2017 Weber State Wildcats football team

2017 Weber State Wildcats football
Big Sky co-champion
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 5
FCS CoachesNo. 5
Record11–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFesi Sitake (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorJason Kaufusi (2nd season)
Home stadiumStewart Stadium
Seasons
← 2016
2018 →
2017 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 14 Southern Utah +^   7 – 1     9 – 3  
No. 5 Weber State +^   7 – 1     11 – 3  
Northern Arizona ^   6 – 2     7 – 5  
No. 21 Eastern Washington   6 – 2     7 – 4  
Sacramento State   6 – 2     7 – 4  
Montana   5 – 3     7 – 4  
Montana State   5 – 3     5 – 6  
UC Davis   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Idaho State   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Northern Colorado   2 – 6     3 – 7  
North Dakota   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Cal Poly   1 – 7     1 – 10  
Portland State   0 – 8     0 – 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by fourth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium as members of the Big Sky Conference.[1] They finished the season 11–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for the Big Sky championship with Southern Utah. Due to their head-to-head loss to Southern Utah in the regular season, they did not receive the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, but did receive an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, their second straight trip to the playoffs.[2][3] In the first round, they defeated Western Illinois.[4][5][6] In the second round, they avenged their regular season loss to Southern Utah.[7][8] In the quarterfinals, they lost to eventual national runner-up, James Madison.[9][10]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 26:00 p.m.Montana Western*
Pluto TVW 76–08,882
September 93:00 p.m.at California*No. 25
P12NL 20–3336,209
September 167:00 p.m.at Sacramento State*
Pluto TVW 31–248,365
September 235:00 p.m.UC DavisdaggerNo. 23
  • Stewart Stadium
  • Ogden, UT
KJZZW 41–39,450
September 301:30 p.m.at Montana StateNo. 20
ATTRM[11]W 25–1719,557
October 146:00 p.m.Southern UtahNo. 18
ELVNL 16–329,135
October 211:30 p.m.at Cal PolyNo. 23
Pluto TVW 17–39,234
October 282:00 p.m.No. 24 Montana
  • Stewart Stadium
  • Ogden, UT
KJZZW 41–278,912
November 42:00 p.m.at No. 11 Eastern WashingtonNo. 19
Pluto TVW 28–209,451
November 113:00 p.m.at Portland StateNo. 14
Pluto TVW 63–173,792
November 182:00 p.m.Idaho StateNo. 12
  • Stewart Stadium
  • Ogden, UT
Pluto TVW 35–79,539
November 252:00 p.m.No. 9 Western Illinois*No. 11
ESPN3W 21–1916,876
December 26:00 p.m.at No. 12 Southern Utah*No. 11
ESPN3W 30–1311,811
December 85:00 p.m.at No. 1 James Madison*No. 11
ESPN2L 28–3113,497

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky Conference, the game with Sacramento State on September 16 was considered a non-conference game.

Game summaries

Montana Western

1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0
Wildcats 20 28 14 14 76

At California

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 25 Wildcats 10 10 0 0 20
Golden Bears 7 10 0 16 33
See also: 2017 California Golden Bears football team

At Sacramento State

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 16 8 0 7 31
Hornets 0 14 7 3 24
See also: 2017 Sacramento State Hornets football team

UC Davis

1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 3 0 0 0 3
No. 23 Wildcats 17 14 10 0 41
See also: 2017 UC Davis Aggies football team

At Montana State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 20 Wildcats 0 9 13 3 25
Bobcats 3 7 0 7 17
See also: 2017 Montana State Bobcats football team

Southern Utah

1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 7 13 9 3 32
No. 18 Wildcats 3 10 3 0 16
See also: 2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team and Beehive Bowl

At Cal Poly

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 23 Wildcats 8 0 3 6 17
Mustangs 0 3 0 0 3
See also: 2017 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Montana

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 24 Grizzlies 0 6 7 14 27
Wildcats 10 24 0 7 41
See also: 2017 Montana Grizzlies football team

At Eastern Washington

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 19 Wildcats 0 14 7 7 28
No. 11 Eagles 7 7 0 6 20
See also: 2017 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

At Portland State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 14 Wildcats 14 35 7 7 63
Vikings 3 0 7 7 17
See also: 2017 Portland State Vikings football team

Idaho State

1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 7 0 0 0 7
No. 12 Wildcats 7 14 7 7 35
See also: 2017 Idaho State Bengals football team

FCS Playoffs

Western Illinois–First Round

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Leathernecks 3 3 6 7 19
No. 11 Wildcats 0 14 0 7 21
See also: 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

At Southern Utah–Second Round

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 11 Wildcats 0 13 14 3 30
No. 12 Thunderbirds 10 3 0 0 13

At James Madison–Quarterfinals

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 11 Wildcats 7 0 7 14 28
No. 1 Dukes 7 3 0 21 31
See also: 2017 James Madison Dukes football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCSRV25RV2320191823RV191412115
Coaches2220211818161623221412985

References

  1. ^ "Weber State to play at Cal, host five in 2017". STATS FCS Football. January 26, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Hosting a football playoff game is historic, but Weber State wants to do more". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  3. ^ Wood, Trent (November 19, 2017). "Weber State football: Wildcats awarded at large bid and first round match up with Western Illinois". DeseretNews.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "Western Illinois vs. Weber State - Game Recap - November 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Leathernecks' season ends with 21-19 playoff loss". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. ^ "Weber State fends off Western Illinois in FCS playoffs". FOX Sports. November 25, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Weber State vs. Southern Utah - Game Recap - December 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. ^ "Weber State beats Southern Utah 30-13 to advance to FCS quarterfinals". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  9. ^ Standard-Examiner. "Weber State loses heartbreaker at No. 1 James Madison on last-second field goal". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "No. 1 James Madison survives Weber State upset bid in FCS quarterfinal". SBNation.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  11. ^ "BIG SKY, ROOT SPORTS ANNOUNCE CONTRACT EXTENSION, 2017 SCHEDULE". Big Sky Conference. March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.