2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

The 2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bubba Schweigert and played their home games at the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 9–3, 8–0 in Big Sky play to share the conference championship with Eastern Washington. They received an at-large bid into the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Richmond in the second round.

2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
Big Sky co-champion
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 27–24 vs. Richmond
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 12
FCS Coaches	No. 12
2016 record	9–3 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bubba Schweigert (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Rudolph (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Eric Schmidt (3rd season)
Home stadium	Alerus Center (Capacity: 12,283)

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 12 North Dakota +^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 25 Weber State ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 24 Cal Poly ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Southern Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		4	–	4					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Montana		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Portland State		2	–	6					3	–	8
UC Davis		2	–	6					3	–	8
Sacramento State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

In 2015, North Dakota finished with a record of 7–4, 5–3 in Big Sky play, to finish in a tie for third place. They failed to qualify for the FCS Playoffs.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 pm	at Stony Brook*	No. 19	Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY		L 9–13	6,153
September 10	2:30 pm	at Bowling Green*	No. 25	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ASN/ESPN3	L 26–27	15,318
September 17	4:00 pm	South Dakota*		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (Potato Bowl/Sitting Bull Trophy)	Midco SN	W 47–44 ^2OT	11,477
September 24	3:00 pm	at Montana State		Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	WBS	W 17–15	19,507
October 1	1:00 pm	No. 16 Cal Poly		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 31–24	10,097
October 8	8:00 pm	at Sacramento State	No. 24	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	WBS	W 40–7	9,614
October 15	1:00 pm	Southern Utah	No. 22	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 45–23	10,506
October 22	3:35 pm	at Idaho State	No. 19	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	WBS	W 28–21	6,320
October 29	1:00 pm	Weber State	No. 17	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN2	W 27–19	8,699
November 5	1:05 pm	at Northern Colorado	No. 16	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	WBS	W 23–13	4,322
November 12	1:00 pm	Northern Arizona	No. 12	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN2	W 38–31	9,049
December 3	5:00 pm	No. 12 Richmond*	No. 8	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (Second Round)	ESPN3	L 24–27	9,837
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[1]

Game summaries

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Fighting Hawks	0	7	2	0	9
Seawolves	0	7	0	6	13

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
#25 Fighting Hawks	0	10	10	6	26
Falcons	14	7	6	0	27

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Coyotes	3	24	7	0	7	3	44
Fighting Hawks	7	7	3	17	7	6	47

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	7	3	7	17
Bobcats	3	3	3	6	15

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Mustangs	0	7	7	10	24
Fighting Hawks	10	0	14	7	31

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#24 Fighting Hawks	6	21	7	6	40
Hornets	0	0	7	0	7

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	14	3	6	0	23
#22 Fighting Hawks	7	21	3	14	45

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Fighting Hawks	0	14	7	7	28
Bengals	7	7	0	7	21

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	13	0	6	19
#17 Fighting Hawks	7	0	14	6	27

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Fighting Hawks	7	6	10	0	23
Bears	7	0	0	6	13

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	14	10	7	0	31
#12 Fighting Hawks	10	0	7	21	38

FCS Playoffs

Second Round–Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Spiders	7	0	7	13	27
#8 Fighting Hawks	7	10	7	0	24

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	19	25	RV	RV	RV	24	22	19	17	16	12	10	8	12
Coaches	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	21	18	16	12	11	10	8	8	12
FCS Playoffs	Not released									NR	10	9	Not released

References

1. "2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football schedule". University of North Dakota Department of Athletics. Retrieved January 1, 2016.