The 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game that determined a national champion in NCAA Division II for the 2016 season. It was played at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, on December 17, 2016,[1] with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST (3:00 p.m. local CST), and television coverage on ESPN2.
| 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 17, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Children's Mercy Park | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Kansas City, Kansas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bob Rose | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 9,576 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Teams edit
The participants of the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship Game were the finalists of the 2016 Division II Playoffs, which began with four 7-team brackets to determine super region champions, who then qualified for the national semifinals.[2] The game featured the winners of those national semifinal games: No. 3 seed North Alabama and No. 1 seed Northwest Missouri State. This was the third meeting between the two teams; entering the game, Northwest Missouri State led the series 2–0.[3] This was the Bearcats' tenth championship game appearance, having won 5, while the Lions were making their fifth appearance, having won 3.[4] Additionally, the Bearcats entered the game as the defending national champions and were seeking to extend their streak to having won 3 of the last 4 national titles.
National semifinals edit
Super region champions were seeded 1 to 4 for the national semifinals.
| Semifinals December 10 Hosted by higher seeded team | National Championship December 17 Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS | ||||||||
| 1 | Northwest Missouri State | 35 | |||||||
| 4 | Ferris State | 20 | |||||||
| 1 | Northwest Missouri State | 29 | |||||||
| 3 | North Alabama | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | Shepherd | 13 | |||||||
| 3 | North Alabama | 23 | |||||||
Game summary edit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 North Alabama | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 1 Northwest Missouri State | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 29 |
at Children's Mercy Park • Kansas City, Kansas
- Date: Saturday, December 17, 2016
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST (3:00 p.m. CST)
- Game weather: Snowy • Temperature: 13 °F (−11 °C) • Wind: NNW 17 mph
- Game attendance: 9,576
- Referee: Bob Rose
- TV announcers (ESPN2): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Tom Luginbill (analyst), Olivia Harlan (sideline)
- Sources:[5]
| Game information |
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Statistics edit
| Statistics | UNA | NWMS |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 14 | 15 |
| Plays–yards | 74–201 | 74–338 |
| Rushes–yards | 33–22 | 40–226 |
| Passing yards | 179 | 112 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 15–41–1 | 18–34–1 |
| Time of possession | 27:05 | 32:55 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Alabama | Passing | Jacob Tucker | 15/41, 179 yards, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Ray Beasley | 4 carries, 29 yards | |
| Receiving | Julius Jones | 4 receptions, 82 yards | |
| Northwest Missouri State | Passing | Kyle Zimmerman | 13/26, 100 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Randy Schmidt | 14 carries, 96 yards | |
| Receiving | Jordan Grove | 6 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD |
References edit
- ^ "North Ala. vs Northwest Mo. St. DII Football Game Summary - December 17th, 2016 | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "2016 Division II Football Official Bracket | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "Northwest Missouri State University - Football-Record-Book-thru-2019" (PDF). bearcatsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ "DII Football Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- ^ "Northwest Missouri State University - Boxscore for Football vs University of North Alabama on 12/17/2016". bearcatsports.com. Retrieved December 19, 2019.