2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team
The 2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Willie Simmons. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium and were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Florida A&M finished the year 9–2, 7–1 in MEAC play to finish with the best overall record in the MEAC and across all HBCU schools. However, in May 2019, Florida A&M was banned from 2019 postseason play,[1] so could not compete in the Celebration Bowl or for a MEAC championship.
2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football | |
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Conference | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 24 |
FCS Coaches | No. 25 |
2019 record | 9–2 (7–1 MEAC) |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Bragg Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 25,500) |
2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Rattlers finished the 2018 season 6–5, 5–2 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for second place.
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) |
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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 | ||
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August 29 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 17 (FBS) UCF* | CBSSN | L 0–62 | 44,073 | ||||
September 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Fort Valley State* | ESPN3 | W 57–20 | 17,911 | ||||
September 21 | 6:00 p.m. | Southern* |
| ESPN3 | W 27–21 | 27,191 | |||
September 28 | 4:00 p.m. | at Norfolk State | ESPN3 | W 30–28 | 8,249 | ||||
October 5 | 2:00 p.m. | North Carolina Central |
| ESPN3 | W 28–21 | 25,679 | |||
October 12 | 2:00 p.m. | at South Carolina State | ESPN3 | W 42–38 | 15,792 | ||||
October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 North Carolina A&T |
| ESPN3 | W 34–31 | 1,051 | |||
October 26 | 3:00 p.m. | at Morgan State | No. 20 | ESPN3 | W 24–12 | 2,786 | |||
November 2 | 4:00 p.m. | Delaware State | No. 17 |
| ESPN3 | W 52–30 | 7,412 | ||
November 16 | 4:00 p.m. | Howard | No. 12 |
| ESPN3 | W 39–7 | 8,979 | ||
November 23 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Bethune–Cookman | No. 12 |
| ESPNews | L 27–31 | 55,730 | ||
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Game summaries
at UCF
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Rattlers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
No. 17 (FBS) Knights | 17 | 31 | 7 | 7 | 62 |
Fort Valley State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 20 |
Rattlers | 14 | 26 | 7 | 10 | 57 |
Southern
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Jaguars | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Rattlers | 17 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 27 |
at Norfolk State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Rattlers | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
Spartans | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
North Carolina Central
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Rattlers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
at South Carolina State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Rattlers | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
Bulldogs | 0 | 14 | 3 | 21 | 38 |
North Carolina A&T
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
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No. 10 Aggies | 7 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 31 |
Rattlers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
at Morgan State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 20 Rattlers | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
Bears | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Delaware State
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Hornets | 0 | 3 | 20 | 7 | 30 |
No. 17 Rattlers | 14 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
Howard
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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Bison | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
No. 12 Rattlers | 3 | 14 | 22 | 0 | 39 |
vs. Bethune–Cookman
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 12 Rattlers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 31 |
Ranking movements
Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final | ||||||
STATS FCS | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 20 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 24 | ||||||
Coaches | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 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.