2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team

The 2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team represented Youngstown State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bo Pelini and played their home games at Stambaugh Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Youngstown State finished the season 12–4 overall with a 6–2 mark in MVFC play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Samford, Jacksonville State, Wofford, and Eastern Washington to advance to the National Championship Game, where they lost to James Madison.

2016 Youngstown State Penguins football
FCS Championship Game, L 14–28 vs. James Madison
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 2
FCS Coaches	No. 2
Record	12–4 (6–2 MVFC)
Head coach	Bo Pelini (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Shane Montgomery (7th season)
Defensive coordinator	Carl Pelini (2nd season)
Home stadium	Stambaugh Stadium

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:30 pm	Duquesne*		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 45–10	12,219
September 10	2:00 pm	at West Virginia*	No. 20	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	RTPT	L 21–38	56,261
September 17	4:00 pm	Robert Morris*	No. 20	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 38–6	19,033
October 1	4:00 pm	South Dakota	No. 20	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 30–20	15,151
October 8	3:00 pm	at No. 23 Illinois State	No. 15	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 20–6	12,570
October 15	7:00 pm	No. 21 Northern Iowa	No. 14	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 14–10	13,373
October 22	3:00 pm	at No. 7 South Dakota State	No. 13	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 10–24	17,730
October 29	4:00 pm	Indiana State	No. 15	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 13–10	15,082
November 5	3:30 pm	at No. 4 North Dakota State	No. 15	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3	L 3–24	18,332
November 12	12:00 pm	Southern Illinois	No. 17	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	W 21–14	11,262
November 19	3:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 15	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN3	W 65–20	5,070
November 26	5:00 pm	No. 23 Samford*	No. 13	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 38–24	5,322
December 3	2:00 pm	at No. 2 Jacksonville State*	No. 13	JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 40–24	18,838
December 10	2:00 pm	No. 19 Wofford*	No. 13	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	W 30–23 2OT	8,066
December 17	6:30 pm	at No. 3 Eastern Washington*	No. 13	Roos Field Cheney, WA (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPNU	W 40–38	5,233
January 7, 2017	12:00 pm	vs. No. 5 James Madison*	No. 13	Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX (FCS National Championship Game)	ESPN2	L 14–28	14,423
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Darius Shackleford  Fr WR 4 Damoun Patterson Jr WR 5 Alvin Bailey Jr QB 6 Hunter Wells Jr QB 7 Nathan Mays  Fr WR 8 Robert Byrd So WR 9 I'tavious Harvin Jr WR 9 Isiah Scott So QB 11 Trent Hosick Jr QB 12 Ricky Davis Jr WR 13 Stefan Derrick II Jr WR 16 Jermiah Braswell Fr TB 20 Jody Webb Sr WR 21 Darien Townsend Jr WR 23 Donovan McWilson  Fr RB 24 Devon McNutt Fr RB 28 London Pearson Fr RB 29 Martin Ruiz Sr TB 30 Joe Alessi  Fr WR 36 Zack Torbert  Fr RB 37 Tevin McCaster So C 51 Cole McKenry  Fr G 54 Jarred Jones Fr G 60 Gavin Wiggins So OT 61 Justin Spencer Jr G 64 Norman Fox Fr G 67 Brock Eisenhuth Sr OT 68 Connor Sharp So C 69 Cole Newsome Jr C 70 Vitas Hrynkiewicz So OT 71 Cameron Fraser Jr OT 72 James Wilson  Fr G 74 Jacob Zinni  Fr G 75 Jason Sims  Fr OT 77 Dylan Colucci Sr OT 78 Jeff Rotheram So WR 80 Lasander Washington Jr WR 81 Ryan Emans  Fr WR 82 Samuel St. Surin Fr TE 83 Kevin Rader Jr TE 86 Shane Kuhn Jr WR 87 Brad Good Jr TE 88 Jacob Wood Sr WR 89 Tre'von Williams  Fr TE 95 Anthony Parente Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 1 Eric Thompson Sr DE 2 Joshmere Dawson Sr FS 3 LeRoy Alexander Sr LB 4 Jonathan Pollock Fr LB 5 Lee Wright Jr LB 6 Jamar Pinnock Sr CB 7 Kenny Bishop Sr CB 8 Nate Dortch Sr DE 9 Avery Moss Sr S 10 Kyle Hegedus  Fr DE 11 Derek Rivers Fr FS 14 Solomon Warfield Jr CB 15 Avery Larkin So FS 16 Jalyn Powell Jr DB 17 Billy Nicoe Hurst Jr CB 18 D. J. Thomas Jr CB 19 Chrispin Lee So DT 21 Jamal Smith Fr CB 22 Darius Hall Fr LB 25 Nathan Pittman So SS 26 Jameel Smith Sr SS 27 Kieran Winn Fr LB 28 Malachi Newell Fr CB 31 David Rivers III Sr DE 33 Johnson Louigene So CB 34 Mike Nash  Fr LB 35 Christiaan Randall-Posey  Fr FS 38 Logan Rhea So LB 40 Jaylin Kelly Sr LB 41 Curtis Parks  Fr LB 42 Armand Dellovade So LB 45 Cole Kochman Jr DE 50 Shereif Bynum  Fr DT 52 Savon Smith So DT 53 Justin Metzel Fr DT 55 Giacamo Cappabianca Fr DE 59 Simon Smith  Fr DT 66 Cody Squiric So DT 76 Lamont Ragland So DT 90 Wesley Thompson Fr DT 92 Donald Mesier Jr DT 97 Rickey Hagood II Sr DE 98 Fazson Chapman Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 39 Nate Needham Fr PK 49 Connor McFadden Jr LS 57 Steven Wethli So P, TE 85 Mark Schuler  Fr PK 99 Zak Kennedy So	Head coach Bo Pelini Coordinators/assistant coaches Donald D'Alesio (defensive line) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Duquesne

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dukes	3	7	0	0	10
Penguins	10	14	7	14	45

See also: 2016 Duquesne Dukes football team

At West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Penguins	0	14	0	7	21
Mountaineers	7	7	17	7	38

See also: 2016 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	0	6	0	6
#20 Penguins	14	3	14	7	38

See also: 2016 Robert Morris Colonials football team

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	3	0	3	14	20
#20 Penguins	10	10	0	10	30

See also: 2016 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Penguins	0	3	0	17	20
#23 Redbirds	0	0	6	0	6

See also: 2016 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Panthers	0	10	0	0	10
#14 Penguins	0	0	0	14	14

See also: 2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Penguins	3	0	0	7	10
#7 Jackrabbits	14	3	7	0	24

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Indiana State

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

See also: 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Penguins	0	3	0	0	3
#4 Bison	17	0	0	7	24

See also: 2016 North Dakota State Bison football team

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	0	0	7	7	14
#17 Penguins	7	7	0	7	21

See also: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#15 Penguins	14	20	17	14	65
Bears	0	10	0	10	20

See also: 2016 Missouri State Bears football team

FCS Playoffs

First Round–Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Bulldogs	7	0	0	17	24
#13 Penguins	7	3	14	14	38

See also: 2016 Samford Bulldogs football team

Second Round–Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Penguins	17	3	14	6	40
#2 Gamecocks	7	10	7	0	24

See also: 2016 Jacksonville State Gamecocks football team

Quarterfinals–Wofford

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
#19 Terriers	9	0	7	7	0	0	23
#13 Penguins	0	13	7	3	0	7	30

See also: 2016 Wofford Terriers football team

Semifinals–Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Penguins	7	10	3	20	40
#3 Eagles	10	14	7	7	38

See also: 2016 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Championship–James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Penguins	0	7	0	7	14
#5 Dukes	14	7	7	0	28

See also: 2016 James Madison Dukes football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	20	20	16	20	15	14	13	15	15	17	15	13	2
Coaches	RV	22	20	17	15	13	12	12	14	13	15	14	12–T	2