2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team

The 2016 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2016 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by head coach Steve Englehart, who was in his fourth season at Florida Tech. The Panthers play their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus and are members of the Gulf South Conference.

2016 Florida Tech Panthers football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
2016 record	8–3 (5–2 GSC)
Head coach	Steve Englehart (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jayson Martin (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Mark Smith (1st season)
Home stadium	Florida Tech Panther Stadium (Capacity: 4,989)

2016 Gulf South Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 North Alabama $^		7	–	0					11	–	2
No. 18 Valdosta State ^		6	–	2					8	–	3
West Alabama		6	–	2					7	–	4
Florida Tech ^		5	–	2					8	–	3
West Georgia		4	–	4					7	–	4
West Florida		3	–	5					5	–	6
Delta State †		3	–	5					4	–	6
Mississippi College		1	–	7					3	–	7
Shorter		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant † – Delta State's record is officially listed as 2–8 (1–7) due to the use of ineligible players in two wins, but the opponents are not credited with wins. Rankings from AFCA Poll

Schedule

Florida Tech announced its 2016 football schedule on February 17, 2016. The schedule consists of 5 home and 6 away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Delta State, Mississippi College, North Alabama, and Valdosta State, and will travel to Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia.[1]

The Panthers hosted only one non-conference game against Fort Valley State of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and travel to two against Newberry of the South Atlantic Conference and Presbyterian of the Big South Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 p.m	at Newberry*		Setzler Field Newberry, SC		W 42–28	3,378
September 10	7:00 p.m.	Mississippi College	No. 22	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		W 41–0	3,056
September 17	7:00 p.m.	at Shorter	No. 19	Barron Stadium Rome, GA	ESPN3	W 40–0	1,150
September 24	7:00 p.m.	at Presbyterian*	No. 19	Bailey Memorial Stadium Clinton, SC	BSN	W 28–7	3,290
October 1	7:00 p.m.	at West Florida	No. 16	Blue Wahoos Stadium Pensacola, FL (Coastal Classic)	ASN	L 39–42	6,588
October 8	7:00 p.m.	No. 11 North Alabama	No. 23	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		Canceled^[a]
October 15	1:00 p.m.	Fort Valley State	No. 20	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		W 48-14	3,034
October 22	3:00 p.m.	West Alabama	No. 19	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL		L 35-45	3,034
October 29	7:00 p.m.	No. 14 Valdosta State		Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL	ESPN3	W 38-20	3,247
November 5	2:00 p.m.	West Georgia		University Stadium Carrollton, GA		W 45-21	5,132
November 12	2:00 p.m.	Delta State		Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL	ESPN3	W 42-16	4,026
November 19	12:00 p.m.	North Greenville	No. 23	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL (Division II Playoffs First Round)		L 13-27	1,480
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

^{^[a]} The game between Florida Tech and North Alabama was cancelled in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew.[2]

Game summaries

at Newberry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	14	13	8	42
Wolves	0	21	7	0	28

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-2	September 5, 2015	L 28-31

Mississippi College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Choctaws	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	7	21	6	7	41

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2-0	October 24, 2015	W 31-14

at Shorter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	10	17	10	3	40
Hawks	0	0	0	0	0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3-0	October 31, 2015	W 28-24

at Presbyterian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	7	7	7	28
Blue Hose	0	0	7	0	7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at West Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	10	22	39
Argonauts	7	14	7	14	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Fort Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	7	14
Panthers	13	28	7	0	48

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-0	October 17, 2015	W 34-7

at West Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	14	0	14	7	35
Tigers	7	14	14	10	45

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2-1	October 10, 2015	W 24-13

Valdosta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	0	7	3	10	20
Panthers	10	7	0	21	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-3	November 14, 2015	L 21-39

at West Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	14	10	14	45
Wolves	7	7	7	0	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-2	November 7, 2015	W 28-26

Delta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Statesmen	2	7	0	7	16
Panthers	14	14	7	7	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-2	October 3, 2015	W 41-37

North Greenville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	3	0	14	10	27
Panthers	0	3	3	7	13

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Awards and milestones

Gulf South Conference honors

Ten players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches, including a program-record six First Team members.[3]

Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team

Antwaun Haynes, RB/AP Kenny Johnston, TE Cory Sanicky, G Adonis Davis, DL Chris Stapleton, LB Manny Abad, DB Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team Trevor Sand, RB Wayne Saunders II, WR Joe Laguna, T Kevin Delgado, G Gulf South Conference offensive player of the week November 14: Antwuan Haynes [4] Gulf South Conference defensive player of the week September 12: Adonis Davis [5] September 26: Jo Jackson [6] October 31: Tyler Rosenblatt [7] November 7: Chris Stapleton [8] School records Most rushing touchdowns in a season: 10, Antwuan Haynes and Trevor Sand Most passing yards in a single game: 502, Mark Cato (October 22) Most receiving yards in a single game: 185, Kenny Johnston (October 1) Most interceptions in a single game: 2, Tyler Rosenblatt (October 29) and Jo Jackson (September 24th) Most yards of total offense gained in a single game: 643 (October 22) Fewest yards of total offense surrendered in a single game: 73 (September 17) References "FLORIDA TECH FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES 2016 SCHEDULE" (Press release). Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. February 17, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016. "Florida Tech vs. North Alabama Football Game Canceled". www.floridatechsports.com. Florida Institute of Technology Athletics. October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016. "Tucker and Donahue Headline GSC All-Conference Honors". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "Football Players of the Week: November 7". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "Football Players of the Week: September 12". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "Football Players of the Week: September 26". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "Football Players of the Week: October 31". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "Football Players of the Week: November 7". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019.