2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team

2018 Tennessee State Tigers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	4–5 (3–4 OVC)
Head coach	Rod Reed (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Parker (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Garry Fisher (2nd season)
Home stadium	Nissan Stadium Hale Stadium
Seasons ←  2017 2019  →

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	3
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	2					7	–	4
Murray State		5	–	3					5	–	6
Tennessee State		3	–	4					4	–	5
Eastern Illinois		3	–	5					3	–	8
Austin Peay		3	–	5					5	–	6
UT Martin		2	–	6					2	–	9
Tennessee Tech		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Rod Reed and played their home games at Nissan Stadium and Hale Stadium. Tennessee State finished the season 4–5 overall and 3–4 in OVC play to place fifth.

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Tigers predicted to finish in fourth place. ^[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Tigers predicted to finish in sixth place. ^[2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	134 (14)
2	Austin Peay	114 (1)
3	UT Martin	96
4	Tennessee State	91
5	Eastern Illinois	83
6	Eastern Kentucky	64
7	Murray State	39
8	Southeast Missouri State	35
9	Tennessee Tech	19

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	126 (14)
2	Austin Peay	112 (4)
3	UT Martin	95
4	Eastern Illinois	73
5	Eastern Kentucky	69
6	Tennessee State	64
7	Southeast Missouri State	62
8	Murray State	24
9	Tennessee Tech	23

Preseason All-OVC team

The Tigers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team. ^[3]

Offense Steven Newbold – WR Defense Vincent Sellers – DB Dajour Nesbeth – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Bethune–Cookman *	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	W 34–3	14,069
September 8	6:00 p.m.	vs. Jackson State *	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Southern Heritage Classic)	FSS	Cancelled [a]
September 15	5:00 p.m.	at Hampton *	Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA		Cancelled [b]
September 22	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	W 41–40	7,670
September 29	3:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt *	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	SECN	L 27–31	27,340
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN3	L 34–49	12,201
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 21–45	3,318
October 20	4:30 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	W 41–14	17,283
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Southeast Missouri State	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	L 21–38	3,481
November 10	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 Jacksonville State	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	L 14–41	6,718
November 17	2:00 p.m.	UT Martin	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	W 31–28 OT	3,618
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

1. The Jackson State game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
2. The Hampton game was cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3
Tigers	14	7	3	10	34

See also: 2018 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team

At Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	13	13	15	41
Panthers	17	7	7	9	40

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

At Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	13	7	7	27
Commodores	0	10	14	7	31

See also: 2018 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

At Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	14	6	7	34
Governors	7	14	21	7	49

See also: 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team and Sgt. York Trophy

At Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	14	0	0	7	21
Racers	3	21	14	7	45

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	0	0	14	14
Tigers	17	10	14	0	41

See also: 2018 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team and Sgt. York Trophy

At Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	14	7	0	21
No. 25 Redhawks	3	21	14	0	38

See also: 2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Gamecocks	20	7	0	14	41
Tigers	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Skyhawks	0	3	7	15	3	28
Tigers	0	12	3	10	6	31

See also: 2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team and Sgt. York Trophy

References

1. "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites".
2. "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites". Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
3. "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.