajectory of Carpenter’s career.

“When I recruited him as a walk-on, I just thought this guy could maybe be a pretty good football player at JMU,” Haines said. “I didn't necessarily think this is going to be my starting three technique in the Big Ten. But credit to him, he's another one of these guys that doesn't say a lot, but man, he never stops working. He wants to get better. He wants to get pushed. He wants to get coached. It's one of the reasons he came from JMU. He liked the scheme. He loves coach [Pat] Kuntz, they have a great relationship. And he just wants to constantly push himself. I'm proud of him and how far along he's come. I could have never seen this five years ago in 2019 when I recruited him out of Roanoke Catholic High School. I'm proud of his journey. Same for a lot of these guys.”

James Madison defensive lineman James Carpenter (99) celebrates against Troy in 2023. / Courtesy James Madison athletics.

The last few weeks have been especially memorable for Carpenter. He and the Hoosiers dominated Purdue in a 66-0 victory on Senior Night, and last week they were announced as one of 12 teams in the College Football Playoff.

“It was a pretty cool moment,” Carpenter said. “Definitely a goal we set out at the beginning of the year, so it was nice to see our name up there. But I think the whole time we knew we were gonna be in, I think it was really just who we were gonna play and kind of where we were at. It was definitely a cool moment. It’s gonna be a really good experience for us, and we’re really excited about it.”

Carpenter watched the playoff selection show on a laptop in the Indianapolis airport as he waited for his flight to Arkansas for the Burlsworth Trophy ceremony. The trophy is awarded annually to college football’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. It was named after Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on at Arkansas who later became an All-American and 63rd overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Burlsworth was killed in a car accident 11 days after being drafted, and the award annually recognizes his legacy. Oregon’s Bryce Boettcher won the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy, but Carpenter was honored to be a part of the event.

“I went last year and it was a very good experience, so being able to go again this year was super cool,” Carpenter said. “It’s a first-class production, first-class event, but it was cool to go down there, meet the guys down there and meet their families and put on for a really good cause, a really good event. It was a good time.”

Carpenter and the Hoosiers now have a chance to put an exclamation point on what has already been a record-breaking season. In some ways, they’re trying to treat it like it’s just another game. They’re preparing for Notre Dame like they’ve prepared all season, Cignetti said Monday.

Cignetti recognizes that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Carpenter. But he believes Carpenter is mature enough to understand what it takes to capitalize on the opportunity, rather than not being able to handle the weight of the moment. That means stacking good days of practice and putting himself in the best position to be successful on Friday.

Haines called Indiana a process-oriented operation, and there’s no reason to change what got the Hoosiers to this point. But there’s also a heightened level of appreciation for their position.

“It's a delicate balance there,” Haines said. “Of course it's the biggest game for Carp. … A small school guy, walked on to James Madison, and now look at him. He's gonna be playing in the College Football Playoff, the starting defensive tackle. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for all these guys, and I'm excited for the moment, too.”

“But we're a process-oriented operation. It's just Monday. It's a rainy Monday. We've got a Tuesday practice. We've got to clean up normal downs, gotta make sure the run fits are tight, gotta figure out quarterback run still. So it's just another day. And when the game gets here, I'm sure the moment will be awesome and an electric environment, all those things. But at the end of the day, run, hit, tackle, swarm, the standard is the standard. Another football game.”

Indiana's James Carpenter chases Michigan quarterback Davis Warren at Memorial Stadium. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Friday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium is shaping up to be the second-most intimidating road environment the Hoosiers have faced this year, behind their 38-15 loss at Ohio State. Carpenter said that loss was a humbling experience, one that should help them handle Friday’s game better.

Carpenter beat the odds to get to this point, and there’s no way he won’t be ready for the Irish.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Carpenter said. “We get to go play for a national championship, and this is where it starts. So I really think there’s gonna be no issues with everybody being locked in. I think it started since Sunday. … If you’re not locked in for this game something’s definitely wrong with you. It’s what we came here to do, you know, win a national championship.”

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