2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team

The 2016 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by third-year head coach Steve Campbell and played their home games at Estes Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 10–3 overall and 8–1 in Southland play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Illinois State in the first round, before losing in the second round to Eastern Washington.

2016 Central Arkansas Bears football
ConferenceSouthland Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 14
FCS CoachesNo. 16
Record10–3 (8–1 Southland)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorNathan Brown (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorGreg Stewart (3rd season)
Home stadiumEstes Stadium
Seasons
← 2015
2017 →
2016 Southland Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 Sam Houston State $^   9 0     12 1  
No. 14 Central Arkansas ^   8 1     10 3  
SE Louisiana   7 2     7 4  
McNeese State   5 4     6 5  
Nicholls State   5 4     5 6  
Stephen F. Austin   4 5     5 6  
Houston Baptist   3 5     4 7  
Incarnate Word *   3 6     3 8  
Lamar   3 6     3 8  
Abilene Christian *   2 7     2 9  
Northwestern State   0 9     1 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II
Rankings from STATS poll

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 pmHouston BaptistASNW 56–139,757
September 106:00 pmSamford*
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
BNNL 29–359,987
September 176:00 pmNorthwestern State
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
BNNW 24–108,047
September 246:00 pmat Arkansas State*ESPN3W 28–2328,012
October 12:30 pmat Abilene ChristianSLDNW 58–274,215
October 156:00 pmat McNeese StateNo. 23ESPN3W 35–09,253
October 226:00 pmLamar No. 20
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
ESPN3W 22–1210,257
October 297:00 pmat Southeastern LouisianaNo. 19ESPN3W 45–104,241
November 53:00 pmat Stephen F. AustinNo. 17ASNW 34–1410,188
November 123:00 pmNicholls StateNo. 13
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
ASNW 31–245,785
November 192:30 pmat No. 1 Sam Houston StateNo. 11ESPN3L 23–599,182
November 262:00 pmIllinois State*No. 14
ESPN3W 31–243,165
December 33:00 pmat No. 3 Eastern Washington*No. 14
ESPN3L 14–316,085
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

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Houston Baptist

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Houston Baptist at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Huskies 0 337 13
Bears 21 21140 56
  • Date: September 1
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:22
  • Game attendance: 9,757
  • Referee: Ross Smith
  • TV announcers (ASN): Lincoln Rose, Shea Walker, Kamady Rudd
Sources:

Samford

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Samford at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Bulldogs 7 2170 35
Bears 3 7019 29
  • Date: September 10
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:25
  • Game attendance: 9,987
  • Referee: Michael VanderVelde
  • Television network: BNN
Sources:

Northwestern State

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Northwestern State at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Demons 0 703 10
Bears 0 14100 24
  • Date: September 17
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:00
  • Game attendance: 8,047
  • Referee: Stephen Baron
  • Television network: BNN
Sources:

@ Arkansas State

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Central Arkansas at Arkansas State
1 234Total
Bears 7 6312 28
Red Wolves 16 070 23
  • Date: September 24
  • Location: Centennial Bank Stadium
    Jonesboro, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:33
  • Game attendance: 28,012
  • Game weather: 91 °F (33 °C) • Wind NE 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h) • Mostly sunny
  • Referee: Jeff Hilyer
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

@ Abilene Christian

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Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian
1 234Total
Bears 9 28147 58
Wildcats 7 677 27
  • Date: October 1
  • Location: Shotwell Stadium
    Abilene, TX
  • Game start: 2:30 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:27
  • Game attendance: 4,215
  • Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C) • Wind SSE 8 mph (13 km/h) • Sunny
  • Referee: Vidal Jones
  • Television network: ASN
Sources:

@ McNeese State

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Central Arkansas at McNeese State
1 234Total
#23 Bears 7 7147 35
Cowboys 0 000 0
  • Date: October 15
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:06
  • Game attendance: 9,253
  • Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind SSE 8 mph (13 km/h) • Partly cloudy, 62% humidity
  • Referee: Cooper Castleberry
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

Lamar (homecoming)

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Lamar at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Cardinals 3 306 12
#20 Bears 0 1093 22
  • Date: October 22
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:18
  • Game attendance: 10,257
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C) • Wind SSW 5 mph (8.0 km/h) • Sunny
  • Referee: Brad Van Vark
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

@ Southeastern Louisiana

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Central Arkansas at Southeastern Louisiana
1 234Total
#19 Bears 0 24147 45
Lions 0 370 10
  • Date: October 29
  • Location: Strawberry Stadium
    Hammond, LA
  • Game start: 7:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:08
  • Game attendance: 4,241
  • Game weather: 86 °F (30 °C) • Wind ENE 3 mph (4.8 km/h) • Clear
  • Referee: Ross Smith
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

@ Stephen F. Austin

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Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin
1 234Total
#17 Bears 14 10010 34
Lumberjacks 7 700 14
  • Date: November 5
  • Location: Homer Bryce Stadium
    Nacogdoches, TX
  • Game start: 3:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:23
  • Game attendance: 10,188
  • Game weather: About 60 °F (16 °C) • Cloudy
  • Referee: Michael VanderVelde
  • Television network: ASN
Sources:

Nicholls

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Nicholls at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Colonels 0 7710 24
#13 Bears 0 10714 31
  • Date: November 12
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 3:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:41
  • Game attendance: 5,785
  • Referee: Cooper Castleberry
  • Television network: ASN
Sources:

@ Sam Houston State

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Central Arkansas at Sam Houston State
1 234Total
#11 Bears 0 1067 23
#1 Bearkats 17 21147 59
  • Date: November 19
  • Location: Bowers Stadium
    Huntsville, TX
  • Game start: 2:30 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:42
  • Game attendance: 9,182
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind N 7 mph (11 km/h) • Sunny and clear
  • Referee: Brad Van Vark
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

FCS Playoffs

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First Round–Illinois State

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Illinois State at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
Redbirds 10 707 24
#14 Bears 0 7024 31
  • Date: November 26
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 2:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:10
  • Game attendance: 3,165
  • Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C) • Wind SW 3 mph (4.8 km/h) • Overcast
  • Referee: J. Crowley
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

Second Round–Eastern Washington

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Central Arkansas at Eastern Washington
1 234Total
#14 Bears 0 1400 14
#3 Eagles 0 2137 31
  • Date: December 3
  • Location: Roos Field
    Cheney, WA
  • Game start: 2:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:31
  • Game attendance: 6,085
  • Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C) • Wind SW 16 mph (26 km/h) • Cloudy
  • Referee: Drew Myers
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:

Ranking movements

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCSRVRVRVRVRV252320191713111414
CoachesRVRV242218–T181713121616
FCS PlayoffsNot released1097Not released

References

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