# 2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

The 2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Mark Elder and played their home games at Roy Kidd Stadium as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in OVC play to finish in fourth place. Elder was fired following the season. He finished with a record of 21–24.

## Preseason
### Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Colonels were picked to finish in third 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 Colonels had three players at three positions selected to the preseason all-OVC team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 7:00 p.m. | Valparaiso* | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 53–7 | 11,130 |
| September 7 | 7:00 p.m. | at Louisville* | Cardinal StadiumLouisville, KY | ACCN Extra | L 0–42 | 48,808 |
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at Indiana State* | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | L 7–19 | 4,416 |
| September 21 | 1:00 p.m. | at Presbyterian* | Bailey Memorial StadiumClinton, SC | ESPN+ | W 35–10 | 2,152 |
| September 28 | 6:00 p.m. | Tennessee State | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 42–16 | 8,861 |
| October 5 | 3:00 p.m. | UT Martin | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN3 | L 28–38 | 11,260 |
| October 19 | 3:00 p.m. | at Murray State | Roy Stewart StadiumMurray, KY | ESPN+ | W 34–27 | 9,029 |
| October 26 | 3:00 p.m. | at Eastern Illinois | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | ESPN+ | W 33–6 | 4,000 |
| November 2 | 1:00 p.m. | Austin Peay | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | L 21–28 $^{OT}$ | 7,330 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 17 Southeast Missouri State | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO | ESPN3 | L 31–38 | 3,750 |
| November 16 | 1:00 p.m. | Tennessee Tech | Roy Kidd StadiumRichmond, KY | ESPN+ | W 22–10 | 2,987 |
| November 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at Jacksonville State | JSU StadiumJacksonville, AL | ESPN3 | W 29–23 | 14,477 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Valparaiso

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Colonels | 15 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 53 |

### At Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cardinals | 14 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 42 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Sycamores | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 19 |

### At Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 7 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Blue Hose | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Tennessee State

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

### UT Martin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Skyhawks | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Colonels | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### At Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 7 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 34 |
| Racers | 3 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 |

### At Eastern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 7 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 33 |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |

### Austin Peay

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Governors | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Colonels | 10 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 21 |

### At Southeast Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 7 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
| No. 17 Redhawks | 7 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 38 |

### Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Colonels | 7 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 22 |

### At Jacksonville State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 6 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 29 |
| Gamecocks | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 23 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: RV = Received votes :
| | 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 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | |