2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football
Military Bowl, L 31–35 vs. Cincinnati
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal Division
2018 record	6–7 (4–4 ACC)
Head coach	Justin Fuente (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brad Cornelsen (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Bud Foster (23rd season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Lane Stadium (Capacity: 66,233)
Seasons

Template:2018 ACC football standings The 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represents Virginia Tech during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hokies are led by third-year head coach Justin Fuente and play their home games at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia as members of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Virginia Tech finished the season with a losing record, the first season since the 1991 and 1992 football seasons when Virginia Tech experienced two such seasons back to back.

Previous season

The Hokies finished the 2017 season 9–4, 5–3 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. The Hokies received an invitation to the Camping World Bowl, marking the school's 25th consecutive bowl bid, the longest active bowl streak that is recognized by the NCAA. There they lost to Oklahoma State 30–21.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy	Kyle Chung	C	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award	Ricky Walker	DT	SR
Maxwell Award	Josh Jackson	QB	SO
Bronko Nagurski Trophy	Ricky Walker	DT	SR
Outland Trophy	Ricky Walker	DT	SR
Ray Guy Award	Oscar Bradburn	P	SO
Wuerffel Trophy	Ricky Walker	DT	SR
Manning Award	Josh Jackson	QB	SO

ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.

Media poll (Coastal)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Miami	998 (122)
2	Virginia Tech	838 (16)
3	Georgia Tech	654 (8)
4	Duke	607 (1)
5	Pittsburgh	420
6	North Carolina	370 (1)
7	Virginia	257

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	8:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Florida State	No. 20	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	W 24–3	75,237
September 8	2:00 p.m.	William & Mary*	No. 12	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ACCN Extra	W 62–17	65,632
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at Old Dominion*	No. 13	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	CBSSN	L 35–49	20,532
September 29	7:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Duke		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ESPN2	W 31–14	32,177
October 6	8:00 p.m.	No. 6 Notre Dame*	No. 24	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ABC	L 23–45	65,632
October 13	7:00 p.m.	at North Carolina		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPNU	W 22–19	50,500
October 25	7:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 28–49	65,632
November 3	3:45 p.m.	No. 24 Boston College		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	ACCN	L 21–31	65,632
November 10	3:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPNU	L 22–52	44,398
November 17	3:30 p.m.	Miami (FL)		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 14–38	62,379
November 23	3:30 p.m.	Virginia		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA (Commonwealth Cup)	ABC	W 34–31 OT	60,776
December 1	12:00 p.m.	Marshall*		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ACCN Extra	W 41–20	31,336
December 31	12:00 p.m.	vs. Cincinnati*		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Military Bowl)	ESPN	L 31–35	32,832
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

Name	Title	Joined Staff
Justin Fuente	Head Coach	2016
Bud Foster	Associate Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, & Linebackers	1987
Adam Lechtenberg	Assistant Head Coach, Executive Director of Player Development	2018
Zohn Burden	Running Backs	2015
Brad Cornelsen	Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks	2016
Brian Mitchell	Cornerbacks	2016
James Shibest	Special Teams Coordinator, Tight Ends	2016
Tyrone Nix	Safeties	2018
Vance Vice	Offensive Line	2016
Holmon Wiggins	Wide Receivers	2016
Charley Wiles	Defensive Line	1996

Game summaries

at Florida State

	1	2	3	4	OT
No. 20 Hokies	10	7	0	7	24
No. 19 Seminoles	0	3	0	0	3

See also: 2018 Florida State Seminoles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–23–1	2012	L, 22–28

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	OT
Tribe	0	7	7	3	17
No. 12 Hokies	17	21	17	7	62

See also: 2018 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
41–18–4	2014	W, 34–9

at Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	OT
No. 13 Hokies	7	7	14	7	35
Monarchs	7	7	7	28	49

See also: 2018 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2017	W, 38–0

at Duke

	1	2	3	4	OT
Hokies	3	14	7	7	31
No. 22 Blue Devils	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2018 Duke Blue Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–9	2017	W, 24–3

Notre Dame

	1	2	3	4	OT
No. 6 Fighting Irish	10	7	14	14	45
No. 24 Hokies	3	13	0	7	23

See also: 2018 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2016	W, 34–31

at North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	OT
Hokies	7	0	7	8	22
Tar Heels	6	3	7	3	19

See also: 2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
22–12–6	2017	W, 59–7

Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT
Yellow Jackets	14	14	14	7	49
Hokies	14	7	0	7	28

See also: 2018 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team and Georgia Tech–Virginia Tech football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–6	2017	L, 22–28

Georgia Tech scored 7 touchdowns on the night, which is the most in Lane Stadium since the 1970s. They accomplished this feat 100% on the ground, racking up over 460 yards without completing a single pass. This game also marked the second straight time the backup QB for GT got the start on the road in the GT-VT series. GT is now 4-1 against the Hokies over the last 5 years.

Boston College

	1	2	3	4	OT
No. 24 Eagles	7	0	14	10	31
Hokies	7	7	0	7	21

See also: 2018 Boston College Eagles football team and Boston College–Virginia Tech football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–8	2017	W, 23–10

at Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	OT
Hokies	0	7	8	7	22
Panthers	10	21	7	14	52

See also: 2018 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–7	2017	W, 20–14

Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	OT
Hurricanes	3	14	21	0	38
Hokies	7	7	0	0	14

See also: 2018 Miami Hurricanes football team and Miami–Virginia Tech football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–21	2017	L, 10–28

Virginia

	1	2	3	4	OT
Cavaliers	0	0	14	17	31
Hokies	0	14	3	14	34

See also: 2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team and Virginia–Virginia Tech football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
57–37–5	2017	W, 10–0

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	OT
Thundering Herd	6	0	0	14	20
Hokies	10	21	3	7	41

See also: 2018 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–2	2013	W, 29–21 3OT

vs. Cincinnati (Military Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	OT
Bearcats	7	7	7	14	35
Hokies	7	7	10	7	31

See also: 2018 Cincinnati Bearcats football team and 2018 Military Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2014	W, 33–17

Honorary #25 Beamer Jersey

Since the start of the 2016 season, two days prior to each game, Head Coach Justin Fuente has selected an outstanding special teams player to wear the #25 jersey in honor of former head coach, Frank Beamer, who wore #25 as a player for Virginia Tech. The tradition now honors players on all sides of the ball week by week.

The players honored in the 2018 season are:

Game	Opponent	Player
Game 1	Florida State	Ricky Walker (2)
Game 2	William & Mary	Eric Kumah
Game 3	Old Dominion	Jovonn Quillen (2)
Game 4	Duke	Oscar Bradburn (2)
Game 5	Notre Dame	Khalil Ladler
Game 6	North Carolina	Chamarri Conner (Fr)
Game 7	Georgia Tech	Dax Hollifield (Fr)
Game 8	Boston College	Dalton Keene
Game 9	Pittsburgh	Divine Deablo
Game 10	Miami	Steven Peoples (2)
Game 11	Virginia	Ricky Walker (3)
Game 12	Marshall	Tre Turner (Fr)
Military Bowl	Cincinnati	-

Rankings

Further information: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	20	12	13	13	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	17	14	11	10	24	23	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
CFP	Not released									NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released