# 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team

The 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2019 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Steve Englehart. The Panthers played their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus, and were members of the Gulf South Conference. In May 2020, Florida Tech shut down its football program due to budget cuts that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Preseason
### Gulf South Conference coaches poll

On August 1, 2019, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in 5th place in the conference.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Valdosta State | 64 (8) |
| 2 | West Georgia | 55 |
| 3 | West Alabama | 49 |
| 4 | West Florida | 44 (1) |
| 5 | Florida Tech | 37 |
| 6 | Delta State | 28 |
| 7 | North Greenville | 24 |
| 8 | Mississippi College | 15 |
| 9 | Shorter | 8 |

### Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Team

The Panthers had four players at four positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.

## Schedule

Florida Tech 2019 football schedule consists of five home and six away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia, and will travel to Delta State, Mississippi College, North Greenville, and Valdosta State.
The Panthers will host one of the three non-conference games against Fort Valley State from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and will travel to Newberry from the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and Savannah State also from the SIAC.
Two of the eleven games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and ESPN+, as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.
The Week One game at Savannah State, originally scheduled for September 7, was moved back a day due to Hurricane Dorian.
The Week Seven game at Valdosta State, originally scheduled for a 3 P.M. kickoff on October 19, was moved back to a 7 P.M. start due to the forecast approach of Tropical Storm Nestor earlier in the day.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 8 | 2:00 p.m. | at Savannah State* | Ted Wright StadiumSavannah, GA | | W 23-22 | 3,028 |
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at Newberry* | Setzler FieldNewberry, SC | | W 30-28 | 2,944 |
| September 21 | 7:00 p.m. | at Delta State | McCool StadiumCleveland, MS | ESPN3 | L 28-30 | 6,665 |
| September 28 | 7:00 p.m. | West Georgia | Florida Tech Panther StadiumMelbourne, FL | | W 44-10 | 2,450 |
| October 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Fort Valley State* | Florida Tech Panther StadiumMelbourne, FL | | L 29-33 | 2,400 |
| October 12 | 8:00 p.m. | at Mississippi College | Robinson-Hale StadiumClinton, MS | | L 14-34 | 2,507 |
| October 19 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 1 Valdosta State | Bazemore–Hyder StadiumValdosta, GA | | L 28-55 | 4,631 |
| October 26 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 20 West Florida | Florida Tech Panther StadiumMelbourne, FL (Coastal Classic) | ESPN+ | L 14-38 | 2,215 |
| November 2 | 2:00 p.m. | West Alabama | Florida Tech Panther StadiumMelbourne, FL | | L 10-13 | 878 |
| November 9 | 1:30 p.m. | at North Greenville | Younts StadiumTigerville, SC | | W 17-14 $^{2OT}$ | 3,744 |
| November 16 | 2:00 p.m. | Shorter | Florida Tech Panther StadiumMelbourne, FL | | W 42-3 | 1,450 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

### Rankings

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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final |
| AFCA | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

## Game summaries
### At Savannah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 23 |
| Tigers | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 22 |

### At Newberry

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 10 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 30 |
| Wolves | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |

### At Delta State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Statesmen | 10 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 30 |

### West Georgia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wolves | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Panthers | 13 | 14 | 17 | 0 | 44 |

### Fort Valley State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 33 |
| Panthers | 10 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 29 |

### At Mississippi College

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Choctaws | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 34 |

### At Valdosta State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Blazers | 14 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 55 |

### West Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Argonauts | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### West Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| Panthers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### At North Greenville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Shorter

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Panthers | 14 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 42 |

## Awards and milestones
### Gulf South Conference honors

Five players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches.

#### Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team

* Evan Thompson, LB

#### Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team

* Miles Kelly, WR
* Kenny Hiteman, TE
* Tyrone Cromwell, DB
* John McClure, DB

#### Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week

* September 30: Mike Diliello, QB

#### Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week

* September 23: Mike Diliello, QB
* September 30: Mike Diliello, QB