2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

The 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team represented Indiana State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Mike Sanford and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.

2016 Indiana State Sycamores football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	4–7 (2–6 MVFC)
Head coach	Mike Sanford (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Sheppard (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Brian Cabral (4th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	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

On December 16, head coach Mike Sanford resigned^[1] to join the staff at WKU where his son, Mike Sanford Jr., had recently been named the head coach. Sanford leaves Indiana State with a four year record of 18–30.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	3:00 pm	Butler*		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 41–25	5,625
September 10	12:00 pm	at Minnesota*		TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPNews	L 28–58	41,026
September 17	7:00 pm	at Southeast Missouri State*		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	OVCDN	W 27–24	7,637
September 24	3:00 pm	No. 9 Illinois State		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 34–31	6,561
October 1	3:00 pm	Missouri State	No. 24	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	L 24–45	6,871
October 8	4:00 pm	at No. 13 Western Illinois		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 35–36	5,487
October 15	3:00 pm	South Dakota		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	L 30–33 2OT	3,297
October 22	3:00 pm	at Southern Illinois		Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN3	W 22–14	9,603
October 29	2:00 pm	at Youngstown State		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	L 10–13	15,082
November 5	1:00 pm	Northern Iowa		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	L 6–39	3,409
November 12	3:30 pm	at No. 4 North Dakota State		Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3	L 17–41	18,276
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Butler

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	6	6	13	25
Sycamores	14	3	21	3	41

See also: 2016 Butler Bulldogs football team

At Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	0	14	7	28
Golden Gophers	14	24	10	10	58

See also: 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

At Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	3	3	14	27
Redhawks	7	3	7	7	24

See also: 2016 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks football team

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Redbirds	0	7	7	17	31
Sycamores	7	10	7	10	34

See also: 2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	10	14	7	14	45
#24 Sycamores	14	10	0	0	24

See also: 2016 Missouri State Bears football team

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	7	7	21	0	35
#13 Leathernecks	0	20	7	9	36

See also: 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Coyotes	17	0	10	0	3	3	33
Sycamores	10	0	7	10	3	0	30

See also: 2016 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	3	7	6	6	22
Salukis	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	10	0	0	0	10
Penguins	0	6	0	7	13

See also: 2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	13	14	6	6	39
Sycamores	0	3	3	0	6

See also: 2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	0	7	0	10	17
#4 Bison	21	13	7	0	41

See also: 2016 North Dakota State Bison football team

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	RV	RV	—	RV	24	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	RV	—	—	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—