2021 Valdosta State Blazers football team
2021 Valdosta State Blazers football | |
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GSC co-champion | |
Conference | Gulf South Conference |
Ranking | |
AFCA | No. 2 |
Record | 12–2 (6–1 GSC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Phillip Ely (1st season) |
Defensive coordinator | Jason Semore (1st season) |
Home stadium | Bazemore–Hyder Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Valdosta State +^ | 6 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 West Florida +^ | 6 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 13 West Georgia ^ | 5 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
West Alabama | 4 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Delta State | 3 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mississippi College | 2 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
North Greenville | 2 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shorter | 0 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Valdosta State Blazers football team represented Valdosta State University as a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) during the 2021 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by third-year head coach Gary Goff. The Blazers played their home games at Bazemore–Hyder Stadium in Valdosta, Georgia.
The Blazers competed for the 2021 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game against Ferris State.[1] This was their first appearance in the championship game since the 2018 game.[1]
Previous season
[edit]The Blazers finished the 2019 season 10–1, 8–0 in Gulf South Conference (GSC) play, to finish first in the conference standings. On August 12, 2020, Gulf South Conference postponed fall competition in 2020 for several sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] A few months later in November, the conference announced that there will be no spring conference competition in football.[3] Teams that opt-in to compete would have to schedule on their own. The Blazers did not compete in the 2020 season and opted out of spring competition.[4]
Schedule
[edit]Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 4 | 7:00 p.m. | Savannah State* | No. 6 | FloSports | W 53–7 | 5,003 | [5] | |
September 11 | 5:00 p.m. | at Virginia Union* | No. 5 | W 51–7 | 5,019 | [6] | ||
September 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Albany State* | No. 4 |
| FloSports | W 21–3 | 3,376 | [7] |
October 2 | 7:00 p.m. | Shorter | No. 4 |
| FloSports | W 49–13 | 5,346 | [8] |
October 9 | 7:00 p.m. | Delta State | No. 4 |
| FloSports | W 55–0 | 3,063 | [9][10] |
October 16 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 10 West Alabama | No. 4 | FloSports | W 42–17 | 2,563 | [11] | |
October 23 | 3:00 p.m. | at Mississippi College | No. 2 | FloSports | W 41–14 | 1,256 | [12] | |
October 30 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 3 West Georgia | No. 2 |
| FloSports | W 36–34 | 6,102 | |
November 6 | 3:00 p.m. | North Greenville | No. 2 |
| FloSports | W 31–21 | 4,781 | |
November 13 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 3 West Florida | No. 2 | FloSports | L 42–61 | 7,193 | ||
November 27 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 13 West Georgia* | No. 5 |
| W 66–35 | 2,087 | ||
December 4 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 10 Bowie State* | No. 5 |
| W 41–17 | 2,444 | ||
December 11 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 9 Colorado Mines* | No. 5 |
| ESPN+ | W 34–31 | 3,197 | |
December 18 | 9:00 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Ferris State* | No. 5 | ESPNU | L 17–58 | 3,933 | ||
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Rankings
[edit]Week | |||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final |
AFCA | 6–T | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 (7) | 2 (4) | 2 (6) | 2 (5) | 5 | 2 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Brendan Savage (December 11, 2021). "Ferris State to play for Division II national football championship". Booth Newspapers. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ^ Paige Dauer (August 12, 2020). "Gulf South Conference and Valdosta State University announces postponement of several fall 2020 sports". WALB. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "GSC Announces 2020-21 Basketball Schedule; Updates Status of Football, Soccer, and Volleyball". Gulf South Conference. November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ "GSC Status Update of Football, Soccer and Volleyball". Valdosta State University, Department of Athletics. November 17, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Connor DelPrete (September 5, 2021). "Kickin' It With Quinn: Episode 2, 2021 Season". WSAV-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Dominic Tibbetts (September 12, 2021). "Valdosta State blows out Virginia Union on the road 51-7". WTXL-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Dominic Tibbetts (September 19, 2021). "No. 3 Valdosta State football improves to 3-0 with 21-3 win over Albany State". WTXL-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Dominic Tibbetts (October 2, 2021). "No. 3 Valdosta State football takes care of Shorter in lopsided win". WTXL-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Shane Thomas (October 8, 2021). "Playoff Mentality: No. 3 Blazers host sliding Statesmen Saturday". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Dominic Tibbetts (October 9, 2021). "No. 3 Valdosta State football cruises past Delta State in 55-0 shutout". WTXL-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Shane Thomas (October 18, 2021). "Roaring Back: No. 4 Blazers overcome early hole to bury Tigers". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Dominic Tibbetts (October 23, 2021). "No. 2 Valdosta State football collects 21st straight regular season conference win". WTXL-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2021.