# 2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | at Stony Brook* | No. 19 | Kenneth P. LaValle StadiumStony Brook, NY | | L 9–13 | 6,153 |
| September 10 | 2:30 pm | at Bowling Green* | No. 25 | Doyt Perry StadiumBowling Green, OH | ASN/ESPN3 | L 26–27 | 15,318 |
| September 17 | 4:00 pm | South Dakota* | | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND (Potato Bowl, Sitting Bull Trophy) | Midco SN | W 47–44 $^{2OT}$ | 11,477 |
| September 24 | 3:00 pm | at Montana State | | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | WBS | W 17–15 | 19,507 |
| October 1 | 1:00 pm | No. 16 Cal Poly | | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco SN | W 31–24 | 10,097 |
| October 8 | 8:00 pm | at Sacramento State | No. 24 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | WBS | W 40–7 | 9,614 |
| October 15 | 1:00 pm | Southern Utah | No. 22 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco SN | W 45–23 | 10,506 |
| October 22 | 3:35 pm | at Idaho State | No. 19 | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | WBS | W 28–21 | 6,320 |
| October 29 | 1:00 pm | Weber State | No. 17 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco SN2 | W 27–19 | 8,699 |
| November 5 | 1:05 pm | at Northern Colorado | No. 16 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | WBS | W 23–13 | 4,322 |
| November 12 | 1:00 pm | Northern Arizona | No. 12 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco SN2 | W 38–31 | 9,049 |
| December 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 12 Richmond* | No. 8 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND (Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 24–27 | 9,837 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Stony Brook

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

### Bowling Green

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

### South Dakota

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

### Montana State

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

### Cal Poly

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

### Sacramento State

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

### Southern Utah

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

### Idaho State

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

### Weber State

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

### Northern Colorado

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

### Northern Arizona

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

## FCS Playoffs
### Second Round–Richmond

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

## 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 | 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 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | 10 | 9 | Not released | Not released |