2019 Tennessee State Tigers football team

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

	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.

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

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

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]

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]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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