2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game
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| 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 17, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | Network ESPN2 | | |||||||||||||||||
The 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game that determined a national champion in NCAA Division II for the 2016 season. It was played at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, on December 17, 2016,[1] with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST (3:00 p.m. local CST), and television coverage on ESPN2.
Teams
The participants of the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game were the finalists of the 2016 Division II Playoffs, which began with four 7-team brackets to determine super region champions, who then qualified for the national semifinals.[2] The game featured the winners of those national semifinal games: No. 3 seed North Alabama and No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State. This was the third meeting between the two teams; entering the game, Northwest Missouri State led the series 2–0.[3] This was the Bearcats' tenth championship game appearance, having won 5, while the Lions were making their fifth appearance, having won 3.[4] Additionally, the Bearcats entered the game as the defending national champions and were seeking to extend their streak to having won 3 of the last 4 national titles.
National semifinals
Super region champions were seeded 1 to 4 for the national semifinals.
| Semifinals December 10 Hosted by higher seeded team | National Championship December 17 Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS | ||||||||
| 1 | Northwest Missouri State | 35 | |||||||
| 4 | Ferris State
| 20 | |||||||
| 1 | Northwest Missouri State | 29 | |||||||
| 3 | North Alabama | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | Shepherd | 13 | |||||||
| 3 | North Alabama | 23 | |||||||
Game summary
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 North Alabama | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 1 Northwest Missouri State | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
at Children's Mercy Park • Kansas City, Kansas
- Date: Saturday, December 17, 2016
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST (3:00 p.m. CST)
- Game weather: Snowy • Temperature: 13 °F (−11 °C) • Wind: NNW 17 mph
- Game attendance: 9,576
- Referee: Bob Rose
- TV announcers (ESPN2): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Tom Luginbill (analyst), Olivia Harlan (sideline)
- Sources:[5]
| Game information |
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Statistics
| Statistics | UNA | NWMS |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 14 | 15 |
| Plays–yards | 74–201 | 74–338 |
| Rushes–yards | 33–22 | 40–226 |
| Passing yards | 179 | 112 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 15–41–1 | 18–34–1 |
| Time of possession | 27:05 | 32:55 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Alabama | Passing | Jacob Tucker | 15/41, 179 yards, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Ray Beasley | 4 carries, 29 yards | |
| Receiving | Julius Jones | 4 receptions, 82 yards | |
| Northwest Missouri State | Passing | Kyle Zimmerman | 13/26, 100 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Randy Schmidt | 14 carries, 96 yards | |
| Receiving | Jordan Grove | 6 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD |
References
- ^ "North Ala. vs Northwest Mo. St. DII Football Game Summary - December 17th, 2016 | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "2016 Division II Football Official Bracket | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "Northwest Missouri State University - Football-Record-Book-thru-2019" (PDF). bearcatsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "DII Football Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "Northwest Missouri State University - Boxscore for Football vs University of North Alabama on 12/17/2016". bearcatsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.