2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season
2016 NCAA Division I FCS season | |
---|---|
Regular season | |
Number of teams | 125 |
Duration | August 26 – December 3 |
Payton Award | Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State |
Buchanan Award | Karter Schult, Northern Iowa |
Playoff | |
Duration | November 26 – December 17 |
Championship date | January 7, 2017 |
Championship site | Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas |
Champion | James Madison |
NCAA Division I FCS football seasons | |
«2015 2017» |
The 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was played on January 7, 2017, in Frisco, Texas. The James Madison Dukes defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 28–14, to capture their second national championship in team history.
Rule changes
[edit]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" (e.g., 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 were taken from the 40-yard line instead of the 35, and touchbacks were 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 were scheduled to report the results of the experiment to the NCAA in February 2017.[2]
Notable headlines
[edit]- April 20 – The NCAA banned five schools from the 2016 postseason for failure to meet Academic Progress Rate criteria: 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,[3] Idaho announced that it would return to FCS football in its all-sports league, the Big Sky Conference, in 2018.[4] The Vandals thus became the first team ever to voluntarily drop from FBS to FCS.[5]
- September 17 – East Tennessee State and Western Carolina played on a temporary fieldturf surface installed on the infield of the Bristol Motor Speedway. The same NASCAR racetrack hosted a game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech one week earlier.[6]
- 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, rushing 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.[7]
FCS team wins over FBS teams
[edit](FCS rankings from the STATS poll)
September 2: Albany 22, Buffalo 16
September 3: #14 Eastern Washington 45, Washington State 42
September 3: #5 Northern Iowa 25, Iowa State 20
September 3: #4 Richmond 37, Virginia 20
September 10: Eastern Illinois 21, Miami (OH) 17
September 10: #10 Illinois State 9, Northwestern 7
September 10: #23 North Carolina A&T 39, Kent State 36 4OT
September 17: #1 North Dakota State 23, No. 13 (FBS) Iowa 21 [NOTE: NDSU became just the 4th FCS team to beat an AP ranked FBS team, and afterward received 74 votes for the AP top-25 rankings (No. 27 overall), the most votes ever received by an FCS team].[8]
September 24: Central Arkansas 28, Arkansas State 23
September 24: #13 Western Illinois 28, Northern Illinois 23
Conference changes and new programs
[edit]School | 2015 conference | 2016 conference |
---|---|---|
Coastal Carolina | Big South | FCS independent |
East Tennessee State | FCS independent | SoCon |
Conference standings
[edit]
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Conference summaries
[edit]Championship games
[edit]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 | Devante Kincade (Grambling State) |
Tiger Donovan McCray (Grambling State) |
Broderick Fobbs (Grambling State) |
Other conference winners
[edit]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) |
John Lovett (Princeton) |
Folarin Orimolade (Dartmouth) |
Bob Surace (Princeton) |
MEAC | North Carolina Central | 9–2 (8–0) | Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) |
Shaquille Leonard (South Carolina State) |
Jerry Mack (North Carolina Central) |
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) |
Kamron Lewis (Saint Francis) |
Christian Kuntz (Duquesne) |
Chris Villarrial (Saint Francis) |
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) | Jonah Hodges (San Diego) |
Donald Payne (Stetson) |
Dale Lindsey (San Diego) |
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
[edit]Automatic berths for conference champions
[edit]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 | National Champions (W – Youngstown State) |
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
[edit]Abstentions
[edit]- Ivy League – Princeton
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central
- Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State
Postseason
[edit]Bowl game
[edit]Game | Date/TV | Location | Winning Team | Losing Team | Score | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Celebration Bowl | December 17 ABC |
Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia |
Grambling State 12–1 (9–0) |
North Carolina Central 9–3 (8–0) |
10–9 | Martez Carter (RB, Grambling State) |
Jameel Jackson (DB, Grambling State) |
NCAA Division I playoff bracket
[edit]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* | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||||
8 | South Dakota State | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | South Dakota State* | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Villanova* | 31 | Villanova | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Saint Francis (PA) | 21 | 1 | North Dakota State* | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | James Madison | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | James Madison* | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New Hampshire* | 64 | New Hampshire | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Lehigh | 21 | 4 | James Madison* | 65 | ||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sam Houston State | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sam Houston State* | 41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Chattanooga* | 45 | Chattanooga | 36 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Weber State | 14 | 4 | James Madison | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Eastern Washington* | 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Central Arkansas* | 31 | Central Arkansas | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State | 24 | 2 | Eastern Washington* | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | North Dakota* | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Richmond* | 39 | Richmond | 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||
North Carolina A&T | 10 | 2 | Eastern Washington* | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State | 40 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Jacksonville State* | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State* | 38 | Youngstown State | 40 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Samford | 24 | Youngstown State* | 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wofford | 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | The Citadel* | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wofford* | 15 | Wofford | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Charleston Southern | 14 |
* Home team
Winner
All times in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00)
Awards and honors
[edit]Walter Payton Award
[edit]- The Walter Payton Award is given to the year's most outstanding offensive player. Finalists:
- Jeremiah Briscoe (QB), Sam Houston State
- Gage Gubrud (QB), Eastern Washington
- Cooper Kupp (WR), Eastern Washington
Buck Buchanan Award
[edit]- The Buck Buchanan Award is given to the year's most outstanding defensive player. Finalists:
- Dylan Cole (LB), Missouri State
- P. J. Hall (DE), Sam Houston State
- Karter Schult (DE), Northern Iowa
Jerry Rice Award
[edit]- The Jerry Rice Award is given to the year's most outstanding freshman.
- Winner: A. J. Hines (RB), Duquesne
Coaches
[edit]- AFCA Coach of the Year: Mike Houston, James Madison
- Eddie Robinson Award: K. C. Keeler, Sam Houston State
Updated stadiums
[edit]- South Dakota State debuted Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (capacity 19,340).
- New Hampshire debuted a major renovation of the renamed Wildcat Stadium, expanded to just over 11,000 from the previous capacity of 6,500.
- 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 opened its new Panther Stadium (capacity 15,000).[9][10]
Coaching changes
[edit]In-season
[edit]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 | Fired[11] | Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim) |
End of season
[edit]School | Outgoing coach | Date | Reason | Replacement |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abilene Christian | Ken Collums | November 20 | Fired | Mark Ribaudo (interim) |
Howard | Gary Harrell | November 20 | Contract was not renewed | Mike London[12] |
Presbyterian | Harold Nichols | November 20 | Resigned | Tommy Spangler |
UC Davis | Ron Gould | November 20 | Fired | Dan Hawkins |
Lamar | Ray Woodard | November 21 | Fired | Mike Schultz |
Bryant | Marty Fine | November 30 | Resigned | James Perry |
Lafayette | Frank Tavani | December 1 | Fired | John Garrett |
Furman | Bruce Fowler | December 2 | Resigned | Clay Hendrix |
Villanova | Andy Talley | December 3 | Retired | Mark Ferrante[13] |
Delaware | Dennis Dottin-Carter (interim) | December 13 | Permanent replacement | Danny Rocco[14] |
Richmond | Danny Rocco | December 13 | Hired by Delaware | Russ Huesman[15] |
Chattanooga | Russ Huesman | December 14 | Hired by Richmond | Tom Arth |
Indiana State | Mike Sanford | December 16 | Resigned | Curt Mallory |
Abilene Christian | Mark Ribaudo (interim) | December 18 | Permanent replacement | Adam Dorrel |
Eastern Washington | Beau Baldwin | January 16 | Hired as OC at California | Aaron Best |
See also
[edit]- 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
- 2016 NAIA football season
References
[edit]- ^ "Football Rules Committee Approves Proposals to Enhance Player Safety". NCAA. February 11, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ivy League to move kickoffs to 40-yard line" (Press release). NCAA. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 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. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
- ^ "ETSU, WCU to Play at Bristol Motor Speedway" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 29, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ^ "Joe Thomas Sr., 55, becomes oldest D-I football player ever to take field". Sports Illustrated. November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ^ "2016 College Football Rankings – Week 4". ESPN.com. September 18, 2016. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 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.
- ^ "University of Delaware Athletics Announces Changes in Coaching Staff". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ "Mike London leaving Maryland to become Howard head coach".
- ^ "SDSU slips past 'Nova to end Talley's career". ESPN. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- ^ "Delaware 'closer to home' for new football coach Rocco". Delaware Online. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
- ^ "Huesman Named Head Coach Of Spiders Football". RichmondsSpiders.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016.