# 2019 Tennessee State Tigers football team

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.

## Preseason
### Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Tigers were picked to finish in fifth place.
| 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 |

### Preseason All-OVC team

The Tigers had four players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.

### Headlines

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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Mississippi Valley State* | Nissan StadiumNashville, TN (John Merritt Classic) | ESPN+ | W 26–20 | 13,458 |
| September 7 | 6:00 p.m. | at Middle Tennessee* | Johnny "Red" Floyd StadiumMurfreesboro, TN | ESPN3 | L 26–45 | 20,912 |
| September 14 | 6:00 p.m. | vs. Jackson State* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Southern Heritage Classic) | | L 44–49 | 48,347 |
| September 21 | 2:00 p.m. | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN+ | L 31–37 | 8,683 |
| September 28 | 5:00 p.m. | at Eastern Kentucky | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | L 16–42 | 8,861 |
| October 5 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 21 Jacksonville State | JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL | ESPN+ | L 23–31 | 16,589 |
| October 12 | 2:00 p.m. | Murray State | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN+ | L 17–31 | 5,324 |
| October 19 | 4:30 p.m. | No. 20 Austin Peay | Nissan StadiumNashville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy) | ESPN+ | W 26–24 | 16,389 |
| November 2 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 18 Southeast Missouri State | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN3 | L 13–32 | 4,378 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | Eastern Illinois | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN+ | L 38–49 | 4,131 |
| November 16 | 2:00 p.m. | at UT Martin | Graham StadiumMartin, TN (Sgt. York Trophy) | ESPN+ | L 17–28 | 1,776 |
| November 23 | 1:30 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy) | ESPN+ | W 37–27 | 2,728 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Mississippi Valley State

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

### At Middle Tennessee

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

### Vs. Jackson State

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

### Arkansas–Pine Bluff

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

### At Eastern Kentucky

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

### At Jacksonville State

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

### Murray State

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

### Austin Peay

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

### Southeast Missouri State

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

### Eastern Illinois

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

### At UT Martin

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

### At Tennessee Tech

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

## Players drafted into the NFL

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