2019 LIU Sharks football team

The 2019 LIU Sharks football team represents both the LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn campuses of Long Island University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by 22nd year head coach Bryan Collins and play their home games at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium. They play as a first–year member of the Northeast Conference. This is the first season that the LIU Sharks are competing as a team following the merger of the two LIU campuses' athletic departments in the summer of 2019.[1][2]

2019 LIU Sharks football
Conference	Northeast Conference
2019 record	0–10 (0–7 NEC)
Head coach	Bryan Collins (22nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Hughes (23rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bryan Collins
Home stadium	Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium (Capacity: 4,780)

2019 Northeast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 23 Central Connecticut $^		7	–	0					11	–	1
Robert Morris		6	–	1					7	–	5
Duquesne		4	–	3					6	–	5
Sacred Heart		4	–	3					7	–	5
Saint Francis		3	–	4					6	–	6
Bryant		3	–	4					4	–	8
Wagner		1	–	6					1	–	11
LIU		0	–	7					0	–	10
Merrimack *		0	–	0					6	–	5
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Merrimack ineligible for NEC title and FCS postseason play due to transition to NCAA Division I, and also ineligible for NEC title due to not playing a full conference schedule Rankings from STATS Poll

The Sharks finished winless in their first season. A month after the season ended, starting quarterback Clay Beathard was stabbed to death in Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

Previous season

This is the first season that the LIU Sharks are competing as a team. Their immediate predecessor, the 2018 LIU Post Pioneers, went 10–1, 9–0 to finish in first place in the Northeast-10 Conference.[4][5] They made the NCAA Division II Playoffs where they were defeated in the first round by Slippery Rock. They finished ranked at #21 in the Division II Coaches' Poll[6] and received the 2019 Division II Lambert Cup from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Metropolitan New York Football Writers, signifying them as the best football team in the East in Division II football.[7]

Preseason

Preseason coaches' poll

The NEC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 24, 2019. The Sharks were picked to finish in 8th (last) place.[8]

Predicted finish	Team (1st place votes)
1	Duquesne (7)
2	Sacred Heart (1)
3	Central Connecticut
4	Wagner
5	Bryant
6	Saint Francis
7	Robert Morris
8	LIU

Preseason All–Northeast Conference team

The LIU Sharks were the only conference team to have no players selected for the 2019 All–Northeast Conference Football Preseason Team.[8]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	7:00 p.m.	at No. 3 South Dakota State*	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 3–38	10,153
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Sacred Heart	Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium Brookville, NY	NEC Front Row	L 10–34	2,482
September 28	12:00 p.m.	at Wagner	Wagner College Stadium Staten Island, NY	ESPN3	L 14–24	2,077
October 5	12:00 p.m.	at Duquesne	Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field Pittsburgh, PA	NEC Front Row	L 14–21	1,956
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Bryant	Beirne Stadium Smithfield, RI	ESPN3	L 22–27	1,268
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Saint Francis (PA)	Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium Brookville, NY	NEC Front Row	L 0–30	4,178
October 26	12:00 p.m.	at No. 23 Central Connecticut	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	L 0–28	3,156
November 2	12:00 p.m.	at Robert Morris	Joe Walton Stadium Moon Township, PA	NEC Front Row	L 17–28	934
November 15	7:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Villanova*	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	FloSports	L 7–35	3,051
November 23	12:00 p.m.	Merrimack	Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium Brookville, NY	NEC Front Row	L 10–24	855
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Source:[9][10]

Game summaries

• Series records and last meetings are from the LIU Post Pioneers, the predecessor to the LIU Sharks.

at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	3	0	0	3
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	14	14	3	38

Sacred Heart

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers	6	13	8	7	34
Sharks	7	0	3	0	10

at Wagner

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	7	7	0	14
Seahawks	7	17	0	0	24

at Duquesne

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	0	7	7	14
Dukes	7	6	0	8	21

at Bryant

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	10	0	12	22
Bulldogs	10	0	14	3	27

Saint Francis (PA)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	3	6	0	21	30
Sharks	0	0	0	0	0

at Central Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	0	0	0	0
No. 23 Blue Devils	0	14	7	7	28

at Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	3	14	0	0	17
Colonials	14	0	7	7	28

at Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sharks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 13 Wildcats	14	14	7	0	35

Merrimack

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warriors	10	7	0	7	24
Sharks	0	0	0	10	10

References

1. "LIU combining Post and Brooklyn athletic programs". Newsday. October 3, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
2. "#OneLIU website". Long Island University. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
3. "Brother of NFL quarterback fatally stabbed in Nashville". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
4. "LIU Post Pioneers 2018 Schedule". LIUPostPioneers.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
5. "2018 NE10 Football Standings". Northeast10.org. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
6. "Division II Football Coaches Poll". NCAA.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
7. "ECAC Announces 2018 Football Teams of the Year and Lambert Awards". ECACsports.com. January 15, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
8. "Duquesne Deemed 'Team to Beat' at #NECFB Social Media Day; Preseason All-NEC Team also Unveiled". July 24, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
9. "2019 LIU Sharks Football Schedule". LIUPostPioneers.com. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
10. "2019 LIU Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019.