2018 Valdosta State Blazers football team
The 2018 Valdosta State Blazers football team represented Valdosta State University during the 2018 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by third-year head coach Kerwin Bell, who also served as offensive coordinator. They won the NCAA Division II Football Championship. The Blazers played their home games at Bazemore–Hyder Stadium and are members of the Gulf South Conference.
2018 Valdosta State Blazers football | |
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NCAA Division II national champion GSC champion | |
NCAA Division II Championship Game, W 49–47 vs. Ferris State | |
Conference | Gulf South Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 1 |
2018 record | 14–0 (8–0 GSC) |
Head coach |
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Defensive coordinator | Danny Verpaele (2nd season) |
Home stadium | Bazemore–Hyder Stadium (Capacity: 11,249) |
2018 Gulf South Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 1 Valdosta State $^ | 8 | – | 0 | 14 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 16 West Georgia ^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Florida Tech ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Alabama ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Florida | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
North Greenville | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Delta State | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mississippi College | 1 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shorter | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason
Gulf South Conference coaches poll
On August 2, 2018, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Blazers predicted to finish in 5th place in the conference.[1]
Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
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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
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 |
Schedule
Valdosta State 2018 regular season football schedule consisted of five home and four away games in the regular season and one neutral site game. The Blazers hosted GSC foes Delta State, North Greenville, Shorter, and West Georgia, and traveled to Florida Tech, Mississippi College, West Alabama, and West Florida.[3] Three games were broadcast on ESPN3, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.[4]
The Blazers also hosted non-conference foe Albany State from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and competed in the Okefenokee Classic against Fort Valley State, also from the (SIAC).
After an undefeated regular season, the Blazers were a #1 seed in the NCAA Division II football playoff.
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | Albany State* | W 45-14 | 6,770 | |||
September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | vs. Fort Valley State* |
| ESPN3 | W 55-6 | 3,107 | |
September 15 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 8 West Alabama | W 58-24 | 3,285 | |||
September 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Shorter | No. 16 |
| W 52-0 | 5,130 | |
September 29 | 8:00 p.m. | at Mississippi College | No. 13 |
| W 63-42 | 2,654 | |
October 6 | 1:00 p.m. | Delta State | No. 10 |
| W 59-28 | 2,036 | |
October 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Florida Tech | No. 8 | W 51-21 | 3,679 | ||
October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | North Greenville![]() | No. 7 |
| W 44-21 | 5,514 | |
November 3 | 5:00 p.m. | at West Florida | No. 7 | ESPN3 | W 48-21 | 5,893 | |
November 10 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 3 West Georgia | No. 5 |
| ESPN3 | W 47-31 | 10,558 |
November 24 | 1:00 pm | No. 25 Bowie State | No. 3 |
| W 66-16 | 2,467 | |
December 1 | 1:00 pm | No. 17 Lenoir Rhyne | No. 3 |
| W 61-21 | 1,999 | |
December 8 | 12:00 pm | No. 11 Notre Dame (OH) | No. 3 |
| ESPN3 | W 30-24 | 4,672 |
December 15 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Ferris State | No. 3 | ESPNU | W 49-47 | 4,306 | |
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- Schedule Source:[5]
Rankings
Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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 |
Game summaries
Albany State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Rams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
Blazers | 14 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 45 |
Fort Valley State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Blazers | 21 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 55 |
at West Alabama
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blazers | 21 | 14 | 10 | 13 | 58 |
Tigers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
Shorter
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Hawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Blazers | 10 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 52 |
at Mississippi College
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blazers | 7 | 35 | 14 | 7 | 63 |
Choctaws | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
Delta State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Statesmen | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Blazers | 14 | 14 | 17 | 14 | 59 |
at Florida Tech
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blazers | 14 | 10 | 0 | 27 | 51 |
Panthers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
North Greenville
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
Blazers | 13 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 44 |
at West Florida
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blazers | 14 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 48 |
Argonauts | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
West Georgia
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Wolves | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
Blazers | 10 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 47 |
Bowie State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bulldogs | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Blazers | 0 | 21 | 17 | 28 | 66 |
Lenoir-Rhyne
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Blazers | 10 | 24 | 13 | 14 | 61 |
Notre Dame (OH)
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Falcons | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Blazers | 9 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 30 |
Ferris State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bulldogs | 10 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 47 |
Blazers | 7 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 49 |
Players drafted into the NFL
Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
7 | 238 | Stephen Denmark | CB | Chicago Bears |
References
- "West Alabama Tops GSC Football Preseason Poll". Gulf South Conference. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/gulfsouthconference.com/documents/2018/8/2/Football_2018_Preseason_All_GSC_Table.pdf
- "Okefenofee Classic among games on VSU's 2018-19 football schedule" (Press release). Valdosta Daily Times. February 14, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- "GSC Announces 2018 Football Game of the Week Schedule". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- "2018 Valdosta State Blazers Football Schedule". Valdosta State University of Athletics. Retrieved July 5, 2018.