# 2019 Monmouth Hawks football team

The 2019 Monmouth Hawks football team represented Monmouth University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Big South Conference. They were led by 27th-year head coach Kevin Callahan and played their home games at Kessler Field in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Monmouth finished the season 11–3 overall and 6–0 in Big South play to win the conference title. The Hawks received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. They defeated Holy Cross in the first round before losing to James Madison in the second round.

## Preseason
### Big South poll

In the Big South preseason poll released on July 21, 2019, the Hawks were predicted to finish in second place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Kennesaw State | 134 (14) |
| 2 | Monmouth | 122 (5) |
| 3 | Charleston Southern | 79 (1) |
| 4 | Campbell | 73 |
| 5 | Gardner–Webb | 67 |
| 6 | Hampton | 64 |
| 7 | Presbyterian | 21 |
| — | North Alabama | n/a |

### Preseason All–Big South team

The Hawks had five players selected to the preseason all-Big South team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 7:00 p.m. | at Western Michigan* | | Waldo StadiumKalamazoo, MI | ESPN3 | L 13–48 | 15,021 |
| September 7 | 1:00 p.m. | Lafayette* | | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | W 24–21 | 2,955 |
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | Albany* | | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | W 38–35 $^{OT}$ | 2,329 |
| September 21 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Montana* | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | Pluto TV | L 27–47 | 23,119 |
| October 5 | 6:00 p.m. | at Wagner* | | Wagner College StadiumStaten Island, NY | NEC Front Row | W 16–14 | 2,843 |
| October 12 | 1:00 p.m. | Presbyterian | | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | W 45–0 | 2,433 |
| October 19 | 1:00 p.m. | Gardner–Webb | | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN3 | W 49–28 | 3,466 |
| October 26 | 6:00 p.m. | at Charleston Southern | | Buccaneer FieldCharleston, SC | ESPN+ | W 35–13 | 3,358 |
| November 2 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Kennesaw State | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 45–21 | 4,464 |
| November 9 | 12:00 p.m. | North Alabama | No. 19 | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | W 49–38 | 3,132 |
| November 16 | 1:00 p.m. | at Campbell | No. 17 | Barker–Lane StadiumBuies Creek, NC | ESPN3 | W 47–10 | 3,468 |
| November 23 | 12:00 p.m. | Hampton | No. 15 | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | W 48–13 | 2,331 |
| November 30 | 12:00 p.m. | Holy Cross* | No. 14 | Kessler StadiumWest Long Branch, NJ (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | W 44–27 | 2,817 |
| December 7 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 2 James Madison* | No. 14 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 21–66 | 10,881 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Western Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Broncos | 21 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 48 |

### Lafayette

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leopards | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Hawks | 7 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 24 |

### Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Great Danes | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| Hawks | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 38 |

### At Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 19 Grizzlies | 0 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 47 |

### At Wagner

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| Seahawks | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Hose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawks | 21 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 45 |

### Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| Hawks | 7 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 49 |

### At Charleston Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| Buccaneers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

### At Kennesaw State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 3 | 28 | 14 | 0 | 45 |
| No. 5 Owls | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### North Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 38 |
| No. 19 Hawks | 7 | 7 | 21 | 14 | 49 |

### At Campbell

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Hawks | 0 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 47 |
| Fighting Camels | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Hampton

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Pirates | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| No. 15 Hawks | 14 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 48 |

## FCS Playoffs

The Hawks received an automatic bid (due to winning their conference) for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Holy Cross.

### Holy Cross–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Crusaders | 0 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 27 |
| No. 14 Hawks | 7 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 44 |

### At James Madison–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Hawks | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 2 Dukes | 21 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 66 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 20 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 13 |