2016 Conference USA Football Championship Game

August 2023 Conference USA Football Championship Game Dynacraft Conference Championship 2016_Conference_USA_Football_Championship_Game_logo.jpeg December 3 2016 2016 Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, Kentucky Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 8–4 Skip Holtz 17 10 14 3 Western Kentucky University WKU Hilltoppers 9–3 Jeff Brohm 24 14 10 10 RB Anthony Wales (WKU) Western Kentucky by 12 Rodney Burnette 13,213 ESPN/TuneIn Dave Pasch, Tom Luginbill, Quint Kessenich (ESPN)TJ Rives, Kelly Holcomb (Tag Sports Group on TuneIn) The 2016 Conference USA Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 3, 2016, at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and determined the 2016 football champion of Conference USA (C-USA). The game featured the West Division champion Louisiana Tech visiting the East Division champion Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (WKU), with the Hilltoppers winning 58–44. The game was broadcast nationally by ESPN for the 5th consecutive year.http://www.fbschedules.com/2016/06/2016-conference-usa-football-tv-schedule-announced/ 2016 Conference USA Football TV Schedule Announced FBS Schedule The title sponsor was Dynacraft BSC.http://conferenceusa.com/news/2016/11/15/FB_1115160037.aspx?path=football C-USA Rolls Out Dynacraft as Football Championship Title Sponsor Conference USA 2016-11-15 If winner of the C-USA Championship Game is one of highest ranked in the rankings of the "Group of Five" conferences, the team could be placed in the playoffs if not then the Cotton Bowl. The conference champion if not selected would then pick a bowl game of their choosing to attend that has ties to the conference. The 2016 championship game was the 12th game in the championship series. In the 2015 championship game, also hosted by WKU, the Hilltoppers defeated Southern Miss, 45–28. The game proved to be the last for Jeff Brohm as WKU's head coach; two days later, he was hired to fill the head coaching vacancy at Purdue.http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18209584/purdue-boilermakers-hire-western-kentucky-coach-jeff-brohm Jeff Brohm moving from Western Kentucky to Purdue ESPN.com December 5, 2016 December 5, 2016 Teams Louisiana Tech 2016 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team The Bulldogs got off to a rough start at 1–2 before going into conference play with a close 21–20 loss to Arkansas. Louisiana Tech lost its first conference game against Middle Tennessee in which the Bulldogs lost the game in the last quarter when the Blue Raiders scored 21 points to win 38–34. The Bulldogs then went undefeated in conference play before losing their regular-season finale 39–24 to Southern Miss on November 26. They had already clinched the West Division title on November 12 by defeating UTSA, winning the division title for the second time in school history.http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2016/11/12/tech-wraps-up-c-usa-west-title-seventh-straight-win/93728522/ Tech wraps up C-USA West title with seventh straight win The News Starhttp://www.arklatexhomepage.com/sports/la-tech-clinches-west-division-with-63-35-victory LA Tech clinches West Division with 63-35 Victory KTAL 2016-11-14 2016-11-15 https://web.archive.org/web/20161115132557/http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/sports/la-tech-clinches-west-division-with-63-35-victory dead The previous time the Bulldogs won the West Division was back in 2014, which resulted in the Bulldogs losing by 3 points to Marshall.https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=400609077 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs vs. Marshall Thundering Herd ESPN 2014-12-06 2016-11-14 Western Kentucky 2016 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team WKU opened the season with a conference win over Rice, and then went 2–2 in its nonconference schedule, with both losses to Southeastern Conference teams. WKU then resumed its conference schedule at Louisiana Tech, losing 55–52, before winning its final six regular-season games, finishing C-USA play as East Division co-champions along with Old Dominion. Both teams finished 7–1 in C-USA play, with WKU holding the tiebreaker with a 59–24 win over Old Dominion on October 22. Entering the final weekend of conference play, the Hilltoppers could have been beaten out for hosting rights by Louisiana Tech, which entered that weekend 6–1 in the conference and held the head-to-head tiebreaker with its win over WKU. However, the Bulldogs lost on November 26 to Southern Miss, leaving them at 6–2 in C-USA play. WKU hosted the championship for the second consecutive season, making it the first C-USA school to ever do so. Game summary WKU hosted the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech at Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky at noon Eastern Time on December 3, 2016, and was broadcast on ESPN. Louisiana Tech held the overall series record over the Hilltoppers 4–2 before the matchup. The Bulldogs defeated the Hilltoppers in the last meeting back in the beginning of the season on October 6, 55–52. Scoring summary LATECH WKU 1 11:56 WKU 8 54 3:04 FG Skyler Simcox 32 0 3 1 10:18 LATECH 5 76 1:38 FG Jonathan Barnes 25 3 3 1 7:40 WKU 7 70 2:38 RushTD Anthony Wales 15 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 3 10 1 5:43 LATECH IntTD L'Jarius Sneed 48 good Jonathan Barnes run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 10 1 3:38 WKU 6 75 2:05 RushTD Anthony Wales 26 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 10 17 1 1:34 LATECH 7 63 2:04 RecTD Carlos Henderson Ryan Higgins 6 good Jonathan Barnes run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 17 1 0:00 WKU 3 63 1:34 RecTD Anthony Wales Mike White 10 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 17 24 2 11:06 LATECH 8 79 3:54 RecTD Jarred Craft Ryan Higgins 5 good Jonathan Barnes run/pass good/failed/incomplete 24 24 2 10:17 WKU 2 72 0:49 RecTD Taywan Taylor Mike White 45 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 24 31 2 8:26 LATECH 7 72 1:51 FG Jonathan Barnes 36 27 31 2 5:05 WKU 7 23 3:21 RecTD Taywan Taylor Mike White 4 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 27 38 3 13:15 LATECH 5 65 1:45 RecTD Kameron McKnight Ryan Higgins 53 good Jonathan Barnes run/pass good/failed/incomplete 34 38 3 10:17 LATECH 7 29 2:58 RushTD Kameron McKnight 1 good Jonathan Barnes run/pass good/failed/incomplete 41 38 3 4:05 WKU 10 55 4:32 FG Skyler Simcox 28 41 41 3 4:05 WKU 2 40 0:48 RushTD Anthony Wales 15 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 41 48 4 14:08 LATECH 15 72 4:57 FG Jonathan Barnes 24 44 48 4 7:19 WKU 9 63 4:57 FG Skyler Simcox 34 44 51 4 0:58 WKU 9 83 4:57 RushTD Anthony Wales 13 good Skyler Simcox run/pass good/failed/incomplete 44 58 44 58 Source: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=155318 C-USA Championship: Louisiana Tech vs. Western Kentucky Stat Broadcast 2016-12-03 Statistics Statistics LA Tech WKU First downs 26 31 Plays–yards 79–507 72–656 Rushes–yards 22–5 41–235 Passing yards 421 502 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 35–57–1 21–31–1 Time of possession 28:24 31:36 References Championship Category:Conference USA Football Championship Game Category:Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football games Category:Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football games Category:December 2016 sports events in the United States Conference USA Category:American football competitions in Kentucky