# 2016 Samford Bulldogs football team

The 2016 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second year head coach Chris Hatcher and played their home games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Youngstown State in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 pm | Mars Hill* | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | W 77–7 | 4,482 |
| September 10 | 6:00 pm | at Central Arkansas* | | Estes StadiumConway, AR | BNN | W 35–29 | 9,987 |
| September 24 | 1:00 pm | at No. 5 Chattanooga | | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | SDN | L 21–41 | 8,714 |
| October 1 | 2:00 pm | Wofford | | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | W 28–26 | 8,509 |
| October 8 | 12:00 pm | at Furman | | Paladin StadiumGreenville, SC | ESPN3 | W 38–21 | 4,587 |
| October 15 | 2:00 pm | VMI | No. 24 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | W 55–21 | 4,085 |
| October 22 | 6:00 pm | Western Carolina | No. 21 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ASN | W 30–17 | 4,031 |
| October 29 | 2:30 pm | at Mississippi State* | No. 20 | Davis Wade StadiumStarkville, MS | SECN | L 41–56 | 58,019 |
| November 5 | 1:00 pm | at No. 5 The Citadel | No. 20 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | L 34–37 $^{OT}$ | 15,015 |
| November 12 | 2:30 pm | Mercer | No. 22 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | W 24–19 | 8,379 |
| November 19 | 2:30 pm | at East Tennessee State | No. 18 | Kermit Tipton StadiumJohnson City, TN | SDN | L 14–15 | 5,752 |
| November 26 | 4:00 pm | at No. 13 Youngstown State* | No. 23 | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH (NCAA Division I first round) | ESPN3 | L 24–38 | 5,322 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Mars Hill

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountain Lions | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • Bulldogs | 14 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 77 |

### At Central Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bulldogs | 7 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 29 |

### At Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • #5 Mocs | 7 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 41 |

### Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Terriers | 7 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 26 |
| • Bulldogs | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### At Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bulldogs | 14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Paladins | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Keydets | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| • #24 Bulldogs | 28 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 55 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Catamounts | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| • #21 Bulldogs | 7 | 6 | 14 | 3 | 30 |

### At Mississippi State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #20 Bulldogs (SAM) | 13 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 41 |
| • Bulldogs (MSU) | 21 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 56 |

### At The Citadel

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| #20 Bulldogs (SAM) | 7 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 34 |
| • #5 Bulldogs (CIT) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 37 |

### Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 19 |
| • #22 Bulldogs | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 |

### At East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #18 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • Buccaneers | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 |

## FCS playoffs
### First round – Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #23 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 24 |
| • #13 Penguins | 7 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 38 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking 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 | 24 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 18 | 23 | 23 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 23 |