2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season
2016 NCAA Division I FCS season | |
---|---|
Duration | August 27 – November 26, 2016 |
Playoff | |
Championship site | Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas |
Division I FCS football season | |
«2015 |
The 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, is organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
Rule changes
The following rule changes were voted on by the NCAA Football Rules Committee for the 2016 season:[1]
- Requiring replay officials to review all aspects of targeting penalties, including the option to call a targeting foul missed by the on-field officials if the foul is deemed egregious.
- Allowing electronic devices to be used for coaching purposes in the press box and locker room during the game. Electronic devices will still be prohibited on the field and sideline.
- Coaches can now be ejected after receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one game, the same as players.
- A ball carrier who "gives himself up" (ex. by sliding) will now be considered a defenseless player.
- Deliberate tripping of a ball carrier with the leg is now a penalty (15 yards for tripping).
- Players who leave the tackle box are now prohibited from blocking below the waist toward the initial position of the ball.
- An exception to a rule introduced for the 2015 season regarding low hits to passers (i.e., at or below the knee) was eliminated. Last season, a defensive player would not have been penalized for such a hit if making a bona fide attempt at a tackle, but will now be penalized in the same situation.
- Teams attempting a scrimmage kick (field goals/PATs/punts) must have five offensive linemen (numbered 50-79) on the scrimmage line unless the kicking team has at least two players seven yards OR one player at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Previously only one player had to be lined up seven yards behind the line to avoid using five linemen, causing confusion in kick coverage on defense.
The committee, once again, took no action on changing the ineligible receiver downfield rule from three yards to one yard; however it will once again be a "point of emphasis" and will adjust officiating mechanics to better officiate those plays.
In addition to the above changes, the NCAA approved an experimental rule on kickoffs and touchbacks to be used this season by the Ivy League in conference games only. In those games, kickoffs will be taken from the 40-yard line instead of the 35, and touchbacks will be brought back to the 20-yard line instead of the 25. The Ivies proposed the experiment in the interest of player safety, believing that increasing the frequency of touchbacks would reduce injury risk from kick returns. The Ivies will report the results of the experiment to the NCAA in February 2017.[2]
Conference changes and new programs
Membership changes
School | Former conference | New conference |
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Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Big South | FCS independent |
East Tennessee State Buccaneers | FCS independent | SoCon |
- Note
-
- Coastal Carolina began a two-year transition to FBS in 2016, playing as an FCS independent while housing most of its other sports in the FBS Sun Belt Conference. The Chanticleers will join Sun Belt football in 2017.[3]
Other headlines
- January 29 – East Tennessee State and Bristol Motor Speedway announced that the Buccaneers' September 17 home game against Western Carolina, which would be ETSU's first Southern Conference game after a 12-season absence, would be played at the NASCAR racetrack. The playing surface was a temporary fieldturf field installed for the Tennessee–Virginia Tech game held one week earlier.[4]
- April 20 – The NCAA banned five schools from this year's postseason for failure to meet Academic Progress Rate criteria. They are Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, Savannah State and Southern.
- April 28 – Following the March 1 announcement by the Sun Belt Conference that it would not renew its football-only membership agreements with Idaho and New Mexico State when they expire at the end of the 2017 season,[5] Idaho announced that it would return to FCS football in its all-sports league, the Big Sky Conference, in 2018.[6] The Vandals will become the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS.[7]
- November 19 – Joe Thomas Sr., a 55-year-old walk-on at South Carolina State, appeared for one play in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' season finale against Savannah State, running for 3 yards. Although the NCAA does not keep statistics on player ages, the father of Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Thomas Jr. is believed to be the oldest player ever to take the field in a Division I game.[8]
Updated stadiums
- South Dakota State debuted the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium which seats 19,340. The stadium was half finished for the 2015 season and finished in time for the Luke Bryan concert on September 8th, 2016, and the first football game the evening of September 10th.
- New Hampshire debuted a major renovation and expansion of the renamed Wildcat Stadium. The venue, previously with a capacity of 6,500, now seats slightly over 11,000.
- William & Mary also debuted a major renovation and expansion to its Zable Stadium, which the saw the addition of an upper deck and an increase in capacity to 12,259.
- Prairie View A&M started its home schedule on September 3, 2016 in the new on-campus 15,000 seat Panther Stadium against Texas Southern.[9][10]
Two teams are playing their final season in their current venues:
- Abilene Christian will leave the off-campus Shotwell Stadium after this season for the new on-campus Wildcat Stadium.
- East Tennessee State will leave local high school venue Kermit Tipton Stadium for an as-yet-unnamed on-campus stadium.
FCS team wins over FBS teams
(FCS rankings from the STATS poll)
- September 2:
- September 3:
- #4 Richmond 37, Virginia 20
- #5 Northern Iowa 25, Iowa State 20
- #14 Eastern Washington 45, Washington State 42
- September 10:
- #10 Illinois State 9, Northwestern 7
- Eastern Illinois 21, Miami (OH) 17
- #23 North Carolina A&T 39, Kent State 36 4OT
- September 17:
- #1 North Dakota State 23, #13 (FBS) Iowa 21
- NDSU went to #13 FBS Ranked Iowa and became just the 4th FCS team to beat an AP ranked FBS team by beating the Hawkeyes on a game winning field goal 23–21. This was Iowa's first loss to a non FBS opponent. The next day NDSU received 74 votes for the AP top-25 rankings (#27 overall), which is the most votes ever received by an FCS team, beating the old record held by North Dakota State in 2013 when they received 17 and were #33 after the 2013 season.[11]
- #1 North Dakota State 23, #13 (FBS) Iowa 21
- September 24:
- #13 Western Illinois 28, Northern Illinois 23
- Central Arkansas 28, Arkansas State 23
Conference standings
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Conference summaries
Championship games
Conference | Champion | Runner-up | Score | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWAC | Grambling State 11–1 (9–0) |
Alcorn State 5–6 (5–4) |
27–20 |
Other conference winners
Note: Records are regular-season only, and do not include playoff games.
Conference | Champion | Record | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year | Coach of the Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Big Sky | Eastern Washington North Dakota |
10–1 (8–0) 9–2 (8–0) |
Gage Gubrud (Eastern Washington) Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington) |
Cole Reyes (North Dakota) |
Bubba Schweigert (North Dakota) |
Big South | Charleston Southern Liberty |
7–3 (4–1) 6–5 (4–1) |
Tyrell Maxwell (Gardner–Webb) |
Anthony Ellis (Charleston Southern) |
Jamey Chadwell (Charleston Southern) |
CAA | James Madison | 10–1 (8–0) | Bryan Schor (James Madison) |
Tanoh Kpassagnon (Villanova) |
Mike Houston (James Madison) |
Ivy | Penn Princeton |
7–3 (6–1) 8–2 (6–1) |
Bob Surace (Princeton) | ||
MEAC | North Carolina Central | 9–2 (8–0) | |||
MVFC | North Dakota State South Dakota State |
10–1 (7–1) 8–3 (7–1) |
Taryn Christion (South Dakota State) |
Karter Schult (Northern Iowa) |
John Stiegelmeier (South Dakota State) |
NEC | Duquesne Saint Francis (PA) |
8–3 (5–1) 7–4 (5–1) |
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OVC | Jacksonville State | 10–1 (7–0) | Eli Jenkins (Jacksonville State) |
Darius Jackson (Jacksonville State) |
John Grass (Jacksonville State) |
Patriot | Lehigh | 9–2 (6–0) | Nick Shafnisky (Lehigh) |
Pat Afriyie (Colgate) |
Andy Coen (Lehigh) |
Pioneer | San Diego | 9–1 (8–0) | |||
Southern | The Citadel | 10–1 (8–0) | Devlin Hodges (Samford) |
Keionta Davis (Chattanooga) |
Brent Thompson (The Citadel) |
Southland | Sam Houston State | 11–0 (9–0) | Overall: Jeremiah Briscoe (Sam Houston State) Offensive: Yedidiah Louis (Sam Houston State) |
P.J. Hall (Sam Houston State) |
K. C. Keeler (Sam Houston State) |
Playoff qualifiers
Automatic berths for conference champions
Conference | Team | Appearance | Last bid | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Big Sky Conference | Eastern Washington | 12th | 2014 | Quarterfinals (L – Illinois State) |
Big South Conference | Charleston Southern | 2nd | 2015 | Quarterfinals (L – Jacksonville State) |
Colonial Athletic Association | James Madison | 13th | 2015 | Second Round (L – Colgate) |
Missouri Valley Football Conference | South Dakota State | 6th | 2015 | First Round (L – Montana) |
Northeast Conference | Saint Francis (PA) | 1st | – | – |
Ohio Valley Conference | Jacksonville State | 7th | 2015 | Championship Game (L – North Dakota State) |
Patriot League | Lehigh | 10th | 2011 | Quarterfinals (L – North Dakota State) |
Pioneer Football League | San Diego | 2nd | 2014 | First Round (L – Montana) |
Southern Conference | The Citadel | 5th | 2015 | Second Round (L – Charleston Southern) |
Southland Conference | Sam Houston State | 10th | 2015 | Semifinals (L – Jacksonville State) |
At large qualifiers
Abstentions
- Ivy League – Princeton
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central
- Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State
NC Central and Grambling, as the winners of the MEAC and SWAC, will face off in the 2016 Celebration Bowl on December 17 for the unofficial HBCU national championship.
Postseason
NCAA FCS Playoff bracket
First round November 26 Campus sites ESPN3 |
Second round December 3 Campus sites ESPN3 |
Quarterfinals December 9 and 10 Campus sites ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 |
Semifinals December 16 and 17 Campus sites ESPN2, ESPNU |
National Championship January 7 12:00 pm Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||||||
1 | North Dakota State* | 45 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Cal Poly* | 21 | San Diego | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
San Diego | 35 | 1 | North Dakota State* | December 10 noon |
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8 | South Dakota State | ESPN | |||||||||||||||||||||
8 | South Dakota State* | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Villanova* | 31 | Villanova | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saint Francis (PA) | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | James Madison* | 55 | |||||||||||||||||||||
New Hampshire* | 64 | New Hampshire | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Lehigh | 21 | 4 | James Madison* | December 9 7:00 pm |
|||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sam Houston State | ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sam Houston State* | 41 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chattanooga* | 45 | Chattanooga | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Weber State | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Eastern Washington* | 31 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Central Arkansas* | 31 | Central Arkansas | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State | 24 | 2 | Eastern Washington* | December 10 4:00 pm |
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Richmond | ESPN3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | North Dakota* | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond* | 39 | Richmond | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||
North Carolina A&T | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Jacksonville State* | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State* | 38 | Youngstown State | 40 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Samford | 24 | Youngstown State* | December 10 2:00 pm |
||||||||||||||||||||
Wofford | ESPN3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | The Citadel* | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wofford* | 15 | Wofford | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Charleston Southern | 14 |
* Home team
Winner
All times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)
Bowl games
Game | Date | Location | Team (Record) |
Team (Record) |
Score | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Celebration Bowl | December 17 ESPN |
Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia |
North Carolina Central 9–2 (8–0) |
Grambling State 11–1 (9–0) |
|||
Coaching changes
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2016. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2016, see 2015 NCAA Division I FCS end-of-season coaching changes.
School | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
---|---|---|---|---|
Delaware | Dave Brock | October 16, 2016 | Fired[12] | Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim) |
Abilene Christian | Ken Collums | November 20, 2016 | Fired | Mark Ribaudo (Interim) |
Howard | Gary Harrell | November 20, 2016 | Contract was not renewed | TBA |
Presbyterian | Harold Nichols | November 20, 2016 | Resigned | Tommy Spangler |
UC Davis | Ron Gould | November 20, 2016 | Fired | Dan Hawkins |
Lamar | Ray Woodard | November 21, 2016 | Fired | TBA |
Furman | Bruce Fowler | December 2, 2016 | Resign | TBD |
Lafayette | Frank Tavani | December 1, 2016 | Fired | TBD |
See also
- 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
- 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season
- 2016 NCAA Division II football season
- 2016 NCAA Division III football season
References
- ↑ "Football Rules Committee Approves Proposals to Enhance Player Safety". NCAA. February 11, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
- ↑ "Ivy League to move kickoffs to 40-yard line" (Press release). NCAA. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ↑ "Coastal Carolina Announces 2016 Football Schedule" (Press release). Coastal Carolina Athletics. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
"This is an important year for our program as we start our transition to the FBS," said fifth-year head coach Joe Moglia. "However, we are still an FCS independent this year and have put together a nationally-competitive schedule to reflect that.
- ↑ "ETSU, WCU to Play at Bristol Motor Speedway" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 29, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ↑ "Sun Belt Football to Be 10 Teams in 2018" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ↑ "UI Moving Football to Big Sky Conference" (Press release). University of Idaho Office of the President. April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ↑ Dodd, Dennis (April 27, 2016). "Idaho will become first team to drop from FBS to FCS in 2018". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Joe Thomas Sr., 55, becomes oldest D-I football player ever to take field". Sports Illustrated. November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ↑ "New Stadium, Pair of FBS Opponents Highlight 2016 Football Schedule". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. February 4, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ↑ "The New Look Panther Stadium". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
- ↑ "2016 College Football Rankings - Week 4". ESPN.com. September 18, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
- ↑ "University of Delaware Athletics Announces Changes in Coaching Staff". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved October 16, 2016.