2018 VMI Keydets football team

2018 VMI Keydets football
2018 VMI Keydets football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	1–10 (0–8 SoCon)
Head coach	Scott Wachenheim (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Brian Sheppard (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Clark (4th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Alumni Memorial Field

2018 Southern Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 22 East Tennessee State +^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Furman +	6	–	2	6	–	4
Samford	5	–	3	6	–	5
Chattanooga	4	–	4	6	–	5
The Citadel	4	–	4	5	–	6
Mercer	4	–	4	5	–	6
Western Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	8
	0	–	8	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 VMI Keydets football team represented the Virginia Military Institute in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. It was VMI's 128th football season. The Keydets were led by fourth-year head coach Scott Wachenheim. They played their home games at 10,000–seat Alumni Memorial Field at Foster Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 1–10, 0–8 in SoCon play to finish in last place.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Keydets predicted to finish in last place.^[1] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Keydets also predicted to finish in last place.^[2]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	204 (20)
2	Furman	174 (2)
3	Wofford	163 (1)
4	Mercer	133
5	Western Carolina	114
6	Chattanooga	88
7	The Citadel	83
8	East Tennessee State	53
9	VMI	23

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	63 (7)
2	Wofford	53 (1)
3	Furman	52 (1)
4	Western Carolina	39
5	Chattanooga	34
6	Mercer	32
7	The Citadel	28
8	East Tennessee State	15
9	VMI	8

Preseason All-SoCon teams

The Keydets placed one player on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

Offense

2nd team

Brad Davis – OL

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	at Toledo*	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN3	L 3–66	24,136
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Wofford	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN+	L 14–59	4,957
September 14^[a]	2:30 p.m.	East Tennessee State	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	L 24–27	2,764
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN+	L 50–52	12,759
September 29	1:30 p.m.	Mercer	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN3	L 38–48	3,251
October 13	2:00 p.m.	at Samford	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	L 22–73	4,163
October 20	1:30 p.m.	The Citadel	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA (Military Classic of the South)	ESPN3	L 32–34	7,002
October 27	3:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	L 27–34	8,201
November 3	1:30 p.m.	Tusculum*	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	W 20–11	3,617
November 10	1:30 p.m.	Furman	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN+	L 13–49	3,922
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at Old Dominion*	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl)	ESPN+	L 14–77	20,118
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Source:^[3]

^ This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up one day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

At Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	3	0	0	3
Rockets	21	21	21	3	66

At Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	7	0	7	14
No. 8 Terriers	21	21	17	0	59

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	6	7	7	27
Keydets	0	17	7	0	24

At Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	14	10	13	13	50
Catamounts	14	7	21	10	52

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	13	14	14	7	48
Keydets	7	13	0	18	38

At Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	9	13	0	0	22
Bulldogs	14	28	24	7	73

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	14	6	34
Keydets	7	7	6	12	32

At Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	14	7	0	6	27
Mocs	7	14	6	7	34

Tusculum

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	0	3	0	8	11
Keydets	0	7	7	6	20

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	21	14	14	0	49
Keydets	7	0	0	6	13

At Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	0	14	0	14
Monarchs	21	28	14	14	77

References

[3] This game was originally scheduled for September 15. It was moved up one day in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

[1] "Media picks Samford to win 2018 SoCon football title".

[2] "Football coaches select preseason all-conference teams, poll".

[4] "Football - Schedule - VMIKeydets.com - The Official Site of Virginia Military Institute Athletics". www.vmikeydets.com.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

VMI Keydets football
Venues	Alumni Field (1921–1961) Alumni Memorial Field (1962–present)
Bowls & rivalries	The Citadel: Military Classic of the South Richmond William & Mary Virginia Tech
Culture & lore	Traditions "The Spirit" Moe the Kangaroo Porter Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1873 1874–1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025