2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs football

St. Petersburg Bowl champion
St. Petersburg Bowl, W 17–16 vs. Miami (OH)
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Record	6–7 (3–5 SEC)
Head coach	Dan Mullen (8th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Billy Gonzales (3rd as co-OC, 4th overall season)
Co-offensive coordinator	John Hevesy (3rd as co-OC, 8th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Spread (Multiple)
Defensive coordinator	Peter Sirmon (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 14 Florida x	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 22 Tennessee	4	–	4	9	–	4
Georgia	4	–	4	8	–	5
Kentucky	4	–	4	7	–	6
South Carolina	3	–	5	6	–	7
Vanderbilt	3	–	5	6	–	7
Missouri*	2	–	6	4	–	8
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 24 Auburn	5	–	3	8	–	5
No. 13 LSU	5	–	3	8	–	4
Texas A&M	4	–	4	8	–	5
Arkansas	3	–	5	7	–	6
Mississippi State	3	–	5	6	–	7
Ole Miss*	2	–	6	5	–	7
Championship: Alabama 54, Florida 16
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * Ole Miss and Missouri vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Dan Mullen. Despite having a 5–7 record, the first losing season since 2009, Mississippi State qualified for a bowl bid due to their high APR score. Mississippi State beat the Miami RedHawks in the St. Petersburg Bowl to finish the season at 6–7.

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2016 football schedule on October 29, 2015. The 2016 schedule consists of six home and six away games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host SEC foes Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, and Texas A&M, and will travel to Alabama, Kentucky, LSU, and Ole Miss.^[1]

The Bulldogs hosted the South Carolina Gamecocks for the first time since 2011. The team traveled to two independent schools, UMass for the first time and to BYU for the first time since 2000. Mississippi State hosted the other two non–conference games against Samford of the Southern Conference and South Alabama of the Sun Belt Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 a.m.	South Alabama*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	L 20–21	57,075
September 10	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS (SEC Nation)	ESPN2	W 27–14	57,763
September 17	6:00 p.m.	at No. 20 LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 20–23	99,910
September 24	2:30 p.m.	at UMass*	Gillette Stadium Foxborough, MA	ASN	W 47–35	13,074
October 8	11:00 a.m.	Auburn	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 14–38	60,102
October 14	9:15 p.m.	at BYU*	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	L 21–28 ^2OT	62,184
October 22	7:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (SEC Nation)	SECN	L 38–40	50,414
October 29	2:30 p.m.	No. 20 (FCS) Samford*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 56–41	58,019
November 5	11:00 a.m.	No. 7 Texas A&M	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 35–28	58,407
November 12	11:00 a.m.	at No. 1 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 3–51	101,821
November 19	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPNU	L 42–58	58,538
November 26	2:30 p.m.	at Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	SECN	W 55–20	66,038
December 26	10:00 a.m.	vs. Miami (OH)*	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL (St. Petersburg Bowl)	ESPN	W 17–16	15,717
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[2]

Game summaries

South Alabama

South Alabama at Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Jaguars	0	0	7	14	21
Bulldogs	7	10	3	0	20

Date: September 3rd
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
TV announcers (SECN): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), Olivia Harlan (sidelines)

Sources: ^[3]

South Carolina

South Carolina at Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Gamecocks	0	0	7	7	14
• Bulldogs	7	17	0	3	27

Date: September 10th
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
TV announcers (ESPN2): Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst), Laura Rutledge (sidelines)

Sources: ^[4]

Louisiana State

Mississippi State at #20 LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	3	3	14	20
• Tigers	14	9	0	0	23

Date: September 17th
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Television network: ESPN2

Sources:

UMass

Mississippi State at UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bulldogs	3	10	28	6	47
Minutemen	7	7	7	14	35

Date: September 24th
Location: Foxborough, Massachusetts
Television network: ASN

Sources:

Auburn

Auburn at Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Tigers	14	21	0	3	38
Bulldogs	0	0	7	7	14

Date: October 8th
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
Television network: ESPN

Sources:

BYU

Mississippi State at BYU

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	0	0	7	21
• Cougars	7	0	0	7	14	28

Date: October 14th
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium
Provo, Utah
Game start: 8:21 p.m. MDT
Elapsed time: 3:47
Game attendance: 62,184
Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), Cloudy, winds 12 mph SSE
Referee: Hubert Owens • Umpire: Walt Hill • Linesman: Chad Green • Line judge: Chuck Rice • Back judge: Martin Hankins • Field judge: Greg Thomas • Side judge: Chad Hill • Center judge: Steve Marlowe
TV announcers (ESPN/BYUtv): Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic (ESPN)
Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, Lauren Francom (BYUtv)

Sources:^[5]

Kentucky

Mississippi State at Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	14	10	14	38
• Wildcats	0	6	21	13	40

Date: October 22nd
Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Television network: SECN

Sources:

Samford

#20 (FCS) Samford at Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Samford	13	7	13	8	41
• MSU	21	7	21	7	56

Date: October 29th
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
Television network: SECN

Sources:

Texas A&M

#7 Texas A&M at Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	7	0	14	28
• Bulldogs	14	14	0	7	35

Date: November 5th
Location: Starkville, Mississippi
Television network: SECN

Sources:

Miami (OH)

2016 St. Petersburg Bowl Miami (OH) vs Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	3	6	7	0	16
• Bulldogs	0	7	7	3	17

Date: December 26th
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Television network: ESPN

Sources:

References

^ "MSU, SEC ANNOUNCE 2016 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE" (Press release). Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. October 29, 2015. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
^ "2016 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
^ "South Alabama Jaguars vs Mississippi State Bulldogs (September 3, 2016)". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "South Carolina Gamecocks vs Mississippi State Bulldogs (September 10, 2016)". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^ "Mississippi State at BYU". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved October 14, 2016.

v t e Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Venues	Davis Wade Stadium (1914–present) Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium (alternate, 1953–1990)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama LSU Ole Miss: Egg Bowl
Culture & lore	Bully "Hail State" Famous Maroon Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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