2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team

2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football
NEC champion
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 14–42 vs. Albany
Conference	Northeast Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 23
FCS Coaches	No. 22
Record	11–2 (7–0 NEC)
Head coach	Ryan McCarthy (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Ambrosie (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ron DiGravio (1st season)
Home stadium	Arute Field
Seasons ←  2018 2021  →

2019 Northeast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 23 Central Connecticut $^		7	–	0					11	–	1
Robert Morris		6	–	1					7	–	5
Duquesne		4	–	3					6	–	5
Sacred Heart		4	–	3					7	–	5
Saint Francis (PA)		3	–	4					6	–	6
Bryant		3	–	4					4	–	8
Wagner		1	–	6					1	–	11
LIU		0	–	7					0	–	10
Merrimack *		0	–	0					6	–	5
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Merrimack ineligible for NEC title and FCS postseason play due to transition to NCAA Division I, and also ineligible for NEC title due to not playing a full conference schedule Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team represented Central Connecticut State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Ryan McCarthy. They played their home games at Arute Field as a member of the Northeast Conference.

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The NEC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 24, 2019. The Blue Devils were picked to finish in third place. ^[1]

Preseason All-NEC team

The Blue Devils had six players at three positions selected to the preseason all-NEC team. ^[1]

Offense Tyshaun James – WR J'Von Brown – OL Connor Mignone – OL Cole Phelps – OL

Defense Tajik Bagley – DB DJ Exilhomme – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Fordham *		Coffey Field Bronx, NY	Stadium	W 26–23	2,988
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Merrimack *		Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 40–37	5,114
September 14	2:00 p.m.	at Valparaiso *		Brown Field Valparaiso, IN	ESPN+	W 42–13	2,110
September 21	3:00 p.m.	at Eastern Michigan *		Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN3	L 29–34	17,286
October 5	2:00 p.m.	at Sacred Heart		Campus Field Fairfield, CT	ESPN3	W 28–3	5,402
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Columbia *		Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium New York, NY	ESPN+	W 24–14	3,172
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Bryant	No. 25	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 52–14	5,114
October 26	12:00 p.m.	LIU	No. 23	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 28–0	3,156
November 2	12:00 p.m.	at Wagner	No. 19	Wagner College Stadium New York City, NY	NEC Front Row	W 27–13	1,698
November 9	12:00 p.m.	Saint Francis (PA)	No. 20	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 38–31OT
November 16	12:00 p.m.	Robert Morris	No. 19	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 49–28
November 23	12:00 p.m.	at Duquesne	No. 18	Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field Pittsburgh, PA	NEC Front Row	W 43–10
November 30	12:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Albany *	No. 17	Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium Albany, NY (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 14–42
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^{[2] [3] [4]}

Game summaries

At Fordham

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	8	7	0	11	26
Rams	0	6	10	7	23

See also: 2019 Fordham Rams football team

Merrimack

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warriors	7	7	7	16	37
Blue Devils	3	21	13	3	40

See also: 2019 Merrimack Warriors football team

At Valparaiso

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	14	21	7	42
Crusaders	6	0	7	0	13

See also: 2019 Valparaiso Crusaders football team

At Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	15	0	0	14	29
Eagles	7	14	0	13	34

See also: 2019 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

At Sacred Heart

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	7	7	14	0	28
Pioneers	0	3	0	0	3

See also: 2019 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team

At Columbia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	7	10	0	7	24
Lions	0	7	7	0	14

See also: 2019 Columbia Lions football team

Bryant

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	0	0	14
No. 25 Blue Devils	14	14	14	10	52

See also: 2019 Bryant Bulldogs football team

LIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	0	0	0	0
No. 23 Blue Devils	0	14	7	7	28

See also: 2019 LIU Sharks football team

At Wagner

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Blue Devils	6	7	7	7	27
Seahawks	3	10	0	0	13

See also: 2019 Wagner Seahawks football team

Saint Francis

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Red Flash	0	14	10	7	0	31
No. 20 Blue Devils	7	7	7	10	7	38

See also: 2019 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	14	0	14	28
No. 19 Blue Devils	0	14	21	14	49

See also: 2019 Robert Morris Colonials football team

At Duquesne

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Blue Devils	12	7	17	7	43
Dukes	0	10	0	0	10

See also: 2019 Duquesne Dukes football team

FCS Playoffs

The Blue Devils received an automatic bid (due to winning their conference) for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Albany. ^[5]

At Albany–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Blue Devils	7	0	0	7	14
No. 25 Great Danes	0	7	28	7	42

See also: 2019 Albany Great Danes football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	25	23	19	20	19	18
Coaches	—	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	19	17	18	18

References

1. "Duquesne Deemed 'Team to Beat' at #NECFB Social Media Day; Preseason All-NEC Team also Unveiled". July 24, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
2. Wilmer, Brian (April 3, 2019). "Central Connecticut State releases 2019 football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
3. "2019 Football Schedule". Central Connecticut Blue Devils Athletics. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
4. "2019 Central Connecticut Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
5. "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.