2016 Southern Conference football season

The 2016 Southern Conference football season was the 95th season of college football for the Southern Conference (SoCon) and formed a part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2016 Southern Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Championship
Sport	Football
Duration	September 1, 2015 – November 19, 2015
Number of teams	9
TV partner(s)	SoCon Digital Network American Sports Network ESPN3
Season champions	The Citadel

2016 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 The Citadel $^		8	–	0					10	–	2
No. 9 Wofford ^		6	–	2					10	–	4
No. 13 Chattanooga ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 23 Samford ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Mercer		4	–	4					6	–	5
Furman		3	–	5					3	–	8
East Tennessee State		2	–	6					5	–	6
Western Carolina		1	–	7					2	–	9
VMI		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Head coaches

Russ Huesman, Chattanooga – 8th year Brent Thompson, The Citadel – 1st year Carl Torbush, East Tennessee State – 2nd year Bruce Fowler, Furman – 6th year Bobby Lamb, Mercer – 4th year

Chris Hatcher, Samford – 2nd year Scott Wachenheim, VMI – 2nd year Mark Speir, Western Carolina – 5th year Mike Ayers, Wofford – 29th year

Preseason poll results

First place votes in parentheses

Media[1]			Coaches[2]
Place	School	Points	Place	School	Points
1	Chattanooga (26)	250	1	Chattanooga (7)	63
2	The Citadel (2)	208	2	The Citadel (1)	52
3	Western Carolina	179	3	Samford (1)	50
4	Mercer	148	4	Western Carolina	41
5	Samford	147	5	Mercer	38
6	Wofford	136	6	Wofford	33
7	Furman	102	7	Furman	24
8	VMI	62	8	VMI	14
9	East Tennessee State	28	9	East Tennessee State	9

Preseason All-Conference Teams

Offensive Player of the Year: Detrez Newsome, Jr., RB (Western Carolina)
Defensive Player of the Year: Keionta Davis, Sr., DL (Chattanooga)

Position	Player	Class	Team
First Team Offense
QB	Al Cobb	Jr.	VMI
RB	Derrick Craine	Sr.	Chattanooga
RB	Detrez Newsome	Jr.	Western Carolina
WR	Karel Hamilton	Sr.	Samford
WR	Aaron Sanders	Sr.	VMI
TE	Tyler Sexton	Sr.	Western Carolina
OL	Isaiah Pinson	Jr.	The Citadel
OL	Brett Niederreither	Sr.	Mercer
OL	Armando Bonheur	Sr.	Samford
OL	Corey Levin	Sr.	Chattanooga
OL	Jacob Revis	Jr.	Chattanooga
OL (tie)	Anton Wahrby	Sr.	Wofford
First Team Defense
DL	Joe Crochet	Sr.	The Citadel
DL	Ahmad Gooden	Sophomore	Samford
DL	Keionta Davis	Sr.	Chattanooga
DL	Miles Brown	So.	Wofford
LB	Tevin Floyd	Sr.	The Citadel
LB	Nakevion Leslie	Sr.	Chattanooga
LB	Tyson Dickson	Sr.	Western Carolina
LB (tie)	Daniel Riddle	Jr.	Western Carolina
DB	Dee Delaney	Jr.	The Citadel
DB	Trey Robinson	Sr.	Furman
DB	Jamerson Blount	Sr.	Samford
DB	Lucas Webb	Jr.	Chattanooga
First Team Special Teams
PK	Henrique Ribeiro	Sr.	Chattanooga
P	Ian Berryman	So.	Western Carolina
RS	Dane Forlines	Sr.	VMI
Reference:[3]

Rankings

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week

Main article: 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

		Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Final
Chattanooga	Stats	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	11	10	9	7	12
	C	7	6	4	3	3	3	3	8	8	8	7	11
	FCS	Not released									8	7	NR	Not released
The Citadel	Stats	15	15	15	10	9	9	8	5	5	5	5	5
	C	15	16	15	10	10	9	9	6	7	7	6	6
	FCS	Not released									6	6	6	Not released
East Tennessee State	Stats	–	–	–	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Furman	Stats	–	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Mercer	Stats	RV	RV	–	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Samford	Stats	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	20	20	22	18
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	20	19	18	21	18
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
VMI	Stats	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Western Carolina	Stats	RV	RV	RV	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	C		–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released
Wofford	Stats	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	20
	C		RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	19
	FCS	Not released									–	–	–	Not released

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
SoCon member won
SoCon member lost
SoCon teams in bold

All times Eastern time.

Rankings reflect that of the Sports Network poll for that week.

Week One

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 1	7:00 PM	The Citadel	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	CIT 24–23	12,542	[4]
September 1	7:00 PM	Shorter	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 66–0	9,588	[5]
September 1	7:00 PM	Mars Hill	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	W 77–7	4,482	[6]
September 1	7:00 PM	Wofford	Tennessee Tech	Tucker Stadium • Cookeville, TN	OVCDN	W 21–7	9,066	[7]
September 2	7:00 PM	Furman	Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	BTN	L 13–28	74,516	[8]
September 3	6:00 PM	Western Carolina	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC	ESPN3	L 7–52	44,161	[9]
September 3	6:30 PM	VMI	Akron	InfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 24–47	11,061	[10]
September 3	7:00 PM	East Tennessee State	Kennesaw State	Fifth Third Bank Stadium • Kennesaw, GA	WPCH	W 20–17	8,574	[11]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyler Renew	The Citadel	Jaleel Green	Wofford	JJ Jerman	East Tennessee State
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Two

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 10	2:00 PM	Presbyterian	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	W 34–0	8,370	[12]
September 10	3:00 PM	Mercer	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	L 10–35	49,992	[13]
September 10	4:00 PM	Wofford	Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	SECN	L 13–38	64,232	[14]
September 10	6:00 PM	Furman	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 19–14	12,009	[15]
September 10	6:00 PM	VMI	Morehead State	Jayne Stadium • Morehead, KY	OVCDN	W 17–13	5,588	[16]
September 10	6:00 PM	Gardner–Webb	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	W 44–14	11,598	[17]
September 10	7:00 PM	Samford	Central Arkansas	Estes Stadium • Conway, AR	BNN	W 35–29	9,987	[18]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyrie Adams	Western Carolina	Dee Delaney	The Citadel	Austin Barnard	Samford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Three

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 17	1:30 PM	Western Carolina	East Tennessee State	Bristol Motor Speedway • Bristol, TN	ESPN3	ETSU 34–31	13,863	[19]
September 17	3:00 PM	Johnson C. Smith	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	W 59–0	5,417	[20]
September 17	4:00 PM	Tennessee Tech	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 34–27	9,772	[21]
September 17	6:00 PM	The Citadel	Gardner–Webb	Ernest W. Spangler Stadium • Boiling Springs, NC	BSN	W 31–24	6,850	[22]
September 17	7:00 PM	Chattanooga	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	UTC 21–14	5,347	[23]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Austin Herink	East Tennessee State	Nakevion Leslie	Chattanooga	DeAndre Shoultz	The Citadel
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Four

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 24	1:30 PM	East Tennessee State	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 31–0	7,316	[24]
September 24	2:00 PM	Samford	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 41–21	8,714	[25]
September 24	3:00 PM	VMI	Bucknell	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium • Lewisburg, PA	PLN	W 23–173OT	4,972	[26]
September 24	6:00 PM	Furman	Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC	CCUN	L 21–41	10,311	[27]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Derrick Craine	Chattanooga	Ryan Francis	VMI	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Five

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 1	12:00 PM	Chattanooga	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	UTC 37–17	7,411	[28]
October 1	1:30 PM	Mercer	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	MER 33–30OT	5,266	[29]
October 1	3:00 PM	Wofford	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 28–26	8,509	[30]
October 1	3:00 PM	Kennesaw State	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 42–52	6,970	[31]
October 1	3:30 PM	The Citadel	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	CIT 37–14	12,283	[32]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Deviln Hodges	Samford	Joe Crochet	The Citadel	Henrique Ribeiro	Chattanooga
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Six

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 6	7:00 PM	North Greenville	The Citadel	Younts Stadium • Tigerville, SC[a]		W 38–14	5,435	[33]
October 8	1:00 PM	Samford	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	SAM 38–21	4,587	[34]
October 8	1:30 PM	East Tennessee State	VMI	Alumni Memorial Field • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	VMI 37–7	5,638	[35]
October 8	4:00 PM	Mercer	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 52–31	11,039	[36]
October 8	7:00 PM	Wofford	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	WOF 31–19	9,457	[37]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Devlin Hodges	Samford	Montrell Pardue	Chattanooga	David Marvin	Wofford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Seven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 15	12:00 PM	Furman	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	FUR 52–7	6,052	[38]
October 15	3:00 PM	Chattanooga	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	FSN	CIT 22–14	14,590	[39]
October 15	3:00 PM	VMI	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 55–21	4,085	[40]
October 15	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	ESPN3	MER 38–24	12,247	[41]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Devlin Hodges	Samford	Nakevion Leslie	Chattanooga	Cody Clark	The Citadel
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Eight

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 20	7:30 PM	West Virginia Wesleyan	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	W 38–7	6,196	[42]
October 22	1:30 PM	The Citadel	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	CIT 24–21OT	11,102	[43]
October 22	2:00 PM	VMI	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	UTC 30–13	10,505	[44]
October 22	5:00 PM	Mercer	Austin Peay	Fortera Stadium • Clarksville, TN	OVCDN	W 41–34	6,506	[45]
October 22	7:00 PM	Western Carolina	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ASN	SAM 30–17	4,031	[46]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Karel Hamilton	Samford	Kailik Williams	The Citadel	David Marvin	Wofford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Nine

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 29	1:30 PM	Furman	VMI	Alumni Memorial Stadium • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	FUR 24–10	5,610	[47]
October 29	1:30 PM	Mercer	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 31–21	6,190	[48]
October 29	2:00 PM	East Tennessee State	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 45–10	12,978	[49]
October 29	2:30 PM	Samford	Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	SECN	L 41–56	58,019	[50]
October 29	3:30 PM	Chattanooga	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	UTC 38–25	10,760	[51]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Detrez Newsome	Western Carolina	Paul Hunter	East Tennessee State	David Howerton	Wofford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Ten

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 5	1:30 PM	Wofford	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	WOF 34–27	7,834	[52]
November 5	2:00 PM	Samford	The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium • Charleston, SC	ESPN3	CIT 37–34OT	15,015	[53]
November 5	2:00 PM	VMI	Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium • Cullowhee, NC	SDN	WCU 32–29	8,225	[54]
November 5	3:00 PM	East Tennessee State	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	MER 21–13	10,200	[55]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyler Renew	The Citadel	Keion Crossen	Western Carolina	David Marvin	Wofford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Eleven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 12	1:00 PM	Cumberland	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	W 23-16	6,735	[56]
November 12	1:30 PM	The Citadel	VMI	Alumni Memorial Stadium • Lexington, VA	ESPN3	CIT 30-20	8,251	[57]
November 12	2:00 PM	Wofford	Chattanooga	Finley Stadium • Chattanooga, TN	SDN	WOF 36-28	8,750	[58]
November 12	3:30 PM	Mercer	Samford	Seibert Stadium • Homewood, AL	ESPN3	SAM 24-19	8,379	[59]
November 12	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	Furman	Paladin Stadium • Greenville, SC	ESPN3	FUR 49-21	4,117	[60]

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Devlin Hodges	Samford	Jonathan King	The Citadel	Lennox McAfee	Wofford
Reference: Weekly Release

Week Twelve

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 19	1:30 PM	VMI	Wofford	Gibbs Stadium • Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	WOF 17–0	8,102	[61]
November 19	3:00 PM	Furman	Mercer	Moye Complex • Macon, GA	FSN	MER 27–24	10,712	[62]
November 19	3:30 PM	Samford	East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium • Johnson City, TN	SDN	ETSU 15–14	5,752	[63]
November 19	3:30 PM	The Citadel	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN Extra	L 7–41	41,000	[64]
November 19	7:00 PM	Chattanooga	Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	TBA	L 3–31	101,821	[65]
November 19	4:00 PM	Western Carolina	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	TBA	L 31–44	76,650	[66]

Players of the week:
Not released

Week Thirteen

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Broadcast	Result	Attendance	Reference

Records against other conferences

FCS conferences

Conference	Record
Big Sky	0–0
Big South	4–1
CAA	0–0
Ivy League	0–0
Independents	0–1
MEAC	0–0
MVFC	0–0
NEC	0–0
OVC	3–0
Patriot	1–0
Pioneer	1–0
Southland	1–0
SWAC	0–0
Total	10–2

FBS conferences

Conference	Record
American	0–1
ACC	0–2
Big Ten	0–1
Independents	0–0
MAC	0–1
SEC	0–3
Sun Belt	0–0
Total	0–8

Attendance

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Chattanooga	Finley Stadium	20,668	9,588	8,370	8,714	11,039	10,505	8,750	56,966	9,494	46%
The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium	21,000	12,009[b]	14,590[c]	12,978[d]	15,015[e]			54,592	13,648	65%[f]
East Tennessee State	Kermit Tipton Stadium	6,600	7,411	6,052	6,196	6,735			26,394	6,598	100%
Furman	Paladin Stadium	16,000	5,347	6,970	4,587	7,834	4,117		28,855	5,771	36%
Mercer	Moye Complex	10,200	12,542	9,772	12,247	10,200			44,761	11,190	110%
Samford	Seibert Stadium	6,700	4,482	8,509	4,085	4,031	8,379		29,486	5,897	88%
VMI	Alumni Memorial Field	10,000	5,266	5,638	5,610	8,251			24,765	6,191	62%
Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium	13,742	11,598	12,283	9,457	8,225			41,563	10,391	76%
Wofford	Gibbs Stadium	13,000	5,417	7,316	11,102	6,190			30,025	7,506	58%

1. Due to Hurricane Matthew, this game was moved from October 8 in Charleston, SC to October 6 in Tigerville, SC. The Citadel still competed as the "home" team, although it was played at North Greenville.
2. Johnson Hagood Stadium's capacity for this game was listed at 11,500 due to lead paint remediation on the East Side.
3. Johnson Hagood Stadium's capacity for this game was listed at 15,000 due to lead paint remediation on the East Side.
4. Johnson Hagood Stadium's capacity for this game was listed at 15,000 due to lead paint remediation on the East Side.
5. Johnson Hagood Stadium's capacity for this game was listed at 16,000 due to lead paint remediation on the East Side.
6. Average capacity is based on the full stadium size of 21,000, despite variations in the actual number of seats available for an individual game due to lead paint remediation on the East Side.