American college football season
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.
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 L 9–136,153
September 10 2:30 pm at Bowling Green * No. 25 ASN /ESPN3 L 26–2715,318
September 17 4:00 pm South Dakota * Midco SN W 47–44 2OT 11,477
September 24 3:00 pm at Montana State WBS W 17–1519,507
October 1 1:00 pm No. 16 Cal Poly Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN W 31–2410,097
October 8 8:00 pm at Sacramento State No. 24 Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA WBS W 40–79,614
October 15 1:00 pm Southern Utah No. 22 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN W 45–2310,506
October 22 3:35 pm at Idaho State No. 19 WBS W 28–216,320
October 29 1:00 pm Weber State No. 17 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN2 W 27–198,699
November 5 1:05 pm at Northern Colorado No. 16 WBS W 23–134,322
November 12 1:00 pm Northern Arizona No. 12 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN2 W 38–319,049
December 3 5:00 pm No. 12 Richmond * No. 8 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (Second Round) ESPN3 L 24–279,837
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings 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 movementsLegend: ██ 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 [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
College Division / Division II I-AA/FCS
Northern Arizona (1978)
Montana State (1979)
Boise State (1980)
Idaho State (1981)
Montana , Idaho , & Montana State (1982)
Nevada (1983)
Montana State (1984)
Idaho (1985)
Nevada (1986)
Idaho (1987)
Idaho (1988)
Idaho (1989)
Nevada (1990)
Nevada (1991)
Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992)
Montana (1993)
Boise State (1994)
Montana (1995)
Montana (1996)
Eastern Washington (1997)
Montana (1998)
Montana (1999)
Montana (2000)
Montana (2001)
Montana , Montana State , & Idaho State (2002)
Montana State , Montana , & Northern Arizona (2003)
Montana & Eastern Washington (2004)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Montana (2005)
Montana (2006)
Montana (2007)
Weber State & Montana (2008)
Montana (2009)
Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010)
Montana State & Montana (2011)
Eastern Washington , Montana State , & Cal Poly (2012)
Eastern Washington (2013)
Eastern Washington (2014)
Southern Utah (2015)
Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016)
Southern Utah & Weber State (2017)
Eastern Washington , UC Davis , & Weber State (2018)
Sacramento State & Weber State (2019)
Weber State (2020)
Sacramento State (2021)
National championships in bold