2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

American college football season

2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football

Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 OVC)
Head coach	Mark Elder (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Adam Austin (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Kurt Maddix (4th season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Shannon Morrison (4th season)
Home stadium	Roy Kidd Stadium
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 8 Austin Peay +^	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 17 Southeast Missouri State +^	7	–	1	9	–	3
UT Martin	6	–	2	7	–	5
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	3	7	–	5
Tennessee Tech	3	–	5	6	–	6
Jacksonville State	3	–	5	6	–	6
Murray State	2	–	6	4	–	8
Tennessee State	2	–	6	3	–	9
Eastern Illinois	1	–	7	1	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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.^[1]

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The OVC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 22, 2019. The Colonels were picked to finish in third place.^[2]

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.^[3]

Offense

Daryl McCleskey Jr. – RB

Defense

Aaron Patrick – DL

Leodis Moore III – DB

Schedule

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

^[4]

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
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV
Coaches	RV

References

^ "Mark Elder out as Eastern Kentucky football coach". Lexington Herald-Leader. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2019 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "JSU's Cooper, SEMO's Hall Named 2019 OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". ovcsports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
^ "2019 Eastern Kentucky Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.

v t e Eastern Kentucky Colonels football
Venues	Hanger Stadium (1938–1968) Roy Kidd Stadium (1969–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games 1955 Tangerine Bowl 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl Morehead State: Old Hawg Rifle Western Kentucky: Battle of the Bluegrass
Culture & lore	The Colonel "Rally Maroon and White" Marching Colonels
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold