2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

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.

2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football
ConferenceMid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 24
FCS CoachesNo. 25
Record9–2 (7–1 MEAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorAlex Jackson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorRalph Street (2nd season)
Home stadiumBragg Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 2018
2021 →
2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
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  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • * Florida A&M ineligible for conference title due to NCAA sanctions
Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

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MEAC poll

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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

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

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
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*
  • Bragg Memorial Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
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 
  • Bragg Memorial Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
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
  • Bragg Memorial Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
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
  • 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 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

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At UCF

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

Fort Valley State

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

Southern

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

At Norfolk State

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

North Carolina Central

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

At South Carolina State

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

North Carolina A&T

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1 2 3 4OT Total
No. 10 Aggies 7 7 3 113 31
Rattlers 14 7 0 76 34

At Morgan State

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

Delaware State

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

Howard

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

Vs. Bethune–Cookman

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

Ranking movements

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
STATS FCSRV20171612122024
CoachesRV231715T14132125

References

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  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.