# 2016 Georgia State Panthers football team

The 2016 Georgia State Panthers football team represented Georgia State University (GSU) in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Panthers were led by fourth-year head coach Trent Miles for the first 10 games of the year until he was fired on November 12, 2016 after a 2–8 record. They were led by interim head coach Tim Lappano for the remainder of the season. They played their home games at the Georgia Dome. The 2016 season was the Panthers' fourth in the Sun Belt Conference and seventh since starting football. This was also the Panthers final season in the Georgia Dome, as the stadium was demolished on November 20, 2017 following the opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium on August 26 of the same year.

## Schedule

Georgia State announced its 2016 football schedule on March 3, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host Sun Belt foes Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana–Monroe, and Texas State, and will travel to Appalachian State, Idaho, South Alabama, and Troy. Georgia State will skip out on two Sun Belt teams this season, Louisiana–Lafayette and New Mexico State.
The team will play four non–conference games, two home games against Ball State from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Tennessee–Martin (UT–Martin) from the Ohio Valley Conference, and two road games against Air Force from the Mountain West Conference and Wisconsin from the Big Ten Conference.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 7:00 p.m. | Ball State* | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA | ASN | L 21–31 | 12,233 |
| September 10 | 2:00 p.m. | at Air Force* | Falcon StadiumColorado Springs, CO | MWN | L 14–48 | 24,173 |
| September 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Wisconsin* | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | BTN | L 17–23 | 79,883 |
| October 1 | 12:00 p.m. | at Appalachian State | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | ASN | L 3–17 | 24,782 |
| October 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Texas State | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA | ESPN3 | W 41–21 | 13,179 |
| October 15 | 3:30 p.m. | at Troy | Veterans Memorial StadiumTroy, AL | ESPN3 | L 21–31 | 23,913 |
| October 22 | 3:30 p.m. | Tennessee–Martin* | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA | ESPN3 | W 31–6 | 15,223 |
| October 29 | 5:00 p.m. | at South Alabama | Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL | ESPN3 | L 10–13 | 11,565 |
| November 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Arkansas State | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA | ESPNU | L 16–31 | 13,363 |
| November 12 | 2:00 p.m. | Louisiana–Monroe | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA | ESPN3 | L 23–37 | 13,106 |
| November 19 | 2:00 p.m. | Georgia Southern | Georgia DomeAtlanta, GA (rivalry) | ESPN3 | W 30–24 | 23,513 |
| December 3 | 5:00 p.m. | at Idaho | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | ESPN3 | L 12–37 | 11,242 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
* All ASN games werealso broadcast on ESPN3.

## Coaching and support staff

| Name | Position | Consecutive season at Georgia State in current position |
| Trent Miles | Head coach | 4th |
| Harold Etheridge | Associate head coach, offensive line | 4th |
| Luke Huard | Offensive coordinator, quarterback | 1st |
| Jesse Minter | Defensive coordinator | 4th |
| Jeff Jagodzinski | Assistant coach | 4th |
| Larry Knight | Assistant coach, outside linebackers | 2nd |
| Tim Lappano | Assistant coach, wide receivers | 3rd |
| Eric Lewis | Assistant coach, secondary, special teams coordinator | 2nd |
| Rick Minter | Assistant coach, defensive line | 1st |
| P.J. Volker | Assistant coach, linebackers / recruiting coordinator | 4th |
| Ben McLane | Graduate assistant, offense | 1st |
| Chris O'Leary | Graduate assistant, defense | 1st |
| Reid Sanders | Graduate assistant, offense | 1st |
| John McDonell | Senior offensive analyst | 1st |
| Dusty Bennett | Director of football operations | 2nd |
| Scott Holsopple | Head strength and conditioning coach | 1st |
| Bob Murphy | Associate AD, sports medicine and nutrition | 1st |
| Liam Smith | Director of player personnel | 1st |
| Nicholas Vogt | Equipment manager | 4th |
| Reference: |||

### Roster
## Game summaries
### Ball State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 31 |
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### At Air Force

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Falcons | 10 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 48 |

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 9 Badgers | 6 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 23 |

### At Appalachian State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 17 |

### Texas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bobcats | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Panthers | 0 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 41 |

### At Troy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Trojans | 3 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 31 |

### UT Martin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Skyhawks | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Panthers | 7 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 31 |

### At South Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Jaguars | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |

### Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Red Wolves | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Panthers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |

### Louisiana–Monroe

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Warhawks | 2 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 37 |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 23 |

### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Panthers | 20 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 30 |

### At Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Vandals | 14 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 37 |