2018 Delta State Statesmen football team

2018 Delta State Statesmen football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
Record	2-8 (2-6 GSC)
Head coach	Todd Cooley (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joel Williams (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Partridge (2nd season)
Home stadium	Parker Field at Horace McCool Stadium
Seasons ←  2017 2019  →

2018 Gulf South Conference football standings

v t e	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
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AFCA Poll

The 2018 Delta State Statesmen football team represented Delta State University in the 2018 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Todd Cooley. The Statesmen played their home games at McCool Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference.

Preseason

Gulf South Conference coaches poll

On August 2, 2018, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Statesmen predicted to finish in 4th 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

The Statesmen had three players at three positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team. ^[2]

Offense Innis Claud V – OG Defense Ovenson Cledanord – LB Tramond Lofton – DL

Schedule

Delta State 2018 football schedule consists of five home and away games in the regular season. The Statesmen will host GSC foes Mississippi College, North Greenville, Shorter, and West Florida, and will travel to Florida Tech, Valdosta State, West Alabama and West Georgia.

The Statesmen will host one of the two non-conference games against Grand Valley State from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and will travel to Tarleton State from the Lone Star Conference.

Three of the ten games will be broadcast on ESPN3, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week. ^[3]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:00 p.m.	at Tarleton State *	Memorial Stadium Stephenville, TX		L 13–44	4,781
September 8	6:00 p.m.	No. 8 Grand Valley State *	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		L 10-21	5,514
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at Florida Tech	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL	ESPN3	L 12-30	3,567
September 22	6:00 p.m.	North Greenville	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		L 20-33	6,660
September 29	6:00 p.m.	No. 11 West Florida	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		L 21-30	5,678
October 6	12:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Valdosta State	Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA		L 28-59	2,036
October 13	2:00 p.m.	at West Alabama	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL	ESPN3	L 14-17	3,872
October 25	6:00 p.m.	Shorter	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS	ESPN3	W 46-20	3,333
November 3	2:00 p.m.	at No. 3 West Georgia	University Stadium Carrollton, GA		L 17-29	3,281
November 10	6:00 p.m.	Mississippi College	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS (rivalry)		W 28-21	5,432
*Non-conference game Rankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AFCA	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Game summaries

At Tarleton State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	3	3	0	7	13
Texans	6	17	21	0	44

Grand Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lakers	0	7	7	7	21
Statesmen	3	0	7	0	10

At Florida Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	0	6	6	0	12
Panthers	21	9	0	0	30

North Greenville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	14	3	13	3	33
Statesmen	10	0	3	7	20

West Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Argonauts	3	3	10	14	30
Statesmen	7	14	0	0	21

At Valdosta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	14	14	0	0	28
Blazers	14	14	17	14	59

At West Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	7	0	7	0	14
Tigers	7	7	0	3	17

Shorter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	6	7	0	7	20
Statesmen	14	14	18	0	46

At West Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	7	10	0	0	17
Wolves	3	9	10	7	29

Mississippi College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Choctaws	0	14	0	7	21
Statesmen	7	7	14	0	28

References

1. "West Alabama Tops GSC Football Preseason Poll". Gulf South Conference. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
2. Gulf South Conference
3. "GSC Announces 2018 Football Game of the Week Schedule". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
4. "2018 Delta State Statesmen Football Schedule". Delta State University of Athletics. Retrieved June 22, 2018.