2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team

The 2018 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University 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. They were members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 4–5, 3–4 in OVC play to finish in fifth place.

2018 Tennessee State Tigers football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2018 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 (Capacity: 69,143) Hale Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)

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 Tigers finished the 2017 season 6–5, 2–5 in OVC play to finish in a tie for seventh place.

Preseason

OVC media poll

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

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Bethune–Cookman*	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN (John Merritt Classic)	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[lower-alpha 1]
September 15	5:00 p.m.	at Hampton*	Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA		Cancelled[lower-alpha 2]
September 22	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Stadium 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 (Sgt. York Trophy)	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 (Sgt. York Trophy)	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.

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3
Tigers	14	7	3	10	34

at Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	13	13	15	41
Panthers	17	7	7	9	40

at Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	13	7	7	27
Commodores	0	10	14	7	31

at Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	14	6	7	34
Governors	7	14	21	7	49

at Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	14	0	0	7	21
Racers	3	21	14	7	45

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	0	0	14	14
Tigers	17	10	14	0	41

at Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	14	7	0	21
No. 25 Redhawks	3	21	14	0	38

Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Gamecocks	20	7	0	14	41
Tigers	7	0	0	7	14

UT Martin

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

References

1. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/media-pollsters-tab-jacksonville-state-as-2018-ovc-football-preseason-favorites.aspx
2. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/jacksonville-state-picked-as-2018-ohio-valley-conference-football-favorites.aspx?path=football
3. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/semos-terry-jsus-bridges-named-ovc-preseason-football-players-of-the-year.aspx?path=football