2019 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team

2019 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football
2019 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football
NCAA Division II Quarterfinal, L 21–42 vs. Minnesota State
Conference	Lone Star Conference
Ranking
AFCA	No. 11
Record	11–3 (7–1 LSC)
Head coach	David Bailiff (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Billy Riebock (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Xavier Adibi (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5/4–3 hybrid
Home stadium	Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium

2019 Lone Star Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Tarleton State $^	8	–	0	11	–	1
No. 11 ^	7	–	1	10	–	3
Angelo State	5	–	3	8	–	3
West Texas A&M	5	–	3	8	–	3
Eastern New Mexico #	4	–	4	8	–	4
Midwestern State	3	–	5	5	–	6
UT Permian Basin	2	–	6	4	–	7
Texas A&M–Kingsville	1	–	7	2	–	9
Western New Mexico	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant # – Heritage Bowl participant Rankings from AFCA Coaches poll

The 2019 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team represented Texas A&M University–Commerce as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC) the 2019 NCAA Division II football season. They were first-year head coach David Bailiff. Bailiff replaced Colby Carthel, who left Commerce to become the head football coach at Stephen F. Austin State University. The Lions compiled an overall record an 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the LSC. Texas A&M–Commerce qualified for the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs for the fifth straight season and the eighth time since joining the NCAA in 1982. They finished as national quarterfinalists for the third time in program history.

Schedule

Texas A&M–Commerce announced its 2019 football schedule in January 2019. The Lions played 11 regular season games and finished the regular season 9–2. They were ranked as high as 11th during the season.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	6:00 p.m	Selección Nuevo Leon*	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX		W 83–0	7,319
September 14	3:05 pm	at Western Oregon*	No. 12	McArthur Field Monmouth, OR		W 34–27	2,890
September 21	6:00 pm	Eastern New Mexico	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX		W 45–27	7,968
September 28	7:00 pm	at No. 20 CSU Pueblo	No. 11	Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl Pueblo, CO		L 17–24	6,921
October 5	7:00 pm	at Texas A&M–Kingsville	No. 21	Javelina Stadium Kingsville, TX (Chennault Cup)		W 33–6	2,712
October 12	6:00 pm	Midwestern State	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX	ESPN3	W 54–28	7,446
October 19	6:00 pm	at No. 4 Tarleton State	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Stephenville, TX (President's Cup)		L 21–35	11,513
October 26	4:00 pm	Western New Mexico	No. 23	Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX	NEXSTAR	W 62–21	8,154
November 2	4:00 pm	at West Texas A&M	No. 24	Buffalo Stadium Canyon, TX (East Texas vs. West Texas)	ESPN3	W 34–20	6,734
November 9	4:00 pm	UT Permian Basin	No. 24	Memorial Stadium Commerce, TX		W 44–13	6,233
November 16	3:00 pm	at Angelo State	No. 23	LeGrand Stadium San Angelo, TX	NEXSTAR	W 17–3	2,972
November 23	1:00 pm	at No. 3 Tarleton State*	No. 21	Memorial Stadium Stephenville, TX (NCAA Division II First Round)		W 23–16	8,214
November 30	1:00 pm	at No. 7 Colorado Mines*	No. 21	Marv Kay Stadium Golden, CO (NCAA Division II Second Round)		W 23–3	1,446
December 7	1:00 pm	at No. 4 Minnesota State*	No. 21	Blakeslee Stadium Mankato, MN (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)		L 21–42	1,352
*Non-conference game Rankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AFCA	13	12	12	11	21	20	20	24	24	24	23	21	11
D2Football	13	12	12	11	20	20	19	24	24	23	22	20	7

Game summaries

Selección Nuevo Leon

	1	2	3	4	Total
SNL Lions	0	0	0	0	0
No. 13 TAMUC Lions	43	6	27	7	83

At Western Oregon

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Lions	3	7	10	14	34
Wolves	0	13	0	14	27

Eastern New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
Greyhounds	3	3	8	13	27
No. 12 Lions	14	10	7	14	45

At No. 20 CSU Pueblo

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Lions	3	7	7	0	17
No. 20 ThunderWolves	0	10	7	7	24

At Texas A&M–Kingsville

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Lions	7	5	21	0	33
Javelinas	0	6	0	0	6

Midwestern State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	7	7	7	28
No. 20 Lions	17	14	14	9	54

At No. 4 Tarleton State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Lions	0	7	7	7	21
No. 4 Texans	14	7	7	7	35

Western New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	0	7	7	21
No. 23 Lions	13	14	14	21	62

At West Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Lions	13	7	0	14	34
Buffaloes	7	6	7	0	20

At Angelo State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Lions	7	0	0	10	17
Rams	3	0	0	0	3

At No. 3 Tarleton State (Regional Quarterfinal)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Lions	7	6	10	0	23
No. 3 Texans	10	0	3	3	16

At No. 7 Colorado Mines (Regional semifinal)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Lions	7	0	13	3	23
No. 7 Orediggers	3	0	0	0	3

At No. 4 Minnesota State (Regional final)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Lions	14	0	0	7	21
No. 4 Mavericks	7	14	7	14	42

Personnel

2019 Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`2`	Miklo Smalls	So
RB	`6`	J. T. Smith	Jr
TE	`11`	Tyler Guice	Sr
TE	`12`	Drake Flores	Jr
QB	`16`	Mason Ray	So
WR	`17`	Ryan Stokes	Sr
WR	`18`	Jeremiah Bridges	So
QB	`19`	Preston Wheeler	Sr
WR	`21`	Christion Brewington	So
RB	`26`	Carandal Hale	Jr
RB	`29`	Spencer Long	Fr
RB	`34`	E. J. Thompson	Jr
RB	`37`	Jemal Williams	So
WR	`38`	Eric Hebert	Fr
TE	`40`	Caleb Cilumba	Jr
TE	`41`	Alex Carswell	Jr
RB	`43`	JaQuorius Smith	Jr
RB	`46`	Antonio Leali'ie'e	Jr
RB	`47`	Chris McPhaul	So
OL	`51`	Amon Simon	Jr
OL	`53`	Christian Hernandez	Jr
OL	`61`	Dawson Holley	Fr
OL	`62`	Graham Eeds	Fr
OL	`63`	Solomon Ndukwe	So
OL	`64`	Travis Dafft	So
OL	`67`	Jackson Richmond	So
OL	`68`	Kendall Mathis	Jr
OL	`70`	Dixon Siuele	Jr
OL	`71`	Deion Malone	Sr
OL	`72`	Brian Taylor	Sr
OL	`73`	Myron Aiava	Jr
OL	`74`	Richard West	So
OL	`75`	Coleton Lasseter	Jr
OL	`77`	Kendrick Murphy	Fr
OL	`78`	Noah Harris	Fr
OL	`79`	Matt Mora	Jr
WR	`80`	Darian Owens	Jr
WR	`81`	Arnezz Archie	So
WR	`83`	Kelan Smith	Jr
WR	`84`	Greg Craddock	So
WR	`85`	Chance Cooper	Jr
WR	`87`	Lorenzo Rosario	Sr
WR	`88`	Matt Childers	So
WR	`89`	Rayshawn James	Fr
TE		Jackson Allen	Fr
WR		Andrew Armstrong	Fr
OL		James Clark III	Fr
WR		Rashad Dixon	Fr
WR		Austin Dodd	Fr
WR		Max Epps	Fr
QB		Shane Gosson	So
RB		Cameron Grant	Fr
TE		Nathan Jester	Fr
WR		Devin Johnson	Fr
OL		Brandon Laird	Fr
RB		Koby Leavatts	Fr
WR		Daelan Loyden	Fr
OL		Hunter Miller	Fr
WR		De'Rondre Moore	Fr
OL		Stephen Nevarez	Fr
OL		Kelvin Scott	Fr
WR		Aniyah Spencer	Fr
WR		Landry Tyson	Fr
WR		Devlen Woods	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`1`	L.A. Dawson	Sr
DB	`3`	Sammy Gray	Sr
DB	`4`	Jalon Edwards-Cooper	Sr
DB	`8`	Felipe Chambers	Sr
DB	`8`	Kader Kohou	Jr
DB	`10`	Alex Shillow	Jr
DB	`13`	Christian Wise	Fr
LB	`15`	Terrell Collins	Sr
DB	`20`	Dominique Ramsey	Jr
DB	`22`	Darent White	Sr
DL	`23`	Elijah Earls	Jr
DB	`24`	Kyevon Rider	Fr
DB	`25`	Daryion Taylor	Fr
DB	`27`	Darius Williams	So
LB	`28`	Mark Westbrook	Sr
LB	`31`	Jay Bias	Jr
DB	`32`	Mekhi Roberson	Fr
LB	`33`	Neema Behbahani	Sr
LB	`35`	Peter Kazibwe	Jr
LB	`39`	Joe Butler	Sr
LB	`44`	Dayne Douglass	Jr
DB	`45`	Basil Shabazz	Jr
DL	`48`	Vili Paea	Sr
DL	`49`	Demondre Lauderdale	Jr
LB	`50`	Xavier Morris	Jr
DL	`52`	Peyton Searcy	Sr
DL	`54`	Devin Beamon	So
DL	`55`	Pierre Leonard	Sr
DL	`58`	Ty Reed	So
DL	`90`	David Brazil	Sr
DL	`91`	Austin Vaimili	Sr
DL	`93`	Jaylon Hodge	Jr
DL	`94`	Brandon Bascue	So
DL	`95`	Tali Amosa	Jr
DL	`96`	Dylan Davis	So
DL	`97`	Chris Williams	Sr
DL	`98`	Mark Brown	Fr
DL	`99`	Ronathon Elmore	So
DB		Jordan Austin	Fr
S		Dennis Barnes	Fr
DL		Tank Bell	Fr
DL		Jack Bussey	Fr
S		Larry Cooper	Fr
DL		Isaiah Curry	Jr
LB		Uzo Ebinama	Fr
S		Xzavion Florence	Fr
DB		Gerard Franklin	Fr
DL		Clifford Funderburk	Fr
DB		George Gipson Jr.	Fr
DB		Ibrahim Hassan	Fr
DB		Jack Hurd	Fr
LB		Bryson Jenkins	Fr
LB		Myles Jones	Fr
LB		DeQuavion Ludd	Fr
DB		Champ Mathis	Fr
LB		Ryan Moore	Fr
S		Darius Myers	Fr
DB		Kendall Paul	Fr
DL		Nick Petitti	So
DB		Jordan Polk	Fr
LB		Roman Punch	Fr
DB		Kobe Savage	Fr
DB		Jireh Thompson	Fr
LB		Jordan Wells	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K, P	`9`	Jake Viquez	Jr
K	`36`	Andrew Gomez	Jr
LS	`47`	Chance Work	Fr
K	`57`	Emmanuel Adagbon	Fr
LS	`82`	Wyatt Leath	Jr
P		Mitchell McGarry	Fr
K		Jacob Zepeda	Fr

Head coach

David Bailiff

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Billy Riebock Offensive coordinator
Xavier Adibi Defensive coordinator
Famika Anae Offensive line
Mitch Ferrick Wide receivers
Jaylon Finner Safeties
Casey Walker Defensive line
Kyle Williams Assistant defensive coordinator/Cornerbacks
Jack Welch Special teams coordinator/Running backs
Payton Pardee Outside wide receivers

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Postseason awards

All-Americans

Dominique Ramsey, First Team All-Purpose
Amon Simon, Second Team Defensive Line

All-Lone Star Conference

LSC Superlatives

Academic Player of The Year: Alex Shillow
Offensive Lineman of The Year: Amon Simon

LSC First Team

Deion Malone, Offensive Line
Amon Simon, Offensive Line
Antonio Leali'ie'i, Running Back
Dominique Ramsey, Kick Returner & Defensive Back
Kader Kohou, Defensive Back

LSC Second Team

Miklo Smalls, Quarterback
Ryan Stokes, Receiver
Jake Viquez, Place Kicker
Chris Williams, Defensive Line
Jaylon Hodge, Defensive Line
Terrell Collins, Linebacker
Alex Shillow, Safety

LSC Honorable Mention

Christian Hernandez, Offensive Line
Tyler Guice, Tight End
Chance Cooper, Receiver
LA Dawson, Cornerback
Andrew Gomez, Punter
Wyatt Leath, Deep Snapper ^[2]

References

^ "A&M-Commerce releases 2017 football schedule and initial ticket information" (Press release). Texas A&M University Commerce Department of Athletics. December 12, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
^ "A&M-Commerce Football Award History" (Press release). Texas A&M University Commerce Department of Athletics. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

[TAMUK17-1] "A&M-Commerce releases 2017 football schedule and initial ticket information" (Press release). Texas A&M University Commerce Department of Athletics. December 12, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

[awards-2] "A&M-Commerce Football Award History" (Press release). Texas A&M University Commerce Department of Athletics. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

[1]

[2]

East Texas A&M Lions football
Venues	Lion Stadium (–1949) Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium (1950–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Tarleton State: President's Cup Texas A&M–Kingsville: Chennault Cup West Texas A&M: East Texas vs. West Texas
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold