# 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, so could not compete in the Celebration Bowl or for a MEAC championship.

## Preseason
### MEAC poll

In the MEAC preseason poll released on July 26, 2019, the Rattlers were predicted to finish in third place.
| 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

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

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 17 (FBS) UCF* | | Spectrum StadiumOrlando, FL | CBSSN | L 0–62 | 44,073 |
| September 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Fort Valley State* | | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 57–20 | 17,911 |
| September 21 | 6:00 p.m. | Southern* | | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 27–21 | 27,191 |
| September 28 | 4:00 p.m. | at Norfolk State | | William "Dick" Price StadiumNorfolk, VA | ESPN3 | W 30–28 | 8,249 |
| October 5 | 2:00 p.m. | North Carolina Central | | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 28–21 | 25,679 |
| October 12 | 2:00 p.m. | at South Carolina State | | Oliver C. Dawson StadiumOrangeburg, SC | ESPN3 | W 42–38 | 15,792 |
| October 20 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 North Carolina A&T | | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 34–31 | 1,051 |
| October 26 | 3:00 p.m. | at Morgan State | No. 20 | Hughes StadiumBaltimore, MD | ESPN3 | W 24–12 | 2,786 |
| November 2 | 4:00 p.m. | Delaware State | No. 17 | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 52–30 | 7,412 |
| November 16 | 4:00 p.m. | Howard | No. 12 | Bragg Memorial StadiumTallahassee, FL | ESPN3 | W 39–7 | 8,979 |
| November 23 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. Bethune–Cookman | No. 12 | Camping World StadiumOrlando, FL (Florida Classic) | ESPNews | L 27–31 | 55,730 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At UCF

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

### Fort Valley State

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

### Southern

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

### At Norfolk State

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

### North Carolina Central

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

### At South Carolina State

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

### North Carolina A&T

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| No. 10 Aggies | 7 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 31 |
| Rattlers | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 34 |

### At Morgan State

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

### Delaware State

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

### Howard

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

### Vs. Bethune–Cookman

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

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | 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 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 24 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 23 | 17 | 15T | 14 | 13 | 21 | 25 |