2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team

The 2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls played their home games at the FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by third-year head coach Charlie Partridge. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the East Division.

2016 Florida Atlantic Owls football
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East Division
Record	3–9 (2–6 C-USA)
Head coach	Charlie Partridge (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Travis Trickett (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Roc Bellantoni (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	FAU Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Western Kentucky xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Old Dominion x		7	–	1					10	–	3
Middle Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	5
FIU		4	–	4					4	–	8
Charlotte		3	–	5					4	–	8
Marshall		2	–	6					3	–	9
Florida Atlantic		2	–	6					3	–	9
West Division
Louisiana Tech xy		6	–	2					9	–	5
UTSA		5	–	3					6	–	7
Southern Miss		4	–	4					7	–	6
North Texas		3	–	5					5	–	8
Rice		2	–	6					3	–	9
UTEP		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Western Kentucky 58, Louisiana Tech 44
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

On November 27, head coach Charlie Partridge was fired.^[1] He finished at FAU with a three-year record of 9–27. On December 13, the school hired Lane Kiffin as head coach.^[2][3]

Schedule

Florida Atlantic announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Owls will host C–USA foes Charlotte, Old Dominion, UTEP, and Western Kentucky (WKU), and will travel to Florida International (FIU), Marshall, Middle Tennessee, and Rice.^[4]

The team will play four non–conference games, two home games against Ball State from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Southern Illinois from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, and two road games against Kansas State from the Big 12 Conference and Miami from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois*	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CUSA.tv	W 38–30	14,887
September 10	6:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Miami (FL)*	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ACCN+	L 10–38	57,123
September 17	2:30 p.m.	at Kansas State*	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FSN	L 7–63	50,871
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Ball State*	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CUSA.tv	L 27–31	13,846
October 1	7:00 p.m.	at FIU	FIU Stadium Miami, FL (Shula Bowl)	beIN	L 31–33	16,164
October 9[a]	12:00 p.m.	Charlotte	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CUSA.tv	L 23–28	7,401
October 15	7:00 p.m.	at Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	ASN	L 21–27	22,839
October 29	3:30 p.m.	WKU	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	ASN	L 3–52	9,338
November 5	3:30 p.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 42–25	19,892
November 12	6:00 p.m.	UTEP	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CUSA.tv	W 35–31	9,122
November 19	6:00 p.m.	Old Dominion	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CI	L 24–42	5,843
November 26	5:30 p.m.	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	beIN	L 56–77	10,227
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^{^[a]} The game between Florida Atlantic and Charlotte on October 8, 2016, has been postponed due to Hurricane Matthew. The game is tentatively rescheduled the following day on October 9, 2016 with a noon kickoff.^[5]

Schedule Source:^[6]

Game summaries

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	14	10	0	6	30
Owls	14	7	14	3	38

Further information: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	3	7	0	10
#25 Hurricanes	0	14	10	14	38

Further information: 2016 Miami Hurricanes football team

At Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	0	0	7	7
Wildcats	21	21	7	14	63

Further information: 2016 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	17	7	7	31
Owls	14	10	0	3	27

Further information: 2016 Ball State Cardinals football team

At FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	10	14	0	31
Panthers	7	7	16	3	33

Further information: 2016 FIU Panthers football team and Shula Bowl

Charlotte

	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	7	14	7	0	28
Owls	3	14	0	6	23

Further information: 2016 Charlotte 49ers football team

At Marshall

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	14	7	0	0	21
Thundering Herd	10	6	3	8	27

Further information: 2016 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

WKU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	14	10	14	14	52
Owls	0	3	0	0	3

Further information: 2016 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

At Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
FAU Owls	14	7	7	14	42
Rice Owls	7	7	3	8	25

Further information: 2016 Rice Owls football team

UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	7	10	7	7	31
Owls	7	10	3	15	35

Further information: 2016 UTEP Miners football team

Old Dominion

	1	2	3	4	Total
Monarchs	3	10	22	7	42
Owls	14	7	3	0	24

Further information: 2016 Old Dominion Monarchs football team

At Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	14	14	21	56
Blue Raiders	21	21	7	28	77

Further information: 2016 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team