American college football season
The2018 Valdosta State Blazers football team representedValdosta State University as a member of theGulf South Conference (GSC) during the2018 NCAA Division II football season . They were led by third-year head coachKerwin Bell , who also served asoffensive coordinator . The Blazers played their home games atBazemore–Hyder Stadium inValdosta, Georgia . Valdosta State compiled an overall record of 14–0 with a conference mark of 8–0, winning the GSC title. They beatFerris State in theNCAA Division II Championship Game to win the program's fourth national title.
Gulf South Conference coaches poll [ edit ] On August 2, 2018, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Blazers predicted to finish in fifth place in the conference.[ 1]
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 West Alabama 62 (6) 2 West Florida 59 (3) 3 West Georgia 44 4 Delta State 41 5 Valdosta State 38 6 Florida Tech 32 7 North Greenville 24 8 Mississippi College 16 9 Shorter 8
Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Team [ edit ] The Blazers had five players at five positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.[ 2]
Offense
Kenny Benjamin – AP
Jeremy King – OG
Defense
Raymond Palmer – DB
Special teams
Jairus Jones – BT
Stewart Spence – UTL
Valdosta State's 2018 regular season football schedule consisted of five home games, four away games, and one neutral site game. The Blazers hosted GSC foesDelta State ,North Greenville ,Shorter , andWest Georgia , and traveled toFlorida Tech ,Mississippi College ,West Alabama , andWest Florida .[ 3] ESPN3 , as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.[ 4]
The Blazers hosted non-conference foeAlbany State from theSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and competed in the Okefenokee Classic againstFort Valley State , also from the (SIAC).
After an undefeated regular season, the Blazers were the No. 1 seed in theNCAA Division II playoffs .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 1 7:00 p.m. Albany State * W 45–146,770 September 8 7:00 p.m. vs.Fort Valley State * ESPN3 W 55–63,107 September 15 7:00 p.m. at No. 8West Alabama W 58–243,285 September 22 7:00 p.m. Shorter No. 16 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA W 52–05,130 September 29 8:00 p.m. atMississippi College No. 13 W 63–422,654 October 6 1:00 p.m. Delta State No. 10 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA W 59–282,036 October 13 1:00 p.m. atFlorida Tech No. 8 W 51–213,679 October 20 3:00 p.m. North Greenville No. 7 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA W 44–215,514 November 3 5:00 p.m. atWest Florida No. 7 ESPN3 W 48–215,893 November 10 7:00 p.m. No. 3West Georgia No. 5 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA (rivalry ) ESPN3 W 47–3110,558 November 24 1:00 pm No. 25Bowie State No. 3 W 66–162,467 December 1 1:00 pm No. 17Lenoir–Rhyne No. 3 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal) W 61–211,999 December 8 12:00 pm No. 11Notre Dame (OH) No. 3 Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA (NCAA Division II Semifinal) ESPN3 W 30–244,672 December 15 4:00 p.m. vs. No. 2Ferris State No. 3 ESPNU W 49–474,306 [ 5] [ 6] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are inEastern time
[ 7]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final AFCA RV RV RV 16 13 10 8 7 7 7 5 3 1
1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 0 0 14 14 Blazers 14 14 10 7 45
1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 0 3 3 0 6 Blazers 21 0 6 28 55
1 2 3 4 Total Blazers 21 14 10 13 58 Tigers 7 7 7 3 24
1 2 3 4 Total Hawks 0 0 0 0 0 Blazers 10 0 21 21 52
At Mississippi College [ edit ] 1 2 3 4 Total Blazers 7 35 14 7 63 Choctaws 7 14 14 7 42
1 2 3 4 Total Statesmen 14 14 0 0 28 Blazers 14 14 17 14 59
1 2 3 4 Total Blazers 14 10 0 27 51 Panthers 0 0 7 14 21
1 2 3 4 Total Crusaders 0 0 7 14 21 Blazers 13 10 7 14 44
1 2 3 4 Total Blazers 14 3 7 24 48 Argonauts 0 14 7 0 21
1 2 3 4 Total Wolves 7 14 7 3 31 Blazers 10 24 3 10 47
1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 7 9 0 0 16 Blazers 0 21 17 28 66
1 2 3 4 Total Bears 0 7 7 7 21 Blazers 10 24 13 14 61
1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 10 7 7 24 Blazers 9 0 21 0 30
1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 10 14 14 9 47 Blazers 7 21 14 7 49
Players drafted into the NFL [ edit ] ^ "West Alabama Tops GSC Football Preseason Poll" . Gulf South Conference. August 2, 2018. RetrievedAugust 29, 2018 .^ "Gulf South Conference" (PDF) .s3.amazonaws.com . 2018. RetrievedFebruary 25, 2023 .^ "Okefenofee Classic among games on VSU's 2018-19 football schedule" (Press release). Valdosta Daily Times. February 14, 2018. RetrievedJuly 5, 2018 .^ "GSC Announces 2018 Football Game of the Week Schedule" . Gulf South Conference. RetrievedJuly 18, 2018 .^ Peter J. Wallner (December 15, 2018)."Offenses expected to steal the show: Ferris State, Valdosta State among top scoring teams" .The Ann Arbor News . p. B2 – viaNewspapers.com . ^ "Valdosta beats Ferris for Division II title" .Chronicle-Tribune . December 16, 2018. p. B7 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "2018 Valdosta State Blazers Football Schedule" . Valdosta State University of Athletics. RetrievedJuly 5, 2018 .
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National championships in bold
