2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
St. Petersburg Bowl champion
St. Petersburg Bowl, W 17–16 vs. Miami (OH)
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Record	6–7 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach	Dan Mullen (8th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Billy Gonzales (3rd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	John Hevesy (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Peter Sirmon (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium

2016 Southeastern Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 14 Florida x		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 Tennessee		4	–	4					9	–	4
Georgia		4	–	4					8	–	5
Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	6
South Carolina		3	–	5					6	–	7
Vanderbilt		3	–	5					6	–	7
Missouri*		2	–	6					4	–	8
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 24 Auburn		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 13 LSU		5	–	3					8	–	4
Texas A&M		4	–	4					8	–	5
Arkansas		3	–	5					7	–	6
Mississippi State		3	–	5					6	–	7
Ole Miss*		2	–	6					5	–	7
Championship: Alabama 54, Florida 16
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * Ole Miss and Missouri vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Dan Mullen. Despite having a 5–7 record, the first losing season since 2009, Mississippi State qualified for a bowl bid due to their high APR score. Mississippi State beat the Miami RedHawks in the St. Petersburg Bowl to finish the season at 6–7.

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consists of six home and six away games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host SEC foes Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, and Texas A&M, and will travel to Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, and Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs hosted the South Carolina Gamecocks for the first time since 2011. The team traveled to two independent schools, UMass for the first time and to BYU for the first time since 2000. Mississippi State hosted the other two non–conference games against Samford of the Southern Conference and South Alabama of the Sun Belt Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 a.m.	South Alabama*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	L 20–21	57,075
September 10	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (SEC Nation)	ESPN2	W 27–14	57,763
September 17	6:00 p.m.	at No. 20 LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 20–23	99,910
September 24	2:30 p.m.	at UMass*	Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA	ASN	W 47–35	13,074
October 8	11:00 a.m.	Auburn	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 14–38	60,102
October 14	9:15 p.m.	at BYU*	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	L 21–28 2OT	62,184
October 22	7:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (SEC Nation)	SECN	L 38–40	50,414
October 29	2:30 p.m.	No. 20 (FCS) Samford*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 56–41	58,019
November 5	11:00 a.m.	No. 7 Texas A&M	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 35–28	58,407
November 12	11:00 a.m.	at No. 1 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 3–51	101,821
November 19	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPNU	L 42–58	58,538
November 26	2:30 p.m.	at Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	SECN	W 55–20	66,038
December 26	10:00 a.m.	vs. Miami (OH)*	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL (St. Petersburg Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–16	15,717
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:

Game summaries

South Alabama

See also: 2016 South Alabama Jaguars football team

South Alabama at Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total • Jaguars 0 0 7 14 21 Bulldogs 7 10 3 0 20 Date: September 3rd Location: Starkville, Mississippi TV announcers (SECN): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), Olivia Harlan (sidelines) Sources:

South Carolina

See also: 2016 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

South Carolina at Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total Gamecocks 0 0 7 7 14 • Bulldogs 7 17 0 3 27 Date: September 10th Location: Starkville, Mississippi TV announcers (ESPN2): Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst), Laura Rutledge (sidelines) Sources:

Louisiana State

See also: 2016 LSU Tigers football team and LSU–Mississippi State football rivalry

Mississippi State at #20 LSU

1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 0 3 3 14 20 • Tigers 14 9 0 0 23 Date: September 17th Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Television network: ESPN2 Sources:

UMass

See also: 2016 UMass Minutemen football team

Mississippi State at UMass

1 2 3 4 Total • Bulldogs 3 10 28 6 47 Minutemen 7 7 7 14 35 Date: September 24th Location: Foxborough, Massachusetts Television network: ASN Sources:

Auburn

See also: 2016 Auburn Tigers football team

Auburn at Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total • Tigers 14 21 0 3 38 Bulldogs 0 0 7 7 14 Date: October 8th Location: Starkville, Mississippi Television network: ESPN Sources:

BYU

See also: 2016 BYU Cougars football team

Mississippi State at BYU

1 2 3 4 OT Total Bulldogs 7 7 0 0 7 21 • Cougars 7 0 0 7 14 28 Date: October 14th Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, Utah Game start: 8:21 p.m. MDT Elapsed time: 3:47 Game attendance: 62,184 Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), Cloudy, winds 12 mph SSE Referee: Hubert Owens • Umpire: Walt Hill • Linesman: Chad Green • Line judge: Chuck Rice • Back judge: Martin Hankins • Field judge: Greg Thomas • Side judge: Chad Hill • Center judge: Steve Marlowe TV announcers (ESPN/BYUtv): Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic (ESPN) Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, Lauren Francom (BYUtv) Sources:

Kentucky

See also: 2016 Kentucky Wildcats football team

Mississippi State at Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 0 14 10 14 38 • Wildcats 0 6 21 13 40 Date: October 22nd Location: Lexington, Kentucky Television network: SECN Sources:

Samford

See also: 2016 Samford Bulldogs football team

#20 (FCS) Samford at Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total Samford 13 7 13 8 41 • MSU 21 7 21 7 56 Date: October 29th Location: Starkville, Mississippi Television network: SECN Sources:

Texas A&M

See also: 2016 Texas A&M Aggies football team

#7 Texas A&M at Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total Aggies 7 7 0 14 28 • Bulldogs 14 14 0 7 35 Date: November 5th Location: Starkville, Mississippi Television network: SECN Sources:

Miami (OH)

See also: 2016 Miami RedHawks football team

2016 St. Petersburg Bowl Miami (OH) vs Mississippi State

1 2 3 4 Total RedHawks 3 6 7 0 16 • Bulldogs 0 7 7 3 17 Date: December 26th Location: St. Petersburg, Florida Television network: ESPN Sources: