American college football season
The 2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team represented Youngstown State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season . They were led by second-year head coach Bo Pelini and played their home games at Stambaugh Stadium . They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference . Youngstown State finished the season 12–4 overall with a 6–2 mark in MVFC play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Samford , Jacksonville State , Wofford , and Eastern Washington to advance to the National Championship Game, where they lost to James Madison .
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance 7:30 pm Duquesne * ESPN3 W 45–1012,219
September 10 2:00 pm at West Virginia * No. 20 RTPT L 21–3856,261
September 17 4:00 pm Robert Morris * No. 20 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH ESPN3 W 38–619,033
October 1 4:00 pm South Dakota No. 20 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH ESPN3 W 30–2015,151
October 8 3:00 pm at No. 23 Illinois State No. 15 ESPN3 W 20–612,570
October 15 7:00 pm No. 21 Northern Iowa No. 14 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH ESPN3 W 14–1013,373
October 22 3:00 pm at No. 7 South Dakota State No. 13 ESPN3 L 10–2417,730
October 29 4:00 pm Indiana State No. 15 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH ESPN3 W 13–1015,082
November 5 3:30 pm at No. 4 North Dakota State No. 15 ESPN3 L 3–2418,332
November 12 12:00 pm Southern Illinois No. 17 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH ESPN3 W 21–1411,262
November 19 3:00 pm at Missouri State No. 15 ESPN3 W 65–205,070
November 26 5:00 pm No. 23 Samford * No. 13 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH (FCS Playoffs First Round ) ESPN3 W 38–245,322
December 3 2:00 pm at No. 2 Jacksonville State * No. 13 ESPN3 W 40–2418,838
December 10 2:00 pm No. 19 Wofford * No. 13 Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals ) ESPN3 W 30–23 2OT 8,066
December 17 6:30 pm at No. 3 Eastern Washington * No. 13 ESPNU W 40–385,233
January 7, 2017 12:00 pm vs. No. 5 James Madison * No. 13 ESPN2 L 14–2814,423
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Roster [ ]
Game summaries [ ]
Duquesne [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Dukes
3
7
0
0
10
Penguins
10
14
7
14
45
at West Virginia [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#20 Penguins
0
14
0
7
21
Mountaineers
7
7
17
7
38
Robert Morris [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Colonials
0
0
6
0
6
#20 Penguins
14
3
14
7
38
South Dakota [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Coyotes
3
0
3
14
20
#20 Penguins
10
10
0
10
30
at Illinois State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#15 Penguins
0
3
0
17
20
#23 Redbirds
0
0
6
0
6
Northern Iowa [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#21 Panthers
0
10
0
0
10
#14 Penguins
0
0
0
14
14
at South Dakota State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#13 Penguins
3
0
0
7
10
#7 Jackrabbits
14
3
7
0
24
Indiana State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Sycamores
10
0
0
0
10
#15 Penguins
0
6
0
7
13
at North Dakota State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#15 Penguins
0
3
0
0
3
#4 Bison
17
0
0
7
24
Southern Illinois [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Salukis
0
0
7
7
14
#17 Penguins
7
7
0
7
21
at Missouri State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#15 Penguins
14
20
17
14
65
Bears
0
10
0
10
20
FCS Playoffs [ ]
First Round–Samford [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#23 Bulldogs
7
0
0
17
24
#13 Penguins
7
3
14
14
38
Second Round–Jacksonville State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#13 Penguins
17
3
14
6
40
#2 Gamecocks
7
10
7
0
24
Quarterfinals–Wofford [ ]
1
2
3
4 OT 2OT
Total
#19 Terriers
9
0
7
7 0 0
23
#13 Penguins
0
13
7
3 0 7
30
Semifinals–Eastern Washington [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#13 Penguins
7
10
3
20
40
#3 Eagles
10
14
7
7
38
Championship–James Madison [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#13 Penguins
0
7
0
7
14
#5 Dukes
14
7
7
0
28
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
RV
20
20
16
20
15
14
13
15
15
17
15
13
2
Coaches
RV
22
20
17
15
13
12
12
14
13
15
14
12–T
2
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People National championship seasons in bold