2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football
2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 24
FCS Coaches	No. 25
Record	9–2 (7–1 MEAC)
Head coach	Willie Simmons (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Alex Jackson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Ralph Street (2nd season)
Home stadium	Bragg Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2018 2021 →

2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 24 Florida A&M *	7	–	1	9	–	2
No. 20 North Carolina A&T +	6	–	2	9	–	3
South Carolina State +	6	–	2	8	–	3
Bethune–Cookman	5	–	3	7	–	4
Norfolk State	4	–	4	5	–	7
North Carolina Central	3	–	5	4	–	8
Howard	2	–	6	2	–	10
Morgan State	2	–	6	3	–	9
Delaware State	1	–	7	2	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions * Florida A&M ineligible for conference title due to NCAA sanctions Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Willie Simmons and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Florida A&M finished the year 9–2 overall and 7–1 in MEAC play to post with the best record in the MEAC and across all HBCU schools. However, in May 2019, Florida A&M had been banned from 2019 postseason play,^[1] so could not compete in the Celebration Bowl or for a MEAC championship.

Preseason

MEAC poll

In the MEAC preseason poll released on July 26, 2019, the Rattlers were predicted to finish in third place.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Carolina A&T	304 (12)
2	Bethune–Cookman	237 (1)
3	Florida A&M	204 (2)
4	Howard	166
5	North Carolina Central	161 (1)
6	South Carolina State	152
7	Norfolk State	119 (1)
8	Morgan State	87 (1)
9	Delaware State	46

Preseason All–MEAC teams

The Rattlers had eleven players selected to the preseason all-MEAC teams.^[3]

Second Team Offense

Ryan Stanley – QB

Deshawn Smith – RB

Xavier Smith – WR

Third Team Offense

Bishop Bonnette – RB

Chad Hunter – WR

First Team Defense

Yahia Aly – K

Chris Faddoul – P

Second Team Defense

Terry Jefferson – DB

Third Team Defense

Demontre Moore – DL

Elijah Richardson – LB

Herman Jackson Jr. – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:30 p.m.	at No. 17 (FBS) UCF*		Spectrum Stadium Orlando, FL	CBSSN	L 0–62	44,073
September 14	6:00 p.m.	Fort Valley State*		Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 57–20	17,911
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Southern*		Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 27–21	27,191
September 28	4:00 p.m.	at Norfolk State		William "Dick" Price Stadium Norfolk, VA	ESPN3	W 30–28	8,249
October 5	2:00 p.m.	North Carolina Central		Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 28–21	25,679
October 12	2:00 p.m.	at South Carolina State		Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Orangeburg, SC	ESPN3	W 42–38	15,792
October 20	2:00 p.m.	No. 10 North Carolina A&T		Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 34–31	1,051
October 26	3:00 p.m.	at Morgan State	No. 20	Hughes Stadium Baltimore, MD	ESPN3	W 24–12	2,786
November 2	4:00 p.m.	Delaware State	No. 17	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 52–30	7,412
November 16	4:00 p.m.	Howard	No. 12	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 39–7	8,979
November 23	3:30 p.m.	vs. Bethune–Cookman	No. 12	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL (Florida Classic)	ESPNews	L 27–31	55,730
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]^[5]

Game summaries

At UCF

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	0	0	0	0	0
No. 17 (FBS) Knights	17	31	7	7	62

Fort Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	6	14	20
Rattlers	14	26	7	10	57

Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	7	7	7	21
Rattlers	17	0	2	8	27

At Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	7	10	6	7	30
Spartans	7	7	7	7	28

North Carolina Central

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	7	7	21
Rattlers	7	7	0	14	28

At South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	7	7	14	14	42
Bulldogs	0	14	3	21	38

North Carolina A&T

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 10 Aggies	7	7	3	11	3	31
Rattlers	14	7	0	7	6	34

At Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Rattlers	7	17	0	0	24
Bears	7	3	0	2	12

Delaware State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	3	20	7	30
No. 17 Rattlers	14	17	14	7	52

Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	0	0	0	7	7
No. 12 Rattlers	3	14	22	0	39

Vs. Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Rattlers	7	6	7	7	27
Wildcats	7	14	0	10	31

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	20	17	16	12	12	20	24
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	23	17	15T	14	13	21	25

References

^ "NCAA Hits FAMU Athletics With Penalties Over Ineligible Student Athletes". wfsu.org. May 22, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
^ "MEAC Announces 2019 Football Predicted Order of Finish". meacsports.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
^ "MEAC Announces 2019 Preseason Football All-MEAC Awards". meacsports.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
^ "2019 Florida A&M Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
^ "Football - Schedule - FAMUAthletics.com - The Official Athletics Site of Florida A&M University". www.famuathletics.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

[1] "NCAA Hits FAMU Athletics With Penalties Over Ineligible Student Athletes". wfsu.org. May 22, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

[2] "MEAC Announces 2019 Football Predicted Order of Finish". meacsports.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

[3] "MEAC Announces 2019 Preseason Football All-MEAC Awards". meacsports.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

[4] "2019 Florida A&M Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

[5] "Football - Schedule - FAMUAthletics.com - The Official Athletics Site of Florida A&M University". www.famuathletics.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

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