# 2016 Tennessee State Tigers football team

The 2016 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by seventh-year head coach Rod Reed and played their home games at Nissan Stadium and Hale Stadium. Tennessee State finished the season 7–4 overall and 4–3 in OVC play to place fourth.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | Arkansas–Pine Bluff* | | Nissan StadiumNashville, TN (John Merritt Classic) | OVCDN | W 44–0 | 15,078 |
| September 10 | 6:00 pm | vs. Jackson State* | | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Southern Heritage Classic) | FSS | W 40–26 | 46,263 |
| September 17 | 3:00 pm | at Bethune–Cookman* | | Municipal StadiumDaytona Beach, FL | CEN | W 31–24 | 9,385 |
| October 1 | 2:00 pm | UT Martin | | Hale StadiumNashville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy) | ESPN3 | W 34–30 | 10,001 |
| October 8 | 6:00 pm | at No. 19 Eastern Illinois | | O'Brien FieldCharleston, IL | OVCDN | L 34–35 | 4,319 |
| October 15 | 6:00 pm | Eastern Kentucky | | Nissan StadiumNashville, TN | ESPN3 | W 35–28 | 21,053 |
| October 22 | 6:30 pm | at Vanderbilt* | No. 25 | Vanderbilt StadiumNashville, TN | ESPNU | L 17–35 | 31,084 |
| October 29 | 3:00 pm | at Murray State | No. 25 | Roy Stewart StadiumMurray, KY | OVCDN | L 31–38 | 8,605 |
| November 5 | 4:00 pm | at Austin Peay | | Governors StadiumClarksville, TN | OVCDN | W 41–40 | 6,041 |
| November 12 | 3:00 pm | Tennessee Tech | | Hale StadiumNashville, TN | OVCDN | L 16–44 | 8,981 |
| November 19 | 1:00 pm | at Southeast Missouri State | | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO | OVCDN | W 32–31 | 3,117 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Arkansas–Pine Bluff

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tigers | 3 | 17 | 17 | 7 | 44 |

### Vs. Jackson State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| JSU Tigers | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 26 |
| TSU Tigers | 13 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 40 |

### At Bethune-Cookman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### Tennessee–Martin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Skyhawks | 16 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 30 |
| Tigers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 34 |

### At Eastern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 3 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
| #19 Panthers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### Eastern Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonels | 0 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 28 |
| Tigers | 14 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 35 |

### At Vanderbilt

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #25 Tigers | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Commodores | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

### At Murray State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #25 Tigers | 3 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 31 |
| Racers | 14 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

### At Austin Peay

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 13 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 41 |
| Governors | 9 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 40 |

### Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | 7 | 20 | 3 | 14 | 44 |
| Tigers | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 16 |

### At Southeast Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 10 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 32 |
| Redhawks | 7 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 31 |

## 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 | RV | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |