2016 Northern Colorado Bears football team

The 2016 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2016 Northern Colorado Bears football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2016 record	6–5 (4–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Earnest Collins Jr. (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	James Jones (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Larry Kerr (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Nottingham Field (Capacity: 8,533)[1]

2016 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Eastern Washington +^		8	–	0					12	–	2
No. 12 North Dakota +^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 25 Weber State ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 24 Cal Poly ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Southern Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Colorado		4	–	4					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Montana		3	–	5					6	–	5
Montana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Portland State		2	–	6					3	–	8
UC Davis		2	–	6					3	–	8
Sacramento State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	2:00 PM	Rocky Mountain (MT)*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	WBS	W 56–27	4,319
September 10	5:00 PM	at Abilene Christian*	Shotwell Stadium Abilene, TX	ACUSports	W 55–52	8,348
September 17	2:05 PM	at Colorado State*	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	RTRM	L 21–47	26,718
October 1	1:05 PM	Northern Arizona	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	CET	W 21–18	5,478
October 8	2:05 PM	at No. 4 Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	WBS	L 31–49	10,924
October 15	3:00 PM	at UC Davis	Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	WBS	L 21–34	6,251
October 22	1:05 PM	Sacramento State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	CET	W 27–19	5,232
October 29	3:30 PM	at Portland State	Providence Park Portland, OR	WBS	W 56–49 ^OT	3,446
November 5	12:05 PM	No. 16 North Dakota	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	CET	L 13–23	4,322
November 12	12:05 PM	No. 18 Montana	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	CET	W 28–25	5,128
November 19	7:05 PM	at No. 21 Cal Poly	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	WBS	L 48–55	6,863
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Rocky Mountain (MT)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Battlin' Bears	0	0	10	17	27
Bears	28	14	0	14	56

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Abilene Christian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	21	14	13	7	55
Wildcats	7	21	21	3	52

See also: 2016 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–10	2015	UNC, 40–36

at Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	14	7	21
Rams	21	17	3	6	47

See also: 2016 Colorado State Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–20	2011	CSU, 33–14

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	3	0	8	18
Bears	14	7	0	0	21

See also: 2016 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–13	2015	NAU, 63–21

at Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	10	7	7	31
#4 Eagles	3	11	21	14	49

See also: 2016 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–10	2015	EWU, 43–41

at UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	7	7	0	21
Aggies	10	7	7	10	34

See also: 2016 UC Davis Aggies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–6	2015	UNC, 56–27

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	3	7	3	6	19
Bears	7	0	10	10	27

See also: 2016 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–9	2015	UNC, 27–20

at Portland State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bears	3	10	29	7	7	56
Vikings	7	14	14	14	0	49

See also: 2016 Portland State Vikings football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–7	2015	UNC, 35–32

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Fighting Hawks	7	6	10	0	23
Bears	7	0	0	6	13

See also: 2016 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–16	2015	UND, 45–14

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#18 Grizzlies	3	9	0	13	25
Bears	14	0	7	7	28

See also: 2016 Montana Grizzlies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–13	2014	MONT, 38–13

at Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	17	7	17	48
#21 Mustangs	21	13	7	14	55

See also: 2016 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–9	2013	POLY, 42–13

References

1. "Gameday at Northern Colorado". University of Northern Colorado. Retrieved April 4, 2015. Stadium Capacity: 8,533