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1954 Virginia Tech

8–⁠0–⁠1 (3–⁠0–⁠1 Southern Conference), coached by Frank Moseley, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Virginia Tech, 1954
Photo: Unknown, The Bugle, 1955, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Virginia Tech in 1954, game by game: won vs. NC State 30–21; won vs. Wake Forest 32–0; won at Clemson 18–7; won at Richmond 19–12; won vs. Virginia 6–0; tied vs. William & Mary 7–7; won at George Washington 20–13; won vs. Waynesburg 20–6; won vs. VMI 46–9+37Won 30–21 vs. NC State+9NC StateWon 32–0 vs. Wake Forest+32Wake ForestWon 18–7 at Clemson+11ClemsonWon 19–12 at Richmond+7RichmondWon 6–0 vs. Virginia+6VirginiaTied 7–7 vs. William & Mary0William & MaryWon 20–13 at George Washington+7George Washingt…Won 20–6 vs. Waynesburg+14WaynesburgWon 46–9 vs. VMI+37VMI
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsNC StateW 30–⁠2169%
Sep 25vsWake ForestW 32–⁠051%
Oct 2atClemsonW 18–⁠747%
Oct 16atRichmondW 19–⁠1253%
Oct 23vsVirginiaW 6–⁠071%
Oct 30vsWilliam & MaryT 7–⁠771%
Nov 5atGeorge WashingtonW 20–⁠1357%
Nov 13vsWaynesburgW 20–⁠692%
Nov 25vsVMIW 46–⁠969%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat VMI 46–⁠9; No. 16 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southern Conference.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 19
  2. Wk 5: 16
  3. Wk 6: 14
  4. Wk 7: 14
  5. Wk 8: 18
  6. Wk 9: 15
  7. Wk 10: 15
  8. Wk 11: 16
  9. Final: 16
Record
8–⁠0–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠0–⁠1 3rd in Southern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 14
Points
198–⁠75
Coach
Frank Moseley
Elo
1582 +142 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.2 No. 33 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 5George Preas OGBaltimore Colts
Rd 7Johnny Dean BSan Francisco 49ers

All-Southern Conference

4 first team

First team

  • Dickie BeardBAP-1; UP-1
  • Tom PettyEAP-1; UP-1
  • George PreasOTAP-1; UP-1
  • Billy KerfootOGAP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
West Virginia3–⁠08–⁠112
Furman2–⁠05–⁠5
Virginia Tech3–⁠0–⁠18–⁠0–⁠116
Davidson2–⁠16–⁠3
VMI4–⁠34–⁠6
Richmond2–⁠35–⁠4
William & Mary1–⁠2–⁠24–⁠4–⁠2
George Washington0–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
The Citadel0–⁠42–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.