2016 Southern Conference football season

2016 Southern Conference football season
2016 Southern Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Championship
Sport	Football
Duration	September 1, 2015 – November 19, 2015
Number of teams	9
TV partner(s)	SoCon Digital Network; American Sports Network; ESPN3
Season champions	The Citadel
Southern Conference football seasons
	← 2015 2017 →

LeagueNCAA Division I Football Championship

SportFootball

DurationSeptember 1, 2015 – November 19, 2015

Number of teams9

2016 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 The Citadel $^	8	–	0	10	–	2
No. 9 Wofford ^	6	–	2	10	–	4
No. 13 Chattanooga ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 23 Samford ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
Mercer	4	–	4	6	–	5
Furman	3	–	5	3	–	8
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	5	–	6
Western Carolina	1	–	7	2	–	9
VMI	1	–	7	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 Southern Conference football season was the 95th season of college football for the Southern Conference (SoCon) and formed a part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

Media^[1]			Coaches^[2]
Place	School	Points	Place	School	Points
1	Chattanooga (26)	250	1	Chattanooga (7)	63
2	The Citadel (2)	208	2	The Citadel (1)	52
3	Western Carolina	179	3	Samford (1)	50
4	Mercer	148	4	Western Carolina	41
5	Samford	147	5	Mercer	38
6	Wofford	136	6	Wofford	33
7	Furman	102	7	Furman	24
8	VMI	62	8	VMI	14
9	East Tennessee State	28	9	East Tennessee State	9

Position	Player	Class	Team
First Team Offense
QB	Al Cobb	Jr.	VMI
RB	Derrick Craine	Sr.	Chattanooga
RB	Detrez Newsome	Jr.	Western Carolina
WR	Karel Hamilton	Sr.	Samford
WR	Aaron Sanders	Sr.	VMI
TE	Tyler Sexton	Sr.	Western Carolina
OL	Isaiah Pinson	Jr.	The Citadel
OL	Brett Niederreither	Sr.	Mercer
OL	Armando Bonheur	Sr.	Samford
OL	Corey Levin	Sr.	Chattanooga
OL	Jacob Revis	Jr.	Chattanooga
OL (tie)	Anton Wahrby	Sr.	Wofford
First Team Defense
DL	Joe Crochet	Sr.	The Citadel
DL	Ahmad Gooden	Sophomore	Samford
DL	Keionta Davis	Sr.	Chattanooga
DL	Miles Brown	So.	Wofford
LB	Tevin Floyd	Sr.	The Citadel
LB	Nakevion Leslie	Sr.	Chattanooga
LB	Tyson Dickson	Sr.	Western Carolina
LB (tie)	Daniel Riddle	Jr.	Western Carolina
DB	Dee Delaney	Jr.	The Citadel
DB	Trey Robinson	Sr.	Furman
DB	Jamerson Blount	Sr.	Samford
DB	Lucas Webb	Jr.	Chattanooga
First Team Special Teams
PK	Henrique Ribeiro	Sr.	Chattanooga
P	Ian Berryman	So.	Western Carolina
RS	Dane Forlines	Sr.	VMI
Reference:^[3]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 1	7:00 PM	The Citadel	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	CIT 24–23	12,542	^[4]
September 1	7:00 PM	Shorter	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 66–0	9,588	^[5]
September 1	7:00 PM	Mars Hill	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 77–7	4,482	^[6]
September 1	7:00 PM	Wofford	Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium • Cookeville, TN	OVCDN	W 21–7	9,066	^[7]
September 2	7:00 PM	Furman	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	BTN	L 13–28	74,516	^[8]
September 3	6:00 PM	Western Carolina	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	L 7–52	44,161	^[9]
September 3	6:30 PM	VMI	Akron	InfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 24–47	11,061	^[10]
September 3	7:00 PM	East Tennessee State	Kennesaw State	Fifth Third Bank Stadium • Kennesaw, GA	WPCH	W 20–17	8,574	^[11]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyler Renew	The Citadel	Jaleel Green	Wofford	JJ Jerman	East Tennessee State
Reference: Weekly Release

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 10	2:00 PM	Presbyterian	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 34–0	8,370	^[12]
September 10	3:00 PM	Mercer	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	L 10–35	49,992	^[13]
September 10	4:00 PM	Wofford	Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	SECN	L 13–38	64,232	^[14]
September 10	6:00 PM	Furman	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 19–14	12,009	^[15]
September 10	6:00 PM	VMI	Morehead State	Jayne Stadium • Morehead, KY	OVCDN	W 17–13	5,588	^[16]
September 10	6:00 PM	Gardner–Webb	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	W 44–14	11,598	^[17]
September 10	7:00 PM	Samford	Central Arkansas	Estes Stadium • Conway, AR	BNN	W 35–29	9,987	^[18]

2016 Southern Conference football season

Preseason poll results

Preseason All-Conference Teams

Rankings

Regular season

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve

Week Thirteen

Records against other conferences

FCS conferences

FBS conferences

Attendance

References

Related Articles

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12
Chattanooga	Stats	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	11	10	9	7	12
	C	7	6	4	3	3	3	3	8	8	8	7	11
	FCS	Not released									8	7	NR	Not released
The Citadel	Stats	15	15	15	10	9	9	8	5	5	5	5	5
	C	15	16	15	10	10	9	9	6	7	7	6	6
	FCS	Not released									6	6	6	Not released
East Tennessee State	Stats	–	–	–	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Furman	Stats	–	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Mercer	Stats	RV	RV	–	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Samford	Stats	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	20	20	22	18
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	20	19	18	21	18
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
VMI	Stats	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Western Carolina	Stats	RV	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Wofford	Stats	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	20
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	19
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 17	1:30 PM	Western Carolina	East Tennessee State	Bristol Motor Speedway • Bristol, TN	ESPN3	ETSU 34–31	13,863	^[19]
September 17	3:00 PM	Johnson C. Smith	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	W 59–0	5,417	^[20]
September 17	4:00 PM	Tennessee Tech	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 34–27	9,772	^[21]
September 17	6:00 PM	The Citadel	Gardner–Webb	Ernest W. Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC	BSN	W 31–24	6,850	^[22]
September 17	7:00 PM	Chattanooga	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	UTC 21–14	5,347	^[23]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 24	1:30 PM	East Tennessee State	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 31–0	7,316	^[24]
September 24	2:00 PM	Samford	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 41–21	8,714	^[25]
September 24	3:00 PM	VMI	Bucknell	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium • Lewisburg, PA	PLN	W 23–17^3OT	4,972	^[26]
September 24	6:00 PM	Furman	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	CCUN	L 21–41	10,311	^[27]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 1	12:00 PM	Chattanooga	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	UTC 37–17	7,411	^[28]
October 1	1:30 PM	Mercer	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	MER 33–30^OT	5,266	^[29]
October 1	3:00 PM	Wofford	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 28–26	8,509	^[30]
October 1	3:00 PM	Kennesaw State	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 42–52	6,970	^[31]
October 1	3:30 PM	The Citadel	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	CIT 37–14	12,283	^[32]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 6	7:00 PM	North Greenville	The Citadel	Younts Stadium • Tigerville, SC^[a]		W 38–14	5,435	^[33]
October 8	1:00 PM	Samford	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	SAM 38–21	4,587	^[34]
October 8	1:30 PM	East Tennessee State	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	VMI 37–7	5,638	^[35]
October 8	4:00 PM	Mercer	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 52–31	11,039	^[36]
October 8	7:00 PM	Wofford	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	WOF 31–19	9,457	^[37]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 15	12:00 PM	Furman	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	FUR 52–7	6,052	^[38]
October 15	3:00 PM	Chattanooga	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	FSN	CIT 22–14	14,590	^[39]
October 15	3:00 PM	VMI	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 55–21	4,085	^[40]
October 15	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	MER 38–24	12,247	^[41]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 20	7:30 PM	West Virginia Wesleyan	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	W 38–7	6,196	^[42]
October 22	1:30 PM	The Citadel	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	CIT 24–21^OT	11,102	^[43]
October 22	2:00 PM	VMI	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 30–13	10,505	^[44]
October 22	5:00 PM	Mercer	Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium • Clarksville, TN	OVCDN	W 41–34	6,506	^[45]
October 22	7:00 PM	Western Carolina	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ASN	SAM 30–17	4,031	^[46]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 29	1:30 PM	Furman	VMI	Alumni Memorial Stadium • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	FUR 24–10	5,610	^[47]
October 29	1:30 PM	Mercer	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 31–21	6,190	^[48]
October 29	2:00 PM	East Tennessee State	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 45–10	12,978	^[49]
October 29	2:30 PM	Samford	Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	SECN	L 41–56	58,019	^[50]
October 29	3:30 PM	Chattanooga	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	UTC 38–25	10,760	^[51]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 5	1:30 PM	Wofford	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	WOF 34–27	7,834	^[52]
November 5	2:00 PM	Samford	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 37–34^OT	15,015	^[53]
November 5	2:00 PM	VMI	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	WCU 32–29	8,225	^[54]
November 5	3:00 PM	East Tennessee State	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	MER 21–13	10,200	^[55]

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon teams in bold

Conference	Record
Big Sky	0–0
Big South	4–1
CAA	0–0
Ivy League	0–0
Independents	0–1
MEAC	0–0
MVFC	0–0
NEC	0–0
OVC	3–0
Patriot	1–0
Pioneer	1–0
Southland	1–0
SWAC	0–0
Total	10–2

Conference	Record
American	0–1
ACC	0–2
Big Ten	0–1
Independents	0–0
MAC	0–1
SEC	0–3
Sun Belt	0–0
Total	0–8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 12	1:00 PM	Cumberland	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	W 23-16	6,735	^[56]
November 12	1:30 PM	The Citadel	VMI	Alumni Memorial Stadium • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	CIT 30-20	8,251	^[57]
November 12	2:00 PM	Wofford	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	WOF 36-28	8,750	^[58]
November 12	3:30 PM	Mercer	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 24-19	8,379	^[59]
November 12	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	FUR 49-21	4,117	^[60]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 19	1:30 PM	VMI	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 17–0	8,102	^[61]
November 19	3:00 PM	Furman	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	MER 27–24	10,712	^[62]
November 19	3:30 PM	Samford	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	ETSU 15–14	5,752	^[63]
November 19	3:30 PM	The Citadel	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN Extra	L 7–41	41,000	^[64]
November 19	7:00 PM	Chattanooga	Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	TBA	L 3–31	101,821	^[65]
November 19	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	TBA	L 31–44	76,650	^[66]

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Chattanooga	Finley Stadium	20,668	9,588	8,370	8,714	11,039	10,505	8,750	56,966	9,494	46%
The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium	21,000	12,009^[b]	14,590^[c]	12,978^[d]	15,015^[e]			54,592	13,648	65%^[f]
East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium	6,600	7,411	6,052	6,196	6,735			26,394	6,598	100%
Furman	Paladin Stadium	16,000	5,347	6,970	4,587	7,834	4,117		28,855	5,771	36%
Mercer	Moye Complex	10,200	12,542	9,772	12,247	10,200			44,761	11,190	110%
Samford	Seibert Stadium	6,700	4,482	8,509	4,085	4,031	8,379		29,486	5,897	88%
VMI	Alumni Memorial Field	10,000	5,266	5,638	5,610	8,251			24,765	6,191	62%
Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium	13,742	11,598	12,283	9,457	8,225			41,563	10,391	76%
Wofford	Gibbs Stadium	13,000	5,417	7,316	11,102	6,190			30,025	7,506	58%

v t e Southern Conference football
Teams	Chattanooga Mocs The Citadel Bulldogs East Tennessee State Buccaneers Furman Paladins Mercer Bears Samford Bulldogs VMI Keydets Western Carolina Catamounts Wofford Terriers
Former teams	Former Southern Conference teams
Championships & awards	Conference champions All-time standings (1921–1971), (1972–present) All-Southern team Champ Pickens Trophy
Seasons	1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023