2016 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

2016 North Carolina Central Eagles football
MEAC champion
Celebration Bowl, L 9–10 vs. Grambling State
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 22
FCS Coaches	No. 20
Record	9–3 (8–0 MEAC)
Head coach	Jerry Mack (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	T. C. Taylor (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Granville Eastman (3rd season)
Home stadium	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium (Capacity: 10,600)

2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 22 North Carolina Central $		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 20 North Carolina A&T ^		7	–	1					9	–	3
Hampton		5	–	3					5	–	6
South Carolina State		5	–	3					5	–	6
Bethune–Cookman		4	–	4					4	–	6
Florida A&M *		4	–	4					4	–	7
Norfolk State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Savannah State *		3	–	5					3	–	7
Morgan State *		3	–	5					3	–	8
Howard *		2	–	6					2	–	9
Delaware State		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State, and Savannah State ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 North Carolina Central Eagles football team represented North Carolina Central University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Jerry Mack. The Eagles played their home games at O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 9–3, 8–0 in MEAC play to win the MEAC title to play in the Celebration Bowl, where they were defeated by SWAC champions Grambling State.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 PM	at Duke*		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Bull City Gridiron Classic)	ESPN3	L 6–49	35,049
September 10	7:00 PM	at Western Michigan*		Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	L 21–70	23,727
September 17	6:00 PM	Saint Augustine's*		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 65–7	4,016
September 24	2:00 PM	at Norfolk State		William "Dick" Price Stadium Norfolk, VA	SSC	W 34–31	8,296
October 1	4:00 PM	at Bethune-Cookman		Municipal Stadium Daytona Beach, FL	CEN	W 31–14	4,216
October 8	4:00 PM	Florida A&M		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 17–13	617
October 15	2:00 PM	Savannah State		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 33–3	12,966
October 22	1:00 PM	at Morgan State		Hughes Stadium Baltimore, MD		W 21–17	8,534
November 5	2:00 PM	at Delaware State		Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	WDSU-TV	W 38–19	1,597
November 12	2:00 PM	Howard		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 30–21	6,897
November 19	2:00 PM	No. 9 North Carolina A&T	No. 24	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC (Rivalry)	ESPN3, ESPNU (Tape Delay)	W 42–21	15,715
December 17	3:00 PM	vs. No. 16 Grambling State*	No. 20	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Celebration Bowl)	ABC	L 9–10	31,096
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	3	3	6
Blue Devils	21	28	0	0	49

See also: 2016 Duke Blue Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	2015	DUKE, 55–0

at Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	14	0	0	21
Broncos	28	14	14	14	70

See also: 2016 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Saint Augustine's

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	7	0	0	7
Eagles	21	20	7	17	65

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
28–2–1	2015	NCCU, 72–0

at Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	7	10	7	34
Spartans	0	10	0	21	31

See also: 2016 Norfolk State Spartans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–5	2015	NCCU, 24–16

at Bethune-Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	10	14	31
Wildcats	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2016 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–6	2015	BCU, 28–26

Florida A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	5	0	0	8	13
Eagles	0	3	0	14	17

See also: 2016 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–7–1	2015	NCCU, 27–24

Savannah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	0	0	3	3
Eagles	3	16	7	7	33

See also: 2016 Savannah State Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–2–1	2015	NCCU, 39–22

at Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	0	0	7	21
Bears	7	10	0	0	17

See also: 2016 Morgan State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–24–2	2015	NCCU, 20–17

at Delaware State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	9	22	7	0	38
Hornets	0	7	0	12	19

See also: 2016 Delaware State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–6	2015	NCCU, 43–10

Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	7	0	0	14	21
Eagles	6	3	7	14	30

See also: 2016 Howard Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–9–1	2015	NCCU, 41–6

North Carolina A&T

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Aggies	0	0	7	14	21
#24 Eagles	0	14	14	14	42

See also: 2016 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team and North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
33–49–5	2015	NCCU, 21–16

Celebration Bowl–Grambling State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Tigers	0	0	10	0	10
#20 Eagles	3	0	0	6	9

See also: 2016 Grambling State Tigers football team and 2016 Celebration Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3	1986	GRAM, 32–24

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	20	22
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	20	18	20