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)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Ralph Street (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Bragg Memorial Stadium

2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 24 *	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] as a result, the team 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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Florida A&M Rattlers football
Venues	Sampson-Bragg Field (1942–1946) Bragg Stadium (1947–1956) Doak Campbell Stadium (1974–1980; entire 1980 season) Bragg Memorial Stadium (1957–1979, 1981–present)
Bowls & rivalries	2023 Celebration Bowl Bethune–Cookman: Florida Classic Jackson State: Orange Blossom Classic
Culture & lore	"Rattler Orange and Green" Marching 100
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1907 1908 1909 1910–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold