2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

The 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 20th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier and played their home games at their new stadium Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for the MVFC title. Due to their head-to-head victory over North Dakota State, they received the MVFC's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs where they defeated Villanova in the second round, before losing in the quarterfinals to North Dakota State.

2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
MVFC co-champion
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 10–36 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 6
FCS Coaches	No. 7
2016 record	9–4 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Eric Eidsness
Defensive coordinator	Clint Brown
Home stadium	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (Capacity: 19,340)[1]

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 6 South Dakota State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 2 Youngstown State ^		6	–	2					12	–	4
Illinois State ^		4	–	4					6	–	6
Northern Iowa		4	–	4					5	–	6
Western Illinois		3	–	5					6	–	5
South Dakota		3	–	5					4	–	7
Indiana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	7
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 pm	at No. 13 (FBS) TCU*	No. 8	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	FSN	L 41–59	43,450
September 10	6:00 pm	Drake*	No. 9	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 56–28	15,171 (R)
September 17	6:00 pm	Cal Poly*	No. 9	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 31–38	16,887 (R)
October 1	6:00 pm	No. 8 Western Illinois	No. 15	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 52–14	14,155
October 8	6:00 pm	at Southern Illinois	No. 12	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	W 45–39	5,704
October 15	2:30 pm	at No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 11	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	NBC ND ESPN3	W 19–17	18,828
October 22	2:00 pm	No. 13 Youngstown State	No. 7	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco SN	W 24–10	17,730 (R)
October 29	2:00 pm	at Illinois State	No. 7	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	CSN CH ESPN3	L 21–38	7,595
November 5	2:00 pm	Missouri State	No. 13	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco SN	W 49–24	10,826
November 12	2:00 pm	South Dakota	No. 11	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (South Dakota Showdown Series)	Midco SN	W 28–21	15,345
November 19	4:00 pm	at Northern Iowa	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 45–24	10,511
December 3	2:00 pm	No. 9 Villanova*	No. 7	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 10–7	6,154
December 10	11:00 am	at No. 4 North Dakota State*	No. 7	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN	L 10–36**	18,285
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[2]

• ** Most watched FCS Game of all time - 1.98m viewers on ESPN
• R indicates Record Attendance

Game summaries

@ TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Jackrabbits	3	21	14	3	41
#13 (FBS) Horned Frogs	7	17	21	14	59

Drake

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	0	14	28
#9 Jackrabbits	21	7	7	21	56

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	10	0	21	38
#9 Jackrabbits	7	3	7	14	31

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Leathernecks	14	0	0	0	14
#15 Jackrabbits	7	21	24	0	52

@ Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Jackrabbits	14	14	7	10	45
Salukis	7	11	14	7	39

@ North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Jackrabbbits	0	3	7	9	19
#1 Bison	0	10	7	0	17

Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Penguins	3	0	0	7	10
#7 Jackrabbits	14	3	7	0	24

@ Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Jackrabbits	0	14	7	0	21
Redbirds	14	14	0	10	38

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	3	0	7	24
#13 Jackrabbits	14	7	21	7	49

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	7	7	7	21
#11 Jackrabbits	7	0	14	7	28

@ Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Jackrabbbits	14	7	7	17	45
Panthers	14	3	7	0	24

FCS Playoffs

Second Round–Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
#7 Jackrabbits	7	0	0	3	10

Quarterfinals–North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Jackrabbits	10	0	0	0	10
#4 Bison	7	7	8	14	36

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	8	9	9	15	15	12	11	7	7	13	11	8	7	6
Coaches	14	12	10	18	16	15	14	11	10	15	12	10	7	7
FCS Playoffs	Not released									NR	NR	10	Not released

References

1. "Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Gameday". September 7, 2016.
2. "Schedule". South Dakota State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved March 5, 2016.