2016 Villanova Wildcats football team

2016 Villanova Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 7–10 vs. South Dakota State
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 11
FCS Coaches	No. 13
Record	9–4 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Andy Talley (32nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Sam Venuto (18th season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Crocker (5th season)
Home stadium	Villanova Stadium (Capacity: 12,500)

2016 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 James Madison $^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 11 Villanova ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 17 New Hampshire ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
No. 8 Richmond ^		5	–	3					10	–	4
Maine		5	–	3					6	–	5
Albany		4	–	4					7	–	4
Stony Brook		4	–	4					5	–	6
William & Mary		3	–	5					5	–	6
Towson		3	–	5					4	–	7
Delaware		2	–	6					4	–	7
Elon		1	–	7					2	–	9
Rhode Island		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2016 Villanova Wildcats football team represented Villanova University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 32nd-year head coach Andy Talley and played their home games at Villanova Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 9–4, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated St. Francis (PA) in the first round before losing in the second round to South Dakota State. The 2016 season is Talley's final season as the Wildcats' head coach.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	1:30 PM	at Pittsburgh*	No. 23	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN3	L 7–28	50,149
September 10	6:00 PM	Lehigh*	No. 22	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	W 26–21	6,419
September 17	3:30 PM	Towson	No. 21	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	CSN	W 40–21	9,025
September 24	6:00 PM	at Lafayette*	No. 19	Fisher Field Easton, PA	WBPH-TV	W 31–14	7,441
October 1	3:30 PM	at Elon	No. 17	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	NNAA	W 42–7	10,424
October 8	12:00 PM	Rhode Island	No. 14	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	ASN	W 35–0	4,105
October 15	3:30 PM	at No. 6 Richmond	No. 13	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	CSN	L 0–23	8,700
October 22	3:30 PM	No. 23 Albany	No. 16	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	W 24–13	5,109
November 5	12:00 PM	at Maine	No. 10	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS	W 26–7	6,790
November 12	1:00 PM	No. 6 James Madison	No. 9	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	L 7–20	6,109
November 19	3:30 PM	at Delaware	No. 13	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Battle of the Blue)	CSN	W 41–10	15,987
November 26	2:00 PM	St. Francis (PA)*	No. 9	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 31–21	2,059
December 3	3:00 PM	at No. 7 South Dakota State*	No. 9	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 7–10	6,154
*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 Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Wildcats	0	0	7	0	7
Panthers	0	14	7	7	28

See also: 2016 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	1998	L 41–48

Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mountain Hawks	0	14	0	7	21
#22 Wildcats	6	0	14	6	26

See also: 2016 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–5	2010	W 35–0

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	7	0	7	21
#21 Wildcats	7	19	0	14	40

See also: 2016 Towson Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–5	2015	L 21–28

at Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Wildcats	7	10	14	0	31
Leopards	0	7	7	0	14

See also: 2016 Lafayette Leopards football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	1920	L 0–34

at Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
#17 Wildcats	14	21	7	0	42
Phoenix	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2016 Elon Phoenix football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	0	0	0
#14 Wildcats	21	7	7	0	35

See also: 2016 Rhode Island Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–3	2015	W 24–3

at Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
#6 Spiders	7	3	3	10	23

See also: 2016 Richmond Spiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
22–11	2015	W 21–20

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Great Danes	0	0	0	13	13
#16 Wildcats	7	7	10	0	24

See also: 2016 Albany Great Danes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2015	W 37–0

at Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Wildcats	0	10	9	7	26
Black Bears	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2016 Maine Black Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–9	2015	W 13–3

James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Dukes	7	0	3	10	20
#9 Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2016 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–13	2015	L 29–38

at Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Wildcats	7	20	7	7	41
Fightin' Blue Hens	0	10	0	0	10

See also: 2016 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team and Battle of the Blue

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
27–21–1	2015	W 28–21

FCS Playoffs

First Round–Saint Francis (PA)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	7	0	0	14	21
#9 Wildcats	17	14	0	0	31

See also: 2016 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Second Round–South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#9 Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
#7 Jackrabbits	7	0	0	3	10

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	23	22	21	19	17	14	13	16	11	10	9	13	9	11
Coaches	22	19	18	15	14	12	11	17	13	12	11	15	11	13