# 2016 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

The 2016 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by first-year head coach Brent Thompson and played their home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium. They played as members of the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936.
With their win over Samford on November 4, the Bulldogs clinched their second consecutive, and fourth overall, SoCon championship. By virtue of their victory over VMI on November 12, 2016, The Citadel completed their first undefeated SoCon season in program history and claimed the championship outright. The win over VMI also marked the second time in program history that the Bulldogs earned double digit wins in one season, after winning 11 games in 1992.
They finished the season 10–2, 8–0 in SoCon play to win the SoCon title. They received the SoCon's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the second round to Wofford.

## Schedule

The Bulldogs planned to host North Greenville for their traditional Parents' Day game on October 8. Due to Hurricane Matthew, the game against North Greenville took place at NGU's Younts Stadium in Tigerville, South Carolina on Thursday, October 6.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 pm | at Mercer | No. 15 | Moye ComplexMacon, GA | FSN | W 24–23 | 12,542 |
| September 10 | 6:00 pm | Furman | No. 15 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC (rivalry) | ESPN3 | W 19–14 | 12,009 |
| September 17 | 6:00 pm | at Gardner–Webb* | No. 15 | Ernest W. Spangler StadiumBoiling Springs, NC | BSN | W 31–24 | 6,850 |
| October 1 | 3:30 pm | at Western Carolina | No. 9 | Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire StadiumCullowhee, NC | ESPN3 | W 37–14 | 12,283 |
| October 6 | 7:00 pm | at North Greenville* | No. 9 | Younts StadiumTigerville, SC | ESPN3 | W 38–14 | 5,435 |
| October 15 | 3:00 pm | No. 5 Chattanooga | No. 8 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | FSN | W 22–14 | 14,590 |
| October 22 | 1:30 pm | at Wofford | No. 5 | Gibbs StadiumSpartanburg, SC (rivalry) | ESPN3 | W 24–21 $^{OT}$ | 11,102 |
| October 29 | 2:00 pm | East Tennessee State | No. 5 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | W 45–10 | 12,978 |
| November 5 | 2:00 pm | No. 20 Samford | No. 5 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | W 37–34 $^{OT}$ | 15,015 |
| November 12 | 1:30 pm | at VMI | No. 5 | Alumni Memorial FieldLexington, VA (Military Classic of the South) | ESPN3 | W 30–20 | 8,251 |
| November 19 | 3:30 pm | at North Carolina* | No. 5 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ACCN+ | L 7–41 | 41,000 |
| December 3 | 6:00 pm | No. 19 Wofford* | No. 6 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC (NCAA Division I second round) | ESPN3 | L 3–17 | 10,336 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Stadium issues

In 2016, The Citadel determined that lead paint needed remediation on the east (visitor's) side of Johnson Hagood Stadium. The work resulted in the entire east side being closed for the first game of the season against Furman and some sections being opened for subsequent games. The capacity was thus 10,500 for the first game and about 15,000 for later games.

## Game summaries
### Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #15 Bulldogs | 21 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Bears | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 23 |

### Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Paladins | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • #15 Bulldogs | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 |

### Gardner–Webb

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #15 Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 31 |
| Runnin' Bulldogs | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #9 Bulldogs | 7 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 37 |
| Catamounts | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |

### North Greenville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #9 Bulldogs | 7 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 38 |
| Crusaders | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Mocs | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • #8 Bulldogs | 7 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 22 |

### Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • #5 Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
| Terriers | 7 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 21 |

### East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| • #5 Bulldogs | 14 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 45 |

### Samford

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

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #5 Bulldogs | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| Keydets | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 20 |

### North Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #5 Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| • Tar Heels | 14 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 41 |

## FCS playoffs
### Second round – Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #19 Terriers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 |
| #6 Bulldogs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = 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 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 (5) | 5 (3) | 5 (3) | 5 (7) | 5 (6) | 6 | 10 |
| Coaches | 15 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| FCS Playoffs | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 6 | 6 | 6 | Not released | Not released |