# 2016 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

The 2016 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by third-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 12–1 overall and 9–0 in Southland play to win the Southland Conference title. They went undefeated during the regular season with a record of 11–0. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Chattanooga the second round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to James Madison.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | Oklahoma Panhandle State* | No. 2 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | W 59–21 | 8,609 |
| September 17 | 7:00 pm | at Lamar | No. 3 | Provost Umphrey StadiumBeaumont, TX | ESPN3 | W 44–31 | 8,343 |
| September 24 | 7:00 pm | at Houston Baptist | No. 2 | Husky StadiumHouston, TX | FCS | W 52–16 | 3,134 |
| October 1 | 3:00 pm | vs. Stephen F. Austin | No. 2 | NRG StadiumHouston, TX (Battle of the Piney Woods) | ESPN3 | W 63–28 | 27,411 |
| October 8 | 6:00 pm | at Incarnate Word | No. 2 | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | ESPN3/UIWtv | W 63–48 | 5,322 |
| October 15 | 3:00 pm | Abilene Christian | No. 2 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | W 48–21 | 8,314 |
| October 22 | 3:00 pm | at Nicholls State | No. 1 | Manning Field at John L. Guidry StadiumThibodaux, LA | ASN | W 38–21 | 7,759 |
| October 29 | 6:00 pm | Texas Southern* | No. 1 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | W 66–17 | 8,611 |
| November 5 | 6:00 pm | McNeese State | No. 1 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | W 56–43 | 8,025 |
| November 12 | 6:00 pm | at Northwestern State | No. 1 | Harry Turpin StadiumNatchitoches, LA | ESPN3 | W 48–16 | 6,421 |
| November 19 | 2:30 pm | No. 11 Central Arkansas | No. 1 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | W 59–23 | 9,182 |
| December 3 | 2:00 pm | No. 11 Chattanooga* | No. 1 | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 41–36 | 4,897 |
| December 9 | 6:00 pm | at No. 5 James Madison* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | L 7–65 | 15,646 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Oklahoma Panhandle State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • #2 Bearkats | 21 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 59 |

### @ Lamar

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #3 Bearkats | 14 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 44 |
| Cardinals | 3 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 31 |

### @ Houston Baptist

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #2 Bearkats | 21 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 52 |
| Huskies | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 16 |

### Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #2 Bearkats | 28 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 63 |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |

### @ Incarnate Word

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #2 Bearkats | 21 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 63 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 48 |

### Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| • #2 Bearkats | 7 | 20 | 21 | 0 | 48 |

### @ Nicholls

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #1 Bearkats | 10 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Colonels | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |

### Texas Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| • #1 Bearkats | 28 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 66 |

### McNeese State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 9 | 21 | 13 | 43 |
| • #1 Bearkats | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 |

### @ Northwestern State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #1 Bearkats | 20 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 48 |
| Demons | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 |

### Central Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Bears | 0 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| • #1 Bearkats | 17 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 59 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round–Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #11 Mocs | 0 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 36 |
| • #1 Bearkats | 14 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 41 |

### Quarterfinals–James Madison

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #1 Bearkats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • #5 Dukes | 21 | 21 | 23 | 0 | 65 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place 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 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 (113) | 1 (120) | 1 (102) | 1 (113) | 1 (108) | 1 (111) | 5 |
| Coaches | 2 | 3–T | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 (21) | 1 (23) | 1 (22) | 1 (22) | 1 (21) | 1 (22) | 5 |
| FCS Playoffs | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 2 | 5 | 5 | Not released | Not released |