American college football season
The 2019 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2019 NCAA Division II football season . They were led by seventh-year head coach Steve Englehart . The Panthers played their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium , approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus, and were members of the Gulf South Conference . In May 2020, Florida Tech shut down its football program due to budget cuts that followed the COVID-19 pandemic .[ 1]
Preseason
Gulf South Conference coaches poll
On August 1, 2019, the Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches poll with the Panthers predicted to finish in 5th place in the conference.[ 2]
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Valdosta State
64 (8)
2
West Georgia
55
3
West Alabama
49
4
West Florida
44 (1)
5 Florida Tech 37
6
Delta State
28
7
North Greenville
24
8
Mississippi College
15
9
Shorter
8
Preseason All-Gulf South Conference Team
The Panthers had four players at four positions selected to the preseason all-Gulf South Conference team.[ 3]
Offense
No players were selected
Defense
John McClure – DB
Special teams
No players were selected
Schedule
Florida Tech 2019 football schedule consists of five home and six away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Shorter , West Alabama , West Florida , and West Georgia , and will travel to Delta State , Mississippi College , North Greenville , and Valdosta State .[ 4]
The Panthers will host one of the three non-conference games against Fort Valley State from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and will travel to Newberry from the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and Savannah State also from the SIAC.
Two of the eleven games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and ESPN+ , as part of the Gulf South Conference Game of the Week.[ 5]
The Week One game at Savannah State, originally scheduled for September 7, was moved back a day due to Hurricane Dorian .[ 6]
The Week Seven game at Valdosta State, originally scheduled for a 3 P.M. kickoff on October 19, was moved back to a 7 P.M. start due to the forecast approach of Tropical Storm Nestor earlier in the day.[ 7]
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 8 2:00 p.m. at Savannah State * W 23-223,028 September 14 1:00 p.m. at Newberry * W 30-282,944 September 21 7:00 p.m. at Delta State ESPN3 L 28-306,665 September 28 7:00 p.m. West Georgia W 44-102,450 October 5 7:00 p.m. Fort Valley State * Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL L 29-332,400 October 12 8:00 p.m. at Mississippi College L 14-342,507 October 19 7:00 p.m. at No. 1 Valdosta State L 28-554,631 October 26 1:00 p.m. No. 20 West Florida Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL (Coastal Classic) ESPN+ L 14-382,215 November 2 2:00 p.m. West Alabama Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL L 10-13878 November 9 1:30 p.m. at North Greenville W 17-14 2OT 3,744 November 16 2:00 p.m. Shorter Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL W 42-31,450 *Non-conference game Rankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Schedule Source: [ 4]
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final AFCA RV RV RV — RV — — — — — — — —
Game summaries
At Savannah State
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
7
0
3
13
23
Tigers
0
6
0
16
22
At Newberry
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
10
13
7
0
30
Wolves
0
14
0
14
28
At Delta State
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
7
7
7
7
28
Statesmen
10
6
11
3
30
West Georgia
1
2
3
4
Total
Wolves
7
3
0
0
10
Panthers
13
14
17
0
44
Fort Valley State
1
2
3
4
Total
Wildcats
0
13
6
14
33
Panthers
10
10
6
3
29
At Mississippi College
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
0
7
7
0
14
Choctaws
7
7
14
6
34
At Valdosta State
1
2
3
4
Total
Panthers
14
7
0
7
28
Blazers
14
27
0
14
55
West Florida
1
2
3
4
Total
Argonauts
7
10
14
7
38
Panthers
0
7
7
0
14
West Alabama
1
2
3
4
Total
Tigers
0
3
0
10
13
Panthers
10
0
0
0
10
At North Greenville
1
2
3
4 OT 2OT
Total
Panthers
7
7
0
0 0 3
17
Crusaders
0
0
7
7 0 0
14
Shorter
1
2
3
4
Total
Hawks
0
3
0
0
3
Panthers
14
21
0
7
42
Awards and milestones
Gulf South Conference honors
Five players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches.[ 8]
Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team
Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team
Miles Kelly, WR
Kenny Hiteman, TE
Tyrone Cromwell, DB
John McClure, DB
Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Week
September 30: Mike Diliello, QB [ 9]
Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week
September 23: Mike Diliello, QB [ 10]
September 30: Mike Diliello, QB [ 11]
References
^ Rogers, Eric; Neale, Rick (October 26, 2021). "Florida Tech cuts football program, announces layoffs due to COVID-19 impacts" . Florida Today . Melbourne, Florida. Retrieved May 12, 2020 . ^ "Football Picked Fifth in GSC Preseason Poll" . Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. Retrieved August 27, 2019 .^ Gulf South Conference ^ a b "Englehart Announces 2019 Football Schedule" (Press release). Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. February 14, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019 .^ "ESPN to Stream Two Football Games this Season" . Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019 .^ "Football's Season Opener Postponed Til Sunday" . Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019 .^ "Homecoming Football Game Moved to 7 p.m. Saturday Evening" . Valdosta State University Department of Athletics. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019 .^ "GSC Announces 2019 Football All-Conference Awards" . Gulf South Conference. Retrieved November 20, 2019 .^ "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 30, 2019" . Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 30, 2019 .^ "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 23, 2019" . Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 24, 2019 .^ "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 30, 2019" . Gulf South Conference. Retrieved September 30, 2019 .
