2016 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

The 2016 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team represented Louisiana Tech University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at the Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by fourth-year head coach Skip Holtz. They finished the season 9–5, 6–2 in C-USA play to be champions of the West Division. They represented the West Division in the Conference USA Championship Game where they lost to WKU. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Navy. The Louisiana Tech offense became the first team in NCAA Division 1 history to have a QB pass for 4,500+ yards, a RB rush for 1,000+ yards and two WRs with 1,500+ receiving yards all in a single season.

2016 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football
C-USA West Division champion Armed Forces Bowl champion
C-USA Championship Game, L 44–58 vs. WKU
Armed Forces Bowl, W 48–45 vs. Navy
Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
2016 record	9–5 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Skip Holtz (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Todd Fitch (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Blake Baker (2nd season)
Home stadium	Joe Aillet Stadium (Capacity: 28,019)

2016 Conference USA football standings
	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

Schedule

Louisiana Tech announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 5 home and 7 away games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host C–USA foes Rice, UTEP, UTSA, and Western Kentucky (WKU), and will travel to Florida International (FIU), Middle Tennessee, North Texas, and Southern Miss.[1]

The team will play four non–conference games, one home game against South Carolina State from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and three road games against Massachusetts, Arkansas from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	3:00 PM	at Arkansas*	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	L 20–21	69,132
September 10	6:00 PM	South Carolina State*	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA		W 53–24	16,910
September 17	6:00 PM	at Texas Tech*	Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX	FSN	L 45–59	59,515
September 24	6:00 PM	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	ASN	L 34–38	20,105
October 1	6:00 PM	UTEP	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	ASN	W 28–7	22,101
October 6	7:00 PM	WKU	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	CBSSN	W 55–52	17,978
October 15	2:30 PM	at Massachusetts*	Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA	ASN	W 56–28	13,311
October 22	6:00 PM	at FIU	FIU Stadium Miami, FL	ESPN3	W 44–24	17,061
October 29	6:00 PM	Rice	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	CI	W 61–16	22,058
November 5	4:30 PM	at North Texas	Apogee Stadium Denton, TX	ESPN3	W 45–24	21,643
November 12	2:30 PM	UTSA	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	ESPN3	W 63–35	23,012
November 25	3:00 PM	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS (Rivalry in Dixie)	ESPNews	L 24–39	26,164
December 3	11:00 AM	at WKU	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (C–USA Championship Game)	ESPN	L 44–58	13,213
December 23	3:30 PM	vs. No. 25 Navy*	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (Armed Forces Bowl)	ESPN	W 48–45	40,542
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[2]

Game summaries

at Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	6	0	20
Razorbacks	7	7	0	7	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3	1997	ARK, 17–13

South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
SCSU Bulldogs	0	10	0	14	24
LT Bulldogs	12	7	20	14	53

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	1982	LT, 38–3

at Texas Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	14	14	14	45
Red Raiders	21	14	7	17	59

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	1933	TTU, 40–10

at Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	13	7	7	34
Blue Raiders	7	0	10	21	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–1	2015	LT, 45–16

UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	0	0	0	7	7
Bulldogs	14	0	0	14	28

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–5–1	2015	LT, 17–15

WKU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	14	10	7	21	52
Bulldogs	21	14	17	3	55

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2015	WKU, 41–38

at UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	21	14	14	56
Minutemen	7	7	7	7	28

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	10	17	7	10	44
Panthers	14	10	0	0	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2015	LT, 27–17

Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	0	9	7	16
Bulldogs	28	13	13	7	61

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–4	2015	LT, 42–17

at North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	14	17	7	7	45
Mean Green	7	14	3	0	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–6	2015	LT, 56–13

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	7	7	0	21	35
Bulldogs	14	21	7	21	63

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	2015	LT, 34–31

at Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	10	0	7	24
Golden Eagles	10	13	6	10	39

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–32	2015	USM, 58–24

vs. WKU–C-USA Championship Game

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	17	10	14	3	44
Hilltoppers	24	14	10	10	58

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–2	10/6/16	LT, 55–52

vs. Navy–Armed Forces Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	17	14	0	17	48
Midshipmen	7	17	7	14	45

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2010	NAVY, 37–24

References

1. "Louisiana Tech Announces Complete 2016 Football Schedule" (Press release). Louisiana Tech University Department of Athletics. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
2. "2016 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 8, 2016.