1961 VPI Gobblers football team

The 1961 VPI Gobblers football team represented the Virginia Polytechnic Institute or VPI (now known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University or Virginia Tech) as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. Led by first-year head coach Jerry Claiborne the Gobblers compiled an overall record of 4–5 with a mark of 2–3 in conference play, and finished seventh in the SoCon. VPI played home games at Miles Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia.

1961 VPI Gobblers football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	4–5 (2–3 SoCon)
Head coach	Jerry Claiborne (1st season)
Home stadium	Miles Stadium

1961 Southern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
The Citadel $	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Richmond	5	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
VMI	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
West Virginia	2	–	1	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Furman	2	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
George Washington	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
VPI	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Davidson	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
William & Mary	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	vs. William & Mary	Victory Stadium Roanoke, VA	W 20–6	5,000
October 7	at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (rivalry)	L 0–28	15,000
October 14	at Tulane*	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA	L 14–27
October 21	vs. Virginia*	Victory Stadium Roanoke, VA (Harvest Bowl, rivalry)	W 20–0	17,000
October 28	Florida State*	Miles Stadium Blacksburg, VA	W 10–7	14,000
November 4	at Richmond	City Stadium Richmond, VA	L 0–11	14,000
November 11	at Wake Forest*	Bowman Gray Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	L 15–24	8,000
November 17	George Washington	Miles Stadium Blacksburg, VA	W 14–3	5,000
November 23	vs. VMI	Victory Stadium Roanoke, VA (rivalry)	L 0–6	20,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Roster

The following players were members of the 1961 football team according to the roster published in the 1962 edition of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.

VPI 1961 roster
	Jake Adams Kyle Marlon Albright William McLemore Babb Ray Barile Gerald Bobbitte Harold Bolden Herb Bowling Gene Breen Mike Cahill Alex Camaioni Phillip W. Cary Pete Cartwright Dickie Cranwell Bloice Davison Lacy Lee Edwards, Jr. Randall Edwards		John Farmer Ronald Wayne Frank David Green Walter Newton Green, Jr. David W. Gillespie Richard B. Goode Ron Hawkins Thomas Morgan Hawkins James Venable Hickam Charles F. Hines Robert Gerald Holbrook Don Jensen Warren Maccaroni Ray Massie John W. Minichan Joe Moss		Bob Peak Noah Redding "Buddy" Perry Charles Warren Price, Jr. Art Pruett Bill Robertson Aster Sizemore Charlie Speck Terry L. Strock Amos Leon Tomblin Joseph Gilleece "Skip" Vance Al Verthein Thomas Merritt Walker K. T. "Buddy" Weihe Roger Whitley