2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 18th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Lehigh in the first round before losing in the second round to James Madison.

2016 New Hampshire Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 22–55 vs. James Madison
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 17
FCS Coaches	No. 17
Record	8–5 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (18th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (9th season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (5th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium

2016 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 James Madison $^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 11 Villanova ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 17 New Hampshire ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
No. 8 Richmond ^		5	–	3					10	–	4
Maine		5	–	3					6	–	5
Albany		4	–	4					7	–	4
Stony Brook		4	–	4					5	–	6
William & Mary		3	–	5					5	–	6
Towson		3	–	5					4	–	7
Delaware		2	–	6					4	–	7
Elon		1	–	7					2	–	9
Rhode Island		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:30 pm	at San Diego State*	No. 22	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA		L 0–31	46,486
September 10	7:00 pm	Holy Cross*	No. 24	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ASN	W 39–28	13,242
September 17	7:00 pm	at Dartmouth*	No. 22	Memorial Field Hanover, NH (rivalry)	FCS	L 21–22	8,296
September 24	1:00 pm	at Rhode Island		Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	A10 Network	W 39–17	3,626
October 1	3:30 pm	No. 19 William & Mary		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	W 21–12	21,943
October 7	7:00 pm	at Elon		Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	W 13–10	4,416
October 15	12:00 pm	No. 7 James Madison		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ASN	L 39–42	8,316
October 22	3:30 pm	at Towson		Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	CSN	W 21–7	5,023
October 29	12:00 pm	No. 22 Stony Brook		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	W 43–14	5,029
November 12	12:00 pm	Albany	No. 21	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics	L 25–36	7,012
November 19	1:00 pm	at Maine		Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	MAA	W 24–21	6,401
November 26	2:00 pm	No. 18 Lehigh*	No. 22	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 64–21	2,240
December 3	2:00 pm	at No. 5 James Madison*	No. 22	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 22–55	13,231
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
Aztecs	14	7	3	7	31

See also: 2016 San Diego State Aztecs football team

Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	14	7	7	0	28
#24 Wildcats	6	7	19	7	39

See also: 2016 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

At Dartmouth

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	0	14	7	0	21
Big Green	7	0	0	15	22

See also: 2016 Dartmouth Big Green football team

At Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	8	7	17	39
Rams	7	0	3	7	17

See also: 2016 Rhode Island Rams football team

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Tribe	6	0	0	6	12
Wildcats	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2016 William & Mary Tribe football team

At Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	0	6	13
Phoenix	0	3	7	0	10

See also: 2016 Elon Phoenix football team

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Dukes	7	14	7	14	42
Wildcats	0	9	3	27	39

See also: 2016 James Madison Dukes football team

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	7	0	21
Tigers	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2016 Towson Tigers football team

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Seawolves	7	0	7	0	14
Wildcats	15	0	21	7	43

See also: 2016 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	7	15	14	36
#21 Wildcats	8	14	3	0	25

See also: 2016 Albany Great Danes football team

At Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	7	10	24
Black Bears	7	7	0	7	21

See also: 2016 Maine Black Bears football team and Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket

Lehigh—NCAA Division I First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Mountain Hawks	0	14	7	0	21
#22 Wildcats	15	21	14	14	64

See also: 2016 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

James Madison–NCAA Division I Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Wildcats	7	0	8	7	22
#5 Dukes	3	28	21	3	55

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	22	24	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	RV	22	17
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	25	RV	RV	23	23	RV	21	17