2016_Mountain_West_Conference_football_season
2016 Mountain West Conference football season
Sports season
The 2016 Mountain West Conference football season was the 18th season of college football for the Mountain West Conference (MW). In the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, the MW had 12 football members: Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State, and Wyoming.
Quick Facts League, Sport ...
| 2016 Mountain West Conference football season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision |
| Sport | Football |
| Duration | August 2016–January 2017 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| TV partner(s) | CBS Sports Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS |
| 2017 NFL Draft | |
| Top draft pick | OG Nico Siragusa, San Diego State |
| Picked by | Baltimore Ravens, 122nd overall |
| Regular season | |
| Mountain Division champions | Wyoming Cowboys |
| Mountain Division runners-up | Boise State Broncos |
| West Division champions | San Diego State Aztecs |
| West Division runners-up | Hawaii Rainbow Warriors |
| Championship Game | |
| Champions | San Diego State |
| Runners-up | Wyoming |
| Football seasons | |
← 2015 2017 → | |
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More information Conf, Overall ...
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mountain Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wyoming xy | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boise State x | 6 | – | 2 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico x | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Force | 5 | – | 3 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado State | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah State | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 25 San Diego State xy$ | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hawaii | 4 | – | 4 | 7 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Jose State | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mountain West Media
2016 Mountain West Football Media Days were held on July 26 & 27 at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip.[1]
Preseason polls
Reference:[2]
More information Place, Mountain Division ...
| Place | Mountain Division | West Division |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boise State (27) 172 | San Diego State (29) 174 |
| 2 | Air Force (2) 126 | Nevada 129 |
| 3 | Utah State 111 | San Jose State 122 |
| 4 | Colorado State 95 | Fresno State 76 |
| 5 | New Mexico 74 | UNLV 73 |
| 6 | Wyoming 31 | Hawai'i 35 |
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- First place votes in parentheses
Preseason All-Mountain West Teams
Reference:[3]
More information Position, Player ...
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Brett Rypien* | SO. | Boise State |
| WR | Thomas Sperbeck* | SR. | Boise State |
| WR | Devonte Boyd** | JR. | UNLV |
| RB | Donnel Pumphrey* | SR. | San Diego State |
| RB | Brian Hill** | JR. | Wyoming |
| OL | Fred Zerblis** | SR. | Colorado State |
| OL | Nico Siragusa* | SR. | San Diego State |
| OL | Jake Simonich | SR. | Utah State |
| OL | Austin Stephens | SR. | Utah State |
| OL | Chase Roullier** | SR. | Wyoming |
| TE | Billy Freeman* | SR. | San Jose State |
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More information Position, Player ...
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL | Nik D'Avanzo | SR. | New Mexico |
| DL | Alex Barrett** | SR. | San Diego State |
| DL | Travis Seefeldt | GR. | Utah State |
| DL | Ricky Ali'ifua | SR. | Utah State |
| LB | Christian Tago** | SR. | San Jose State |
| LB | Calvin Munson* | SR. | San Diego State |
| LB | Dakota Cox | SR. | New Mexico |
| DB | Weston Steelhammer* | SR. | Air Force |
| DB | Damontae Kazee* | SR. | San Diego State |
| DB | Dameon Baber** | SO. | Nevada |
| DB | Andrew Wingard** | SO. | Wyoming |
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More information Position, Player ...
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| P | Hayden Hunt** | SR. | Colorado State |
| P | Michael Carrizosa* | JR. | San Jose State |
| PK | Tyler Rausa* | SR. | Boise State |
| KR | Rashaad Penny* | JR. | San Diego State |
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- Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:
- Donnel Pumphrey, SR., RB, San Diego State
- Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
- Damontae Kazee, SR., DB, San Diego State
- Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year:
- Rashaad Penny, JR., KR, San Diego State
(* - member of the 2015 All-Mountain West first team)
(** - member of the 2015 All-Mountain West second team)
Award watch lists
The following Mountain West players were named to preseason award watch lists.
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NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
More information Team, Head coach ...
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | MW record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Troy Calhoun | 10 | 67–50 | 67–50 | 40–32 |
| Boise State | Bryan Harsin | 3 | 28–11 | 21–6 | 12–4 |
| Colorado State | Mike Bobo | 2 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–3 |
| Fresno State | Tim DeRuyter | 5 | 30–23 | 29–23 | 21–11 |
| Hawaiʻi | Nick Rolovich | 1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Nevada | Brian Polian | 4 | 18–20 | 18–20 | 11–13 |
| New Mexico | Bob Davie | 5 | 53–57 | 18–32 | 9–23 |
| San Diego State | Rocky Long | 8 | 108–92 | 43–23 | 30–9 |
| San José State | Ron Caragher | 4 | 59–44 | 15–22 | 11–13 |
| UNLV | Tony Sanchez | 2 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 2–6 |
| Utah State | Matt Wells | 4 | 25–16 | 25–16 | 18–6 |
| Wyoming | Craig Bohl | 3 | 110–50 | 6–18 | 4–12 |
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| Increase in ranking | |
| Decrease in ranking | |
| Unranked the previous week | |
| RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
More information Pre, Wk 2 ...
| Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Boise State | AP | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 20 | RV | RV | RV |
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 19 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | |
| CFP | Not released | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | ||||||||||||
| Colorado State | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Fresno State | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Hawaiʻi | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | AP | ||||||||||||||||
| C | |||||||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| San Diego State | AP | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | 25 | |
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | 25 | |
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| San José State | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| UNLV | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Utah State | AP | ||||||||||||||||
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| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
| Wyoming | AP | RV | RV | RV | |||||||||||||
| C | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | ||||||||||||
| CFP | Not released | ||||||||||||||||
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Further information: Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game
The Championship Game was played between the San Diego State Aztecs, champions of the West Division, and the Wyoming Cowboys, champions of the Mountain Division, on December 3, 2016, at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. The Aztecs won 27–24, repeating as champions. Running back Rashaad Penny of San Diego State was the offensive MVP, and defensive back Damontae Kazee of San Diego State was the defensive MVP.
More information Bowl Game, Date ...
| Bowl Game | Date | Stadium | City | Television | Team Matchups | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico Bowl | December 17 | University Stadium | Albuquerque, NM | ESPN | New Mexico vs. UTSA | New Mexico | 23 | UTSA | 20 |
| Las Vegas Bowl | December 17 | Sam Boyd Stadium | Whitney, NV | ABC | Houston vs. San Diego State | San Diego State | 34 | Houston | 10 |
| Poinsettia Bowl | December 21 | Qualcomm Stadium | San Diego, CA | ESPN | BYU vs. Wyoming | BYU | 24 | Wyoming | 21 |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | December 22 | Albertsons Stadium | Boise, ID | ESPN | Idaho vs. Colorado State | Idaho | 61 | Colorado State | 50 |
| Hawai'i Bowl | December 24 | Aloha Stadium | Honolulu, HI | ESPN | Hawai'i vs. Middle Tennessee | Hawai'i | 52 | Middle Tennessee | 35 |
| Cactus Bowl | December 27 | Chase Field | Phoenix, AZ | ESPN | Boise State vs. Baylor | Baylor | 31 | Boise State | 12 |
| Arizona Bowl | December 30 | Arizona Stadium | Tucson, AZ | ASN | South Alabama vs. Air Force | Air Force | 45 | South Alabama | 21 |
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Records against other conferences
2016 records against non-conference foes:
More information Power 5 Conferences, Record ...
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Regular season
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Post Season
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All Conference teams
- Offensive Player of the Year: Donnel Pumphrey, SR., RB, San Diego State
- Defensive Player of the Year: Damontae Kazee, SR., DB, San Diego State
- Special Teams Player of the Year: Rashaad Penny, JR., KR, San Diego State
- Freshman of the Year: Logan Wilson, LB, Wyoming
- Coach of the Year: Craig Bohl, Wyoming
Offense:
More information Pos., Name ...
| Pos. | Name | Yr. | School | Name | Yr. | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team | Second Team | ||||||
| QB | Brett Rypien* | SO. | Boise State | Josh Allen | SO. | Wyoming | |
| WR | Thomas Sperbeck* | SR. | Boise State | Tanner Gentry | SR. | Wyoming | |
| WR | Michael Gallup | JR. | Colorado State | Jalen Robinette | SR. | Air Force | |
| RB | Donnel Pumphrey** | SR. | San Diego State | Jeremy McNichols*** | JR. | Boise State | |
| RB | Brian Hill | JR. | Wyoming | Teriyon Gipson | SR. | New Mexico | |
| TE | Jacob Hollister | SR. | Wyoming | David Wells | JR. | San Diego State | |
| OL | Travis Averill | SR. | Boise State | Jake Bennett | JR. | Colorado State | |
| OL | Mario Yakoo | SR. | Boise State | Dejon Allen | JR. | Hawai'i | |
| OL | Fred Zerblis | SR. | Colorado State | Austin Corbett | JR. | Nevada | |
| OL | Nico Siragusa* | SR. | San Diego State | Reno Henderson | SR. | New Mexico | |
| OL | Chase Roullier | SR. | Wyoming | Daniel Brunskill | SR. | San Diego State | |
| PK | John Baron II | SO. | San Diego State | Luke Strebel | SR. | Air Force | |
| PR/KR | Rashaad Penny* | JR. | San Diego State | D.J. May | SR. | Wyoming | |
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Defense:
More information Pos., Name ...
| Pos. | Name | Yr. | School | Name | Yr. | School | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team | Second Team | ||||||
| DL | Ryan Watson | SR. | Air Force | Malik Reed | SO. | Nevada | |
| DL | Sam McCaskill | SR. | Boise State | Nik D'Avanzo | SR. | New Mexico | |
| DL | David Moa | SO. | Boise State | Garrett Hughes | JR. | New Mexico | |
| DL | Alex Barrett* | SR. | San Diego State | Travis Seefeldt | SR. | Utah State | |
| LB | Calvin Munson* | SR. | San Diego State | Ben Weaver | SR. | Boise State | |
| LB | Jahlani Tavai | SO. | Hawai'i | Kevin Davis | SR. | Colorado State | |
| LB | Tau Lotulelei | SR. | UNLV | Jeff Camilli | SR. | Fresno State | |
| DB | Andre Chachere | JR. | San Jose State | Brodie Hicks | SR. | Air Force | |
| DB | Weston Steelhammer** | SR. | Air Force | Chanceller James | SR. | Boise State | |
| DB | Andrew Wingard | SO. | Wyoming | Jonathan Moxey | SR. | Boise State | |
| DB | Damontae Kazee* | SR. | San Diego State | Malik Smith | SR. | San Diego State | |
| P | Hayden Hunt | SR. | Colorado State | Sean Wale | SR. | Boise State | |
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(* – Two-Time First-Team Selection)
(** – Three-Time First-Team Selection)
(*** – Two-Time Second-Team Selection)
Honorable Mentions:
- Air Force: Haji Dunn, Sr., LB; Tim McVey, Jr., KR; Colin Sandor, Sr., OL; Dylan Vail, Sr., OL.
- Boise State: Steven Baggett, Sr., OL; Mason Hampton, Jr., OL; Tanner Vallejo, Sr., LB; Cedrick Wilson, Jr., WR.
- Colorado State: Nick Callender, Sr., OL; Nick Stevens, Jr., QB; Paul Thurston, Sr., OL.
- Fresno State: Stratton Brown, Sr., DB; KeeSean Johnson, So., WR; Kody Kroening, Jr., P.
- Hawai'i: Trayvon Henderson, Jr., DB; Marcus Kemp, Sr., WR; Leo Koloamatangi, Sr., OL; Meffy Koloamatangi, Jr., DL; Jalen Rogers, Sr., DB; Rigoberto Sanchez, Sr., PK/P.
- Nevada: James Butler, Jr., RB; Wyatt Demps, Jr., WR; Asauni Rufus, So., DB.
- New Mexico: Dakota Cox, Sr., LB; Daniel Henry, Sr., DB; Aaron Jenkins, So., OL; Jason Sanders, Jr., PK.
- San Diego State: Kyle Kelley, Sr., DL; Quest Truxton, Jr., PR.
- San Jose State: Michael Carrizosa, Jr., P; Isaiah Irving, Sr., DL; Jeremiah Kolone, Jr., OL; Maurice McKnight, Jr., DB; Christian Tago, Sr., LB.
- UNLV: Troy Hawthorne, Sr., DB; Mike Hughes, Jr., DL; Nathan Jacobson, So., OL; Will Kreitler, Sr., OL; Torry McTyer, Sr., DB.
- Utah State: Austin Albrecht, Sr., OL; Ricky Ali'ifua, Sr., DL; Wyatt Houston, Sr., TE; Jake Simonich, Sr., OL; Austin Stephens, Sr., OL.
- Wyoming: Lucas Wacha, Sr., LB
More information Team, Stadium ...
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Falcon Stadium | 46,692 | 34,128 | 24,173 | 43,063 | 18,756 | 29,132 | 23,467 | 23,556 | 196,275 | 28,039 | 60.1% |
| Boise State | Albertsons Stadium | 36,387 | 36,163 | 36,602 | 33,448 | 34,575 | 31,863 | 32,989 | — | 205,640 | 34,273 | 94.2% |
| Colorado State | Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium | 32,500 | 20,673 | 26,718 | 33,500 | 32,387 | 23,187 | 29,133 | — | 165,598 | 27,600 | 84.9% |
| Fresno State | Bulldog Stadium | 41,031 | 31,817 | 23,273 | 24,731 | 25,197 | 26,951 | 20,991 | — | 152,960 | 25,493 | 62.1% |
| Hawaiʻi | Aloha Stadium | 50,000 | 23,900 | 23,503 | 31,287 | 23,964 | 22,731 | 22,739 | — | 148,124 | 24,687 | 49.4% |
| Nevada | Mackay Stadium | 30,000 | 19,138 | 20,457 | 22,411 | 18,877 | 16,730 | 13,390 | — | 111,003 | 18,501 | 61.7% |
| New Mexico | University Stadium | 39,224 | 20,221 | 19,852 | 20,090 | 18,099 | 17,290 | 16,698 | — | 112,250 | 18,708 | 47.7% |
| San José State | Spartan Stadium | 30,456 | 13,210 | 16,041 | 16,837 | 15,161 | 15,733 | 15,533 | — | 92,515 | 15,419 | 50.6% |
| San Diego State | Qualcomm Stadium | 54,000 | †46,486 | 42,473 | 33,296 | 25,613 | 41,644 | 34,223 | — | 223,735 | 37,289 | 69.1% |
| Utah State | Maverik Stadium | 25,513 | 23,008 | 21,091 | 23,104 | 15,067 | 17,332 | 15,212 | — | 114,814 | 19,136 | 75.0% |
| UNLV | Sam Boyd Stadium | 35,500 | 18,575 | 17,229 | 17,811 | 18,362 | 14,790 | 23,569 | — | 110,336 | 18,389 | 51.8% |
| Wyoming | War Memorial Stadium | 29,181 | 18,483 | 18,781 | 26,623 | 24,023 | 17,837 | 19,112 | 24,001 | 148,860 | 21,265 | 72.9% |
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Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High
- "2016 Mountain West Football Media Days". Mountain West Conference. Archived from the original on July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Boise State, San Diego State, Picked to Win 2016 Mountain West Football Divisional Titles". Mountain West Conference. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Mountain West Football Preseason All-Conference Team". Mountain West Conference. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Maxwell Football Club Announces Maxwell And Bednarik Watch Lists for 2016". July 5, 2016. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List" (PDF). July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Rimington Trophy Official Website:Trophy Watchlist". July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2016 Preseason Watch List". July 7, 2016. Archived from the original on July 18, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List Announced". July 7, 2016. Archived from the original on July 18, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "College football: 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list announced". FWAA. July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Outland Trophy Watch List Unveiled". July 8, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List". July 11, 2016. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "The Butkus Award 2016 Collegiate Watchlist". July 12, 2016. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "College football: Wuerffel Trophy unveils record 2016 watch list". July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Davey O'Brien Award announces 30 players on Watch List". July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "2016 Doak Walker Award Candidates Announced". July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- Al Carbone (July 15, 2016). "2016 Walter Camp Player of the Year Preseason Watch List". Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "43 Players Named to 2016 Paul Hornung Award Watch List". July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- "Mountain West Announces 2016 Football All-Conference Teams and Individual Honors" (Press release). Mountain West Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original on November 30, 2016.