2016 Baylor Bears football team

2016 Baylor Bears football
Cactus Bowl champion
Cactus Bowl, W 31–12 vs. Boise State
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	7–6 (3–6 Big 12)
Head coach	Jim Grobe (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Kendal Briles (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Veer and shoot
Defensive coordinator	Phil Bennett (6th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	McLane Stadium
Seasons ←  2015 2017  →

2016 Big 12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Oklahoma $		9	–	0					11	–	2
No. 11 Oklahoma State		7	–	2					10	–	3
No. 18 West Virginia		7	–	2					10	–	3
Kansas State		6	–	3					9	–	4
TCU		4	–	5					6	–	7
Baylor		3	–	6					7	–	6
Texas		3	–	6					5	–	7
Texas Tech		3	–	6					5	–	7
Iowa State		2	–	7					3	–	9
Kansas		1	–	8					2	–	10
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bears were coached by first-year head coach Jim Grobe ^[1] in their 118th football season. This was the team's third season in McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. The Bears were members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 3–6 in Big 12 play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. They were invited to Cactus Bowl where they defeated Boise State.

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

National Signing Day was on February 3, 2016.

Scandal

Main article: Baylor University football scandal

In September 2015, following the conviction of former players Sam Ukwuachu ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]} and Tevin Elliott of sexual assault, along with allegations against other players, the school commissioned law firm Pepper Hamilton LLP to conduct an independent external investigation regarding the university's handling of sexual violence. In April 2016, former player Shawn Oakman was arrested on sexual assault charges as well. ^[7] Head coach Art Briles was terminated on May 26, 2016 following the presentation of Pepper Hamilton's report. University President Ken Starr and Athletic Director Ian McCaw also resigned. ^[8] Former Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe was hired on an interim basis. ^{[9] [10]}

Following the threat of a lawsuit by Briles for wrongful termination, Baylor provided an out of court settlement. Briles and Baylor are co-defendants in a lawsuit filed by a woman allegedly sexually assaulted by a football player. ^[11] After Briles' departure, many players announced their intention to transfer including Jarrett Stidham. Seven members of the 2016 recruiting class requested to be released from their National Letter of Intent, and six of the then-seven commits in the 2017 recruiting class decommitted. ^[12]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:30 p.m.	Northwestern State *	No. 23	McLane Stadium Waco, Texas	FSN	W 55–7	44,849
September 10	2:30 p.m.	SMU *	No. 23	McLane Stadium Waco, Texas	FS1	W 40–13	45,499
September 16	7:00 p.m.	at Rice *	No. 21	Rice Stadium Houston, Texas	ESPN	W 38–10	27,047
September 24	6:30 p.m.	Oklahoma State	No. 16	McLane Stadium Waco, Texas	FOX	W 35–24	45,373
October 1	11:00 a.m.	at Iowa State	No. 13	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, Iowa	FS1	W 45–42	50,842
October 15	2:30 p.m.	Kansas	No. 11	McLane Stadium Waco, Texas	FS1	W 49–7	47,598
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at Texas	No. 8	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, Texas (rivalry)	ABC	L 34–35	97,822
November 5	2:30 p.m.	TCU	No. 17	McLane Stadium Waco, Texas (rivalry)	FOX	L 22–62	48,129
November 12	11:00 a.m.	at No. 11 Oklahoma		Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma	ABC/ESPN2	L 24–45	86,249
November 19	11:00 a.m.	Kansas State		McLane Stadium Waco, Texas	ESPN2	L 21–42	43,581
November 25	5:00 p.m.	vs. Texas Tech		AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas (rivalry)	ESPN	L 35–54	41,656
December 3	2:30 p.m.	at No. 16 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, West Virginia	FS1	L 21–24	49,229
December 27	9:15 p.m.	vs. Boise State *		Chase Field Phoenix, Arizona (Cactus Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–12	33,328
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 1 released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source: ^[13]

Rankings

Further information: 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	23	23	21	16	13	13	11	9	8	13	25	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	21	19	19	15	13	11	8	8	6–T	13	25	RV	—	—	—	—
CFP	Not released									17	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Game summaries

Northwestern State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demons	0	0	7	0	7
#23 Bears	24	24	7	0	55

See also: 2016 Northwestern State Demons football team

SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	6	0	7	0	13
#23 Bears	0	6	20	14	40

See also: 2016 SMU Mustangs football team

At Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Bears	0	21	10	7	38
Owls	0	10	0	0	10

See also: 2016 Rice Owls football team

Oklahoma State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	7	7	10	0	24
#16 Bears	7	14	7	7	35

See also: 2016 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

At Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#13 Bears	7	14	7	17	45
Cyclones	14	14	14	0	42

See also: 2016 Iowa State Cyclones football team

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jayhawks	0	0	7	0	7
#11 Bears	21	21	7	0	49

See also: 2016 Kansas Jayhawks football team

At Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Bears	14	7	10	3	34
Longhorns	14	9	3	9	35

See also: 2016 Texas Longhorns football team

TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Horned Frogs	10	28	10	14	62
#13 Bears	7	7	0	8	22

See also: 2016 TCU Horned Frogs football team and Baylor–TCU football rivalry

At Oklahoma

	1	2	3	4	Total
#25 Bears	0	10	7	7	24
#9 Sooners	14	7	14	10	45

See also: 2016 Oklahoma Sooners football team

Kansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	21	14	42
Bears	0	14	0	7	21

See also: 2016 Kansas State Wildcats football team

Vs. Texas Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	7	7	35
Red Raiders	20	21	10	3	54

See also: 2016 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team and Baylor–Texas Tech football rivalry

At West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	14	0	7	21
#14 Mountaineers	3	7	7	7	24

See also: 2016 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Boise State–Cactus Bowl

See also: 2016 Boise State Broncos football team and 2016 Cactus Bowl (December)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	6	0	6	12
Bears	7	14	3	7	31

References

1. "Baylor AD Ian McCaw quits same day Jim Grobe named interim coach". ESPN. May 31, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
2. Kalland, Robby. "Baylor DE Sam Ukwuachu guilty of sexual assault, sentenced Friday". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
3. Auerbach, Nicole. "Baylor's Art Briles says his team is focused on SMU, not Sam Ukwuachu". USA Today. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
4. Bonesteel, Matt (August 21, 2015). "A Baylor football player was convicted of rape. The school may have tried to keep it quiet". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
5. Witherspoon`, Tommy. "Former Baylor player gets probation, 180 days in jail for sexual assault". WacoTrib.com. Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
6. Barry, Horn. "Ex-Baylor player Sam Ukwuachu convicted of sexual assault denied new trial". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
7. Brady, James (April 8, 2016). "Baylor DE Shawn Oakman arrested for sexual assault". SBNation.com. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
8. Peralta, Eyder. "'As A Matter Of Conscience,' Ken Starr Resigns As Baylor University's Chancellor". NPR. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
9. Bennett, Anthony (May 26, 2016). "Will Baylor Face NCAA Charges in the Sexual Assault Scandal?". Heavy. Heavy.
10. "Timeline: Baylor sexual assault controversy". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
11. "Report: Baylor reaches contract settlement with Art Briles". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
12. Hutchins, Andy; Elliott, Bud (May 29, 2016). "Baylor's 2017 recruiting class is basically gone, and 7 freshmen want out". SBNation.com. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
13. "2016 Baylor Bears Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 31, 2016.