2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team

American college football season

2018 Tennessee State Tigers football

Conference| Ohio Valley Conference
Record| 4–5 (3–4 OVC)
Head coach|

* Rod Reed (9th season)

Offensive coordinator| Jeff Parker (4th season)
Defensive coordinator| Garry Fisher (2nd season)
Home stadium| Nissan Stadium
Hale Stadium

Seasons

<- 2017

2019 ->

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 3  |
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^  |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 3  |
Eastern Kentucky |  | 5  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 4  |
Murray State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
Tennessee State |  | 3  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 5  |
Eastern Illinois |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Austin Peay |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
UT Martin |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 9  |
Tennessee Tech |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 10  |

* $ - Conference champion
* ^ - FCS playoff participant

Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Rod Reed and played their home games at Nissan Stadium and Hale Stadium. Tennessee State finished the season 4–5 overall and 3–4 in OVC play to place fifth.

## Preseason

[edit]

### OVC media poll

[edit]

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Tigers predicted to finish in fourth place.[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Tigers predicted to finish in sixth place.[2]

Media poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

|
|

1 | Jacksonville State | 134 (14)
2 | Austin Peay | 114 (1)
3 | UT Martin | 96
4 | Tennessee State | 91
5 | Eastern Illinois | 83
6 | Eastern Kentucky | 64
7 | Murray State | 39
8 | Southeast Missouri State | 35
9 | Tennessee Tech | 19
Coaches poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

|
|

1 | Jacksonville State | 126 (14)
2 | Austin Peay | 112 (4)
3 | UT Martin | 95
4 | Eastern Illinois | 73
5 | Eastern Kentucky | 69
6 | Tennessee State | 64
7 | Southeast Missouri State | 62
8 | Murray State | 24
9 | Tennessee Tech | 23

### Preseason All-OVC team

[edit]

The Tigers had three players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[3]

Offense

Steven Newbold – WR

Defense

Vincent Sellers – DB

Dajour Nesbeth – DB

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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September 1| 6:00 p.m.| Bethune–Cookman*|

* Nissan Stadium
* Nashville, TN

| ESPN+| W 34–3| 14,069
September 8| 6:00 p.m.| vs. Jackson State*|

* Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
* Memphis, TN (Southern Heritage Classic)

| FSS|  Cancelled[a]|
September 15| 5:00 p.m.| at Hampton*|

* Armstrong Stadium
* Hampton, VA

| |  Cancelled[b]|
September 22| 2:00 p.m.| at Eastern Illinois|

* O'Brien Field
* Charleston, IL

| ESPN+| W 41–40| 7,670
September 29| 3:00 p.m.| at Vanderbilt*|

* Vanderbilt Stadium
* Nashville, TN

| SECN| L 27–31| 27,340
October 6| 6:00 p.m.| at Austin Peay|

* Fortera Stadium
* Clarksville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)

| ESPN3| L 34–49| 12,201
October 13| 1:00 p.m.| at Murray State|

* Roy Stewart Stadium
* Murray, KY

| ESPN+| L 21–45| 3,318
October 20| 4:30 p.m.| Tennessee Tech|

* Nissan Stadium
* Nashville, TN

| ESPN+| W 41–14| 17,283
November 3| 1:00 p.m.| at No. 25 Southeast Missouri State|

* Houck Stadium
* Cape Girardeau, MO

| ESPN+| L 21–38| 3,481
November 10| 2:00 p.m.| No. 8 Jacksonville State|

* Hale Stadium
* Nashville, TN

| ESPN+| L 14–41| 6,718
November 17| 2:00 p.m.| UT Martin|

* Hale Stadium
* Nashville, TN

| ESPN+| W 31–28 OT| 3,618

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

1. ^ The Jackson State game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
2. ^ The Hampton game was cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

## Game summaries

[edit]

### Bethune–Cookman

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Wildcats  | 0  | 3  | 0  | 0 | 3
Tigers | 14  | 7  | 3  | 10 | 34

See also: 2018 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team

### At Eastern Illinois

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Tigers | 0  | 13  | 13  | 15 | 41
Panthers  | 17  | 7  | 7  | 9 | 40

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

### At Vanderbilt

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Tigers  | 0  | 13  | 7  | 7 | 27
Commodores | 0  | 10  | 14  | 7 | 31

See also: 2018 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

### At Austin Peay

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Tigers  | 7  | 14  | 6  | 7 | 34
Governors | 7  | 14  | 21  | 7 | 49

See also: 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team and Sgt. York Trophy

### At Murray State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Tigers  | 14  | 0  | 0  | 7 | 21
Racers | 3  | 21  | 14  | 7 | 45

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

### Tennessee Tech

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Golden Eagles  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 14 | 14
Tigers | 17  | 10  | 14  | 0 | 41

See also: 2018 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team and Sgt. York Trophy

### At Southeast Missouri State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Tigers  | 0  | 14  | 7  | 0 | 21
No. 25 Redhawks | 3  | 21  | 14  | 0 | 38

See also: 2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

### Jacksonville State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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No. 8 Gamecocks | 20  | 7  | 0  | 14 | 41
Tigers  | 7  | 0  | 0  | 7 | 14

See also: 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

### UT Martin

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4| OT | Total

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Skyhawks  | 0  | 3  | 7  | 15| 3 | 28
Tigers | 0  | 12  | 3  | 10| 6 | 31

See also: 2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team and Sgt. York Trophy

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites".
2. ^ "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites". Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
3. ^ "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.

* v
* t
* e

Tennessee State Tigers football

Venues|

* Sulphur Dell
* Dudley Field/Vanderbilt Stadium (alternate, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979–1990, 1994, 1996)
* Hale Stadium (1953–1998, 2012–2020)
* Nissan Stadium (1999–2019, 2021–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin: Sgt. York Trophy
* Jackson State: Southern Heritage Classic

Culture & lore|

* Tigre

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1916
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National championship seasons in bold
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number