2019 Tennessee State Tigers football team

2019 Tennessee State Tigers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	3–9 (2–6 OVC)
Head coach	Rod Reed (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Shannon Harris (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Garry Fisher (3rd season)
Home stadium	Nissan Stadium Hale Stadium
Seasons ←  2018 2020  →

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Austin Peay +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 17 Southeast Missouri State +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
UT Martin		6	–	2					7	–	5
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	3					7	–	5
Tennessee Tech		3	–	5					6	–	6
Jacksonville State		3	–	5					6	–	6
Murray State		2	–	6					4	–	8
Tennessee State		2	–	6					3	–	9
Eastern Illinois		1	–	7					1	–	11
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by tenth-year head coach Rod Reed and played their home games at Nissan Stadium and Hale Stadium. Tennessee State finished the season 3–9 overall and 2–6 in OVC play to tie for seventh place.

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Tigers were picked to finish in fifth place. ^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	135 (15)
2	Southeast Missouri State	115
3	Eastern Kentucky	99
4	Austin Peay	84
5	Tennessee State	75
6	UT Martin	58
7	Murray State	55
8	Eastern Illinois	38
9	Tennessee Tech	16

Preseason All-OVC team

The Tigers had four players selected to the preseason all-OVC team. ^[2]

Offense Chris Rowland – WR Thomas Burton – C Raekwon Allen – OG

Defense Dajour Nesbeth – DB

Headlines

On August 20, 2019, it was announced that starting quarterback Demry Croft had been charged with six counts of felony rape and two counts of sexual battery, from an incident that took place on December 1, 2018. ^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	Mississippi Valley State *	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (John Merritt Classic)	ESPN+	W 26–20	13,458
September 7	6:00 p.m.	at Middle Tennessee *	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN3	L 26–45	20,912
September 14	6:00 p.m.	vs. Jackson State *	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Southern Heritage Classic)		L 44–49	48,347
September 21	2:00 p.m.	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	L 31–37	8,683
September 28	5:00 p.m.	at Eastern Kentucky	Roy Kidd Stadium Richmond, KY	ESPN+	L 16–42	8,861
October 5	6:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Jacksonville State	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	L 23–31	16,589
October 12	2:00 p.m.	Murray State	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	L 17–31	5,324
October 19	4:30 p.m.	No. 20 Austin Peay	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	W 26–24	16,389
November 2	2:00 p.m.	No. 18 Southeast Missouri State	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN3	L 13–32	4,378
November 9	2:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN+	L 38–49	4,131
November 16	2:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	Graham Stadium Martin, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	L 17–28	1,776
November 23	1:30 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	W 37–27	2,728
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^{[4] [5]}

Game summaries

Mississippi Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Delta Devils	0	6	7	7	20
Tigers	7	3	10	6	26

See also: 2019 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team

At Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	6	0	13	7	26
Blue Raiders	0	10	14	21	45

See also: 2019 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

Vs. Jackson State

	1	2	3	4	Total
JSU Tigers	21	7	14	7	49
TSU Tigers	7	7	9	21	44

See also: 2019 Jackson State Tigers football team

Arkansas–Pine Bluff

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Lions	7	12	6	12	37
Tigers	7	3	14	7	31

See also: 2019 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team

At Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	3	6	7	0	16
Colonels	7	14	7	14	42

See also: 2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

At Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	17	3	3	0	23
No. 21 Gamecocks	3	14	7	7	31

See also: 2019 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	7	14	0	10	31
Tigers	7	3	0	7	17

See also: 2019 Murray State Racers football team

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Governors	10	7	7	0	24
Tigers	0	9	7	10	26

See also: 2019 Austin Peay Governors football team

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Redhawks	9	6	10	7	32
Tigers	0	0	7	6	13

See also: 2019 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	14	7	14	14	49
Tigers	14	21	3	0	38

See also: 2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

At UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	3	7	0	17
Skyhawks	7	0	7	14	28

See also: 2019 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

At Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	10	13	14	37
Golden Eagles	14	13	0	0	27

See also: 2019 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2020 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	227	Lachavious Simmons	OG	Chicago Bears

References

1. "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2019 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
2. "JSU's Cooper, SEMO's Hall Named 2019 OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
3. Organ, Mike. "Tennessee State QB Demry Croft charged with six counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery". USA TODAY. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
4. "Football | Schedule | Official Site of Tennessee State Athletics". TSUTigers.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
5. "2019 Tennessee State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.