2019 Monmouth Hawks football team

The 2019 Monmouth Hawks football team represented Monmouth University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Big South Conference. They were led by 27th-year head coach Kevin Callahan and played their home games at Kessler Field in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Monmouth finished the season 11–3 overall and 6–0 in Big South play to win the conference title. The Hawks received the Big South's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. They defeated Holy Cross in the first round before losing to James Madison in the second round.

2019 Monmouth Hawks football
Big South champion
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 21–66 vs. James Madison
Conference	Big South Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 12
FCS Coaches	No. 13
2019 record	11–3 (6–0 Big South)
Head coach	Kevin Callahan (27th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Gallo (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Bobik (26th season)
Home stadium	Kessler Stadium (Capacity: 3,200)

2019 Big South Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 Monmouth $^		6	–	0					11	–	3
No. 13 Kennesaw State ^		5	–	1					11	–	3
Charleston Southern		4	–	2					6	–	6
Campbell		3	–	3					6	–	5
Hampton		1	–	5					5	–	7
Gardner–Webb		1	–	5					3	–	9
Presbyterian		1	–	5					2	–	10
North Alabama *		0	–	0					4	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * North Alabama ineligible for FCS postseason play due to transition to NCAA Division I Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Hawks finished the 2018 season 8–3, 4–1 in Big South play to finish in second place in the Big South.

Preseason

Big South poll

In the Big South preseason poll released on July 21, 2019, the Hawks were predicted to finish in second place.[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Kennesaw State	134 (14)
2	Monmouth	122 (5)
3	Charleston Southern	79 (1)
4	Campbell	73
5	Gardner–Webb	67
6	Hampton	64
7	Presbyterian	21
—	North Alabama	n/a

Preseason All–Big South team

The Hawks had five players selected to the preseason all-Big South team.[2]

Offense Kenji Bahar – QB Juwon Farri – RB Pete Guerriero – RB

Defense Tymere Berry – DB

Special Teams Matt Mosquera – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan*		Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	L 13–48	15,021
September 7	1:00 p.m.	Lafayette*		Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN+	W 24–21	2,955
September 14	1:00 p.m.	Albany*		Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN+	W 38–35 ^OT	2,329
September 21	3:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Montana*		Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	Pluto TV	L 27–47	23,119
October 5	6:00 p.m.	at Wagner*		Wagner College Stadium Staten Island, NY	NEC Front Row	W 16–14	2,843
October 12	1:00 p.m.	Presbyterian		Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN+	W 45–0	2,433
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb		Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN3	W 49–28	3,466
October 26	6:00 p.m.	at Charleston Southern		Buccaneer Field Charleston, SC	ESPN+	W 35–13	3,358
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Kennesaw State		Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA	ESPN3	W 45–21	4,464
November 9	12:00 p.m.	North Alabama	No. 19	Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN+	W 49–38	3,132
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Campbell	No. 17	Barker–Lane Stadium Buies Creek, NC	ESPN3	W 47–10	3,468
November 23	12:00 p.m.	Hampton	No. 15	Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN+	W 48–13	2,331
November 30	12:00 p.m.	Holy Cross*	No. 14	Kessler Stadium West Long Branch, NJ (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 44–27	2,817
December 7	1:00 p.m.	at No. 2 James Madison*	No. 14	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 21–66	10,881
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[3][4]

Game summaries

at Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	7	6	0	13
Broncos	21	10	14	3	48

See also: 2019 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leopards	0	7	7	7	21
Hawks	7	14	0	3	24

See also: 2019 Lafayette Leopards football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2018	W, 24–20

Albany

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Great Danes	0	14	7	14	0	35
Hawks	7	14	7	7	3	38

See also: 2019 Albany Great Danes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–11	2017	L, 14–28

at Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	14	6	7	27
No. 19 Grizzlies	0	21	12	14	47

See also: 2019 Montana Grizzlies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Wagner

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	3	0	7	6	16
Seahawks	0	7	0	7	14

See also: 2019 Wagner Seahawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–14	2018	W, 54–47

Presbyterian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Hose	0	0	0	0	0
Hawks	21	17	7	0	45

See also: 2019 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2018	W, 24–14

Gardner–Webb

	1	2	3	4	Total
Runnin' Bulldogs	7	0	14	7	28
Hawks	7	14	21	7	49

See also: 2019 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–1	2018	W, 56–42

at Charleston Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	7	7	14	7	35
Buccaneers	3	3	0	7	13

See also: 2019 Charleston Southern Buccaneers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2018	W, 37–3

at Kennesaw State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	3	28	14	0	45
No. 5 Owls	7	0	7	7	21

See also: 2019 Kennesaw State Owls football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	2018	L, 14–51

North Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	7	10	21	38
No. 19 Hawks	7	7	21	14	49

See also: 2019 North Alabama Lions football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Campbell

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Hawks	0	17	16	14	47
Fighting Camels	7	3	0	0	10

See also: 2019 Campbell Fighting Camels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2018	W, 38–21

Hampton

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	7	6	0	0	13
No. 15 Hawks	14	17	14	3	48

See also: 2019 Hampton Pirates football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2018	W, 56–28

FCS Playoffs

The Hawks received an automatic bid (due to winning their conference) for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Holy Cross.[5]

Holy Cross–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	7	6	14	27
No. 14 Hawks	7	19	11	7	44

See also: 2019 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2017	W, 48–36

at James Madison–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Hawks	14	7	0	0	21
No. 2 Dukes	21	17	14	14	66

See also: 2019 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	19	17	15	14	12
Coaches	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	20	15	12	11	13

References

1. "Kennesaw State Voted 2019 Preseason Football Favorite". Big South Conference. July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
2. "Bahar, Armstrong Headline 2019 Preseason All-Conference Team". Big South Conference. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
3. "2019 Football Schedule". Monmouth University. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
4. "2019 Monmouth Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
5. "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.