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1956 Virginia Tech

7–⁠2–⁠1 (3–⁠0 Southern Conference), coached by Frank Moseley.

Schedule and results

Virginia Tech in 1956, game by game: won vs. East Carolina 37–2; lost at Tulane 14–21; won vs. No. 20 NC State 35–6; won at Florida State 20–7; won vs. William & Mary 34–7; won at Richmond 46–14; won vs. Virginia 14–7; lost at No. 13 Clemson 6–21; tied vs. Wake Forest 13–13; won vs. VMI 45–0+45−15Won 37–2 vs. East Carolina+35East CarolinaLost 14–21 at Tulane-7TulaneWon 35–6 vs. No. 20 NC State+29No. 20 NC StateWon 20–7 at Florida State+13Florida StateWon 34–7 vs. William & Mary+27William & MaryWon 46–14 at Richmond+32RichmondWon 14–7 vs. Virginia+7VirginiaLost 6–21 at No. 13 Clemson-15No. 13 ClemsonTied 13–13 vs. Wake Forest0Wake ForestWon 45–0 vs. VMI+45VMI
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsEast CarolinaW 37–⁠291%
Sep 22atTulaneL 14–⁠2149%
Sep 29vs20NC StateW 35–⁠662%
Oct 6atFlorida StateW 20–⁠754%
Oct 13vsWilliam & MaryW 34–⁠781%
Oct 20atRichmondW 46–⁠1463%
Oct 27vsVirginiaW 14–⁠785%
Nov 3at13ClemsonL 6–⁠2143%
Nov 10vsWake ForestT 13–⁠1371%
Nov 22vsVMIW 45–⁠081%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat VMI 45–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Southern Conference.

In program history: The 27th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 18
  2. Wk 6: 16
  3. Wk 7: 15
Record
7–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠0 shared first in Southern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
264–⁠98
Coach
Frank Moseley
Elo
1601 +62 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.7 No. 33 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-Southern Conference

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Jimmy LugarBAP-1

Second team

  • Bobby WolfendenBAP-2
  • Grover JonesEAP-2
  • John HallCAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Southern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
West Virginia5–⁠06–⁠4
Virginia Tech3–⁠07–⁠2–⁠1
George Washington5–⁠18–⁠1–⁠117
Furman2–⁠22–⁠8
VMI2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Davidson1–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Richmond2–⁠54–⁠5
The Citadel1–⁠33–⁠5–⁠1
William & Mary0–⁠50–⁠9–⁠1

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