# 2016 Liberty Flames football team

The 2016 Liberty Flames football team represented Liberty University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Turner Gill and played their home games at Williams Stadium. They were a member of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 4–1 in Big South play to share the conference championship with Charleston Southern. Despite the conference title, the Flames were not invited to the FCS playoffs.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 12:30 pm | at Virginia Tech* | | Lane StadiumBlacksburg, VA | ACCN | L 13–36 | 62,234 |
| September 10 | 7:00 pm | Jacksonville* | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | W 55–7 | 16,625 |
| September 17 | 7:00 pm | at SMU* | | Gerald J. Ford StadiumDallas, TX | ESPN3 | L 14–29 | 22,127 |
| September 24 | 7:00 pm | No. 3 Jacksonville State* | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | L 19–48 | 15,354 |
| October 1 | 7:00 pm | Robert Morris* | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | W 41–7 | 11,273 |
| October 15 | 7:00 pm | at Kennesaw State | | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA | ESPN3 | W 36–21 | 8,803 |
| October 22 | 3:30 pm | Monmouth | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | W 52–28 | 16,687 |
| October 29 | 3:30 pm | Gardner–Webb | | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | BSN | W 23–20 $^{OT}$ | 16,608 |
| November 5 | 2:00 pm | at Presbyterian | | Bailey Memorial StadiumClinton, SC | ESPN3 | W 16–0 | 3,101 |
| November 12 | 3:30 pm | No. 14 Charleston Southern | No. 25 | Williams StadiumLynchburg, VA | ESPN3 | L 26–48 | 21,712 |
| November 17 | 7:00 pm | at No. 16 Coastal Carolina* | | Brooks StadiumConway, SC (rivalry) | ESPNews | L 7–42 | 7,787 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Game summaries
### Virginia Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Flames | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • Hokies | 7 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 36 |

### Jacksonville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Flames | 14 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 55 |

### SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Flames | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Mustangs | 10 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 29 |

### Jacksonville State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #3 Gamecocks | 14 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 48 |
| Flames | 3 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 19 |

### Robert Morris

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonials | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Flames | 7 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 41 |

### Kennesaw State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Flames | 7 | 13 | 6 | 10 | 36 |
| Owls | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Monmouth

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawks | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| • Flames | 14 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 52 |

### Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| • Flames | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 23 |

### Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Flames | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Blue Hose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Charleston Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #14 Buccaneers | 7 | 24 | 7 | 10 | 48 |
| #25 Flames | 6 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 26 |

### Coastal Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Flames | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • #16 Chanticleers | 7 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 42 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | — |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | — | — |