2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

American college football season

2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football

FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 22–55 vs. James Madison
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 17
Record	8–5 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (18th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (9th season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (5th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium
Seasons← 2015 2017 →

2016 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 James Madison $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 11 Villanova ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 17 New Hampshire ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
No. 8 Richmond ^	5	–	3	10	–	4
Maine	5	–	3	6	–	5
Albany	4	–	4	7	–	4
Stony Brook	4	–	4	5	–	6
William & Mary	3	–	5	5	–	6
Towson	3	–	5	4	–	7
Delaware	2	–	6	4	–	7
Elon	1	–	7	2	–	9
Rhode Island	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 18th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They competed as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

The team's stadium went through major renovations during the offseason. Renamed as Wildcat Stadium, the facility hosted its first game under that name on September 10, with the Wildcats defeating Holy Cross.

The Wildcats finished their regular season with a record of 8–5, 6–2 in CAA play, to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Lehigh in the first round before losing in the second round to James Madison.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:30 pm	at San Diego State*	No. 22	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA		L 0–31	46,486
September 10	7:00 pm	Holy Cross*	No. 24	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ASN	W 39–28	13,242
September 17	7:00 pm	at Dartmouth*	No. 22	Memorial Field Hanover, NH (rivalry)	FCS	L 21–22	8,296
September 24	1:00 pm	at Rhode Island		Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	A10 Network	W 39–17	3,626
October 1	3:30 pm	No. 19 William & Mary		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	W 21–12	21,943
October 7	7:00 pm	at Elon		Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	W 13–10	4,416
October 15	12:00 pm	No. 7 James Madison		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ASN	L 39–42	8,316
October 22	3:30 pm	at Towson		Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	CSN	W 21–7	5,023
October 29	12:00 pm	No. 22 Stony Brook		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	W 43–14	5,029
November 12	12:00 pm	Albany	No. 21	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	L 25–36	7,012
November 19	1:00 pm	at Maine		Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	MAA	W 24–21	6,401
November 26	2:00 pm	No. 18 Lehigh*	No. 22	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 64–21	2,240
December 3	2:00 pm	at No. 5 James Madison*	No. 22	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 22–55	13,231
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
Aztecs	14	7	3	7	31

Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	14	7	7	0	28
#24 Wildcats	6	7	19	7	39

At Dartmouth

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	0	14	7	0	21
Big Green	7	0	0	15	22

At Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	8	7	17	39
Rams	7	0	3	7	17

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Tribe	6	0	0	6	12
Wildcats	0	7	0	14	21

At Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	0	6	13
Phoenix	0	3	7	0	10

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Dukes	7	14	7	14	42
Wildcats	0	9	3	27	39

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	7	0	21
Tigers	0	7	0	0	7

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Seawolves	7	0	7	0	14
Wildcats	15	0	21	7	43

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	7	15	14	36
#21 Wildcats	8	14	3	0	25

At Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	7	10	24
Black Bears	7	7	0	7	21

Lehigh—NCAA Division I First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Mountain Hawks	0	14	7	0	21
#22 Wildcats	15	21	14	14	64

James Madison–NCAA Division I Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	7	0	8	7	22
#5 Dukes	3	28	21	3	55

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	22	24	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	RV	22	17
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	25	RV	RV	23	23	RV	21	17

References

Guarino, Ben (September 16, 2016). "University to buy $1 million football scoreboard with thrifty librarian's money, outraging critics". Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
"Wildcat Stadium". unhwildcats.com. August 10, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

v t e New Hampshire Wildcats football
Venues	College Oval ( –1920) Memorial Field (1921–1935) Lewis Field / Cowell Stadium / Wildcat Stadium (1936–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Dartmouth UMass: Colonial Clash Bill Knight Trophy Maine: Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 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 1944 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 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2016 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Cal Poly Central Arkansas Charleston Southern Chattanooga The Citadel Eastern Washington Illinois State Jacksonville State James Madison Lehigh New Hampshire North Carolina A&T North Dakota North Dakota State Richmond Saint Francis (PA) Samford Sam Houston State San Diego South Dakota State Villanova Weber State Wofford Youngstown State
Champion – James Madison

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