2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

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
Record	9–3 (8–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Bubba Schweigert (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Rudolph (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pistol
Defensive coordinator	Eric Schmidt (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Alerus Center
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	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

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.

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	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 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 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 Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1][2]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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	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									—	10	9	Not released