2017 Weber State Wildcats football team

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]

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
(Capacity: 17,312)
2017 Big Sky Conference football standings
ConfOverall
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

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. 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.
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