2018 Mississippi College Choctaws football team

The 2018 Mississippi College Choctaws football team represented Mississippi College during the 2018 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach John Bland. The Choctaws played their home games at Robinson–Hale Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference (GSC).

2018 Mississippi College Choctaws football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
2018 record	3–7 (1–6 GSC)
Head coach	John Bland (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tommy Laurendine[1] (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Michael Collins (3rd season)
Home stadium	Robinson–Hale Stadium (Capacity: 8,500)

2018 Gulf South Conference football standings
	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

Preseason

Gulf South Conference coaches poll

On August 2, 2018, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Choctaws predicted to finish eighth place in the conference.[2]

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 Choctaws had one player at one position selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.[3]

Special Teams Chakel Gates – RS

Schedule

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

The Choctaws will host two of the three non-conference games against Clark Atlanta from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Southwest Baptist Bearcats football from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and will travel to North Alabama, which is a FCS Independent team.

Two of the eleven games will be broadcast on ESPN3, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.[4]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	Clark Atlanta*	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		W 31–30	3,834
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Southwest Baptist*	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		W 34-9	3,572
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at North Greenville	Younts Stadium Tigerville, SC		Canceled^[a]
September 22	7:00 p.m.	No. 10 West Florida	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS	ESPN3	L 21-34	3,347
September 29	7:00 p.m.	No. 13 Valdosta State	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		L 42-63	2,654
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at Florida Tech	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		L 24-31	2,543
October 13	6:00 p.m.	at North Alabama*	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL		L 17-34	9,230
October 20	12:00 p.m.	at Shorter	Barron Stadium Rome, GA	ESPN3	W 37-24	1,225
October 27	3:00 p.m.	No. 3 West Georgia	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		L 21-36	6,872
November 3	2:00 p.m.	West Alabama	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		L 3-24	4,347
November 10	2:00 p.m.	at Delta State	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS (rivalry)		L 21-28	5,432
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[5]

^{^[a]} The game between North Greenville and Mississippi College was cancelled in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Florence.[6] The game will not be rescheduled.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

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

Game summaries

Clark Atlanta

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	6	14	3	7	30
Choctaws	14	7	7	3	31

Southwest Baptist

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bearcats	3	0	0	6	9
Choctaws	7	10	10	7	34

West Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Argonauts	3	7	14	10	34
Choctaws	0	0	14	7	21

Valdosta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	7	35	14	7	63
Choctaws	7	14	14	7	42

at Florida Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Choctaws	0	14	7	3	24
Panthers	3	7	7	14	31

at North Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Choctaws	7	7	3	0	17
Lions	21	10	0	3	34

at Shorter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Choctaws	7	21	3	6	37
Hawks	7	0	7	10	24

West Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolves	7	10	7	12	36
Choctaws	0	14	7	0	21

West Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	10	7	7	24
Choctaws	0	3	0	0	3

at Delta State

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

References

1. "Tommy Laurendine Joins Mississippi College Football Staff" (Press release). Mississippi College Athletics. January 12, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
2. "West Alabama Tops GSC Football Preseason Poll". Gulf South Conference. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
3. https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/gulfsouthconference.com/documents/2018/8/2/Football_2018_Preseason_All_GSC_Table.pdf
4. "GSC Announces 2018 Football Game of the Week Schedule". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
5. "2018 Football Schedule". Florida Today. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
6. "MC football game against NGU canceled ahead of Hurricane Florence". WLBT3. September 12, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.