2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team

2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football
NEC champion
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 14–42 vs. Albany
Conference	Northeast Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 23
FCS Coaches	No. 22
2019 record	11–2 (7–0 NEC)
Head coach	Ryan McCarthy (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Ambrosie (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ron DiGravio (1st season)
Home stadium	Arute Field (Capacity: 5,500)
Seasons ← 2018 2021 →

2019 Northeast Conference football standings
v t	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 (PA)		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 2019 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team represents Central Connecticut State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by first-year head coach Ryan McCarthy. They play their home games at Arute Field as a member of the Northeast Conference.

Previous season[]

The Blue Devils finished the 2018 season 6–5, 4–2 in NEC play to finish in third place.

Preseason[]

Preseason coaches' poll[]

The NEC released their preseason coaches' poll on July 24, 2019. The Blue Devils were picked to finish in third place.^[1]

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-NEC team[]

The Blue Devils had six players at three positions selected to the preseason all-NEC team.^[1]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Fordham*		Coffey Field New York City, NY	Stadium	W 26–23	2,988
September 7	6:00 p.m.	Merrimack*		Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 40–37	5,114
September 14	2:00 p.m.	at Valparaiso*		Brown Field Valparaiso, IN	ESPN+	W 42–13	2,110
September 21	3:00 p.m.	at Eastern Michigan*		Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	ESPN3	L 29–34	17,286
October 5	2:00 p.m.	at Sacred Heart		Campus Field Fairfield, CT (Constitution State Rivalry)	ESPN3	W 28–3	5,402
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Columbia*		Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium New York City, NY	ESPN+	W 24–14	3,172
October 19	1:00 p.m.	Bryant	No. 25	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 52–14	5,114
October 26	Noon	LIU	No. 23	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 28–0	3,156
November 2	Noon	at Wagner	No. 19	Wagner College Stadium New York City, NY	NEC Front Row	W 27–13	1,698
November 9	Noon	Saint Francis (PA)	No. 20	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 38–31OT
November 16	Noon	Robert Morris	No. 19	Arute Field New Britain, CT	NEC Front Row	W 49–28
November 23	Noon	at Duquesne	No. 18	Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field Pittsburgh, PA	NEC Front Row	W 43–10
November 30	Noon	at No. 25 Albany*	No. 17	Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium Albany, NY (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 14–42
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source:^[2][3][4]

Game summaries[]

at Fordham[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	8	7	0	11	26
Rams	0	6	10	7	23

Merrimack[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warriors	7	7	7	16	37
Blue Devils	3	21	13	3	40

at Valparaiso[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	14	21	7	42
Crusaders	6	0	7	0	13

at Eastern Michigan[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	15	0	0	14	29
Eagles	7	14	0	13	34

at Sacred Heart[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	7	7	14	0	28
Pioneers	0	3	0	0	3

at Columbia[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	7	10	0	7	24
Lions	0	7	7	0	14

Bryant[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	0	0	14
No. 25 Blue Devils	14	14	14	10	52

LIU[]

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

at Wagner[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Blue Devils	6	7	7	7	27
Seahawks	3	10	0	0	13

Saint Francis[]

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Red Flash	0	14	10	7	0	31
No. 20 Blue Devils	7	7	7	10	7	38

Robert Morris[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	14	0	14	28
No. 19 Blue Devils	0	14	21	14	49

at Duquesne[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Blue Devils	12	7	17	7	43
Dukes	0	10	0	0	10

FCS Playoffs[]

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

at Albany–First Round[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Blue Devils	7	0	0	7	14
No. 25 Great Danes	0	7	28	7	42

Ranking movements[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	25	23	19	20	19	18
Coaches	—	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	24	19	17	18	18

References[]