# 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

The 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team represented Indiana State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Mike Sanford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.
On December 16, head coach Mike Sanford resigned to join the staff at WKU where his son, Mike Sanford Jr., had recently been named the head coach. Sanford leaves Indiana State with a four year record of 18–30.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 3:00 pm | Butler* | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | W 41–25 | 5,625 |
| September 10 | 12:00 pm | at Minnesota* | | TCF Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN | ESPNews | L 28–58 | 41,026 |
| September 17 | 7:00 pm | at Southeast Missouri State* | | Houck StadiumCape Girardeau, MO | OVCDN | W 27–24 | 7,637 |
| September 24 | 3:00 pm | No. 9 Illinois State | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | W 34–31 | 6,561 |
| October 1 | 3:00 pm | Missouri State | No. 24 | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | L 24–45 | 6,871 |
| October 8 | 4:00 pm | at No. 13 Western Illinois | | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | L 35–36 | 5,487 |
| October 15 | 3:00 pm | South Dakota | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | L 30–33 $^{2OT}$ | 3,297 |
| October 22 | 3:00 pm | at Southern Illinois | | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN3 | W 22–14 | 9,603 |
| October 29 | 2:00 pm | at Youngstown State | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN3 | L 10–13 | 15,082 |
| November 5 | 1:00 pm | Northern Iowa | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | L 6–39 | 3,409 |
| November 12 | 3:30 pm | at No. 4 North Dakota State | | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN3 | L 17–41 | 18,276 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Game summaries
### Butler

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 25 |
| Sycamores | 14 | 3 | 21 | 3 | 41 |

### At Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| Golden Gophers | 14 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 58 |

### At Southeast Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 7 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
| Redhawks | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #9 Redbirds | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 31 |
| Sycamores | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 34 |

### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 10 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 45 |
| #24 Sycamores | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

### At Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 7 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 35 |
| #13 Leathernecks | 0 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 36 |

### South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| Coyotes | 17 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 33 |
| Sycamores | 10 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 30 |

### At Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| Salukis | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### At Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Penguins | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |

### Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 13 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 39 |
| Sycamores | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |

### At North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sycamores | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| #4 Bison | 21 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 41 |

## 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 | 24 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | — | RV | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |