2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

The 2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football team represented the University of Tennessee at Martin during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 13th-year head coach Jason Simpson and played their home games at Graham Stadium. They were a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 2–9, 2–6 in OVC play to finish in eighth place.

2018 UT Martin Skyhawks football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2018 record	2–9 (2–6 OVC)
Head coach	Jason Simpson (13th season)
Offensive coordinator	Kevin Bannon (3rd as OC, 6th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Jordon Hankins (2nd as DC, 9th overall season)
Home stadium	Graham Stadium (Capacity: 8,500)

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
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

Previous season

The Skyhawks finished the 2017 season 6–5, 4–4 in OVC play to finish in fourth place.

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Skyhawks predicted to finish in third place.[1] On July 23, the OVC released their coches poll with the Skyhawks also predicted to finish in third 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

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

Offense LaDarius Galloway – RB Defense James Gilleylen – LB Specialists Peyton Logan – KR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:00 p.m.	at Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	L 14–51	44,019
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at Middle Tennessee*	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	L 37–61	16,227
September 15	3:00 p.m.	Chattanooga*	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	L 24–34	4,414
September 22	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 Austin Peay	Graham Stadium Martin, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	W 37–7	1,497
September 29	6:00 p.m.	at Murray State	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ESPN+	L 38–45	11,137
October 13	2:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	L 34–35	1,769
October 20	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	ESPN3	L 21–24 ^OT	7,413
October 27	2:00 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State	Graham Stadium Martin, TN	ESPN+	L 33–56	4,014
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Jacksonville State	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	L 14–21	16,093
November 10	2:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech	Graham Stadium Martin, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	W 38–13	2,736
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at Tennessee State	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	L 28–31 ^OT	3,618
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	0	7	7	0	14
Tigers	14	24	10	3	51

See also: 2018 Missouri Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	7	10	7	13	37
Blue Raiders	14	12	21	14	61

See also: 2018 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–18–1	1999	MTSU, 70–14

Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	10	10	7	7	34
Skyhawks	0	7	0	17	24

See also: 2018 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2017	UTM, 21–7

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Governors	7	0	0	0	7
Skyhawks	6	0	17	14	37

See also: 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
34–18	2017	APSU, 7–0

at Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	3	7	14	14	38
Racers	14	17	7	7	45

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–28–1	2017	MUR, 13–10

Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	21	0	7	7	35
Skyhawks	7	24	3	0	34

See also: 2018 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–23	2017	EKU, 31–21

at Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Skyhawks	7	7	0	7	0	21
Panthers	0	7	14	0	3	24

See also: 2018 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–13	2017	UTM, 27–10

Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redhawks	16	14	7	19	56
Skyhawks	7	10	3	13	33

See also: 2018 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–15	2017	UTM, 16–14

at Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	3	0	0	11	14
No. 10 Gamecocks	10	3	0	8	21

See also: 2018 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–32	2017	JSU, 14–7

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	13	0	0	13
Skyhawks	14	14	3	7	38

See also: 2018 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–18	2017	UTM, 24–0

at Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Skyhawks	0	3	7	15	3	28
Tigers	0	12	3	10	6	31

See also: 2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–16	2017	UTM, 31–16

References

1. "Media Pollsters Tab Jacksonville State as 2018 OVC Football Preseason Favorites". www.ovcsports.com.
2. "Jacksonville State Picked as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Football Favorites". www.ovcsports.com.
3. "SEMO's Terry, JSU's Bridges Named OVC Preseason Football Players of the Year". www.ovcsports.com.