The 2016 Missouri Southern Lions football team represented

Missouri Southern State University Missouri Southern State University (Missouri Southern, MSSU, or MoSo) is a public university in Joplin, Missouri. It was established in 1937 as Joplin Junior College. The university enrolled 4,346 students in Fall 2021. History Missouri Southern ...

in the

2016 NCAA Division II football season The 2016 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, began on September 1, 2016 and ended with the NCAA Division II ...

. The

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

played their home games in

Fred G. Hughes Stadium Fred G. Hughes Stadium at the Robert W. Plaster Complex is located at 3950 Newman Road is a 7,000 seat football stadium for Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri The stadium opened in 1975 and cost $1.7 million. It claims to be ...

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

, as they have done since 1975. 2016 was the 48th season in school history. The Lions were led by second-year head coach,

Denver Johnson Denver Johnson (born October 17, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. Johnson was the head football coach at Murray State University from 1997 to 1999 and at Illinois State University from 2000 to 2008, and Missouri Southern Sta ...

. Missouri Southern has been a member of the

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, headquartered ...

since 1989.

Preseason

The Lions entered the 2016 season after finishing in 11th place last season with a record of 1–10, under Johnson. On August 2, 2016 at the MIAA Football Media Day, the Lions were chosen to finish in 10th place in the Coaches Poll, and 11th in the Media Poll.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Along with Johnson, there were 9 assistants.

Roster

Schedule

Game summaries

Fort Hays State

Missouri Western

Emporia State

Northwest Missouri State

Nebraska–Kearney

Washburn

Central Missouri

Central Oklahoma

Northeastern State

Lindenwood

Pittsburg State

References

{{Missouri Southern Lions football navbox Missouri Southern Missouri Southern Lions football seasons

Missouri Southern Lions football The Missouri Southern Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Missouri Southern State University located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The team competes in the NCAA Division II and are members of the Mid-America ...