2019 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

The 2019 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team represented Southeast Missouri State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Tom Matukewicz, the Redhawks compiled an overall record of 9–4 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the OVC title with Austin Peay. Southeast Missouri State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Redhawks lost to Illinois State in the first round. The team played home games at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

2019 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football
OVC co-champion
NCAA Division I First Round, L 6–24 vs. Illinois State
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	9–4 (7–1 OVC)
Head coach	Tom Matukewicz (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeromy McDowell (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bryce Saia (6th season)
Home stadium	Houck Stadium

2019 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
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

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

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

Offense

Daniel Santacaterina – QB

Kristian Wilkerson – WR

Defense

Clarence Thornton – DL

Zach Hall – LB

Justin Swift – LB

Bydarrius Knighten – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	6:30 p.m.	Southern Illinois*	No. 17	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 44–26	8,312
September 7	7:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Montana State*	No. 12	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	Pluto TV	L 17–38	19,497
September 14	6:30 p.m.	at Missouri*	No. 19	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN Alt.	L 0–50	56,620
September 21	1:00 p.m.	West Virginia State*	No. 23	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 56–10	5,324
October 5	6:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	No. 23	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 43–37 2OT	4,373
October 12	2:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay	No. 20	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	L 24–28	6,343
October 19	3:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Jacksonville State		JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN3	W 24–21	13,643
October 26	1:00 p.m.	UT Martin	No. 24	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 17–10	2,467
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at Tennessee State	No. 18	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN3	W 32–13	4,738
November 9	1:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky	No. 17	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN3	W 38–31	3,750
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	No. 15	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	ESPN+	W 26–12	4,069
November 23	1:00 p.m.	Murray State	No. 13	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	W 31–24	2,764
November 30	1:00 p.m.	No. 13 Illinois State*	No. 12	Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 6–24	3,274
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	7	7	0	12	26
No. 17 Redhawks	0	20	17	7	44

See also: 2019 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Redhawks	0	10	0	7	17
No. 13 Bobcats	10	0	28	0	38

See also: 2019 Montana State Bobcats football team

At Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Redhawks	0	0	0	0	0
Tigers	27	10	10	3	50

See also: 2019 Missouri Tigers football team

West Virginia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	0	0	10	0	10
No. 23 Redhawks	14	14	7	21	56

See also: West Virginia State Yellow Jackets football

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Golden Eagles	7	13	7	3	7	0	37
No. 23 Redhawks	6	14	3	7	7	6	43

See also: 2019 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

At Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Redhawks	3	0	14	7	24
Governors	0	7	7	14	28

See also: 2019 Austin Peay Governors football team

At Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	0	7	3	14	24
No. 16 Gamecocks	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2019 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	7	3	0	0	10
No. 24 Redhawks	3	0	7	7	17

See also: 2019 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

At Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Redhawks	9	6	10	7	32
Tigers	0	0	7	6	13

See also: 2019 Tennessee State Tigers football team

Eastern Kentucky

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

See also: 2019 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

At Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Redhawks	0	6	7	13	26
Panthers	7	0	3	2	12

See also: 2019 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	7	17	0	0	24
No. 13 Redhawks	3	14	0	14	31

See also: 2019 Murray State Racers football team

Illinois State–NCAA Division I First Round

The Redhawks received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, with a first-round pairing against Illinois State.

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Redbirds	14	7	0	3	24
No. 12 Redhawks	3	0	0	3	6

See also: 2019 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	17	12	19	23	23	23	20	RV	24	18	17	15	13	12
Coaches	18	13	20	25	RV	25-T	22	RV	RV	21	18	17	16	13