2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football
2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 14–56 vs. South Dakota State
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 21
FCS Coaches	No. 20
Record	9–5 (5–3 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (19th season);
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (10th season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (6th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium
	Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

The 2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 19th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 9–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Central Connecticut and Central Arkansas before losing in the quarterfinals to South Dakota State.

2017 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 11 Stony Brook ^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 20 Elon ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 12 New Hampshire ^	5	–	3	9	–	5
Delaware	5	–	3	7	–	4
Richmond	4	–	4	6	–	5
Towson	3	–	5	5	–	6
Villanova	3	–	5	5	–	6
Maine	3	–	5	4	–	6
Albany	2	–	6	4	–	7
Rhode Island	2	–	6	3	–	8
William & Mary	0	–	8	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Maine	No. 13	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	CSL^[1]	W 24–23	15,854
September 9^[2]	4:00 p.m.	at Georgia Southern*	No. 12	Legion Field^[2] Birmingham, AL	ESPN3	W 22–12	3,387
September 16	1:00 p.m.	at Holy Cross*	No. 9	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	L 26–51	7,906
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Rhode Island	No. 15	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ESPN3	W 28–14	22,135
September 30	6:00 p.m.	Bryant*	No. 15	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ESPN3	W 45–17	7,951
October 14	6:00 p.m.	at Stony Brook	No. 12	Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	Wolfievision	L 24–38	12,311
October 21	2:00 p.m.	Towson	No. 18	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics via YouTube	W 40–17	10,522
October 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 James Madison	No. 17	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MadiZone	L 0–21	25,298
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at William & Mary	No. 21	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	TATV	W 35–16	5,426
November 11	2:00 p.m.	No. 7 Elon	No. 18	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FCS FSGO	W 16–6	7,294
November 18	1:00 p.m.	at Albany	No. 16	Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium Albany, NY	CSL^[1]	L 0–15	3,459
November 25	2:00 p.m.	Central Connecticut*	No. 21	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 14–0	2,385
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Central Arkansas*	No. 21	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 21–15	6,243
December 9	3:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Dakota State*	No. 21	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	L 14–56	5,583
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	7	3	7	6	23
No. 13 Wildcats	14	3	0	7	24

At Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Wildcats	15	7	0	0	22
Eagles	0	0	5	7	12

At Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Wildcats	7	0	12	7	26
Crusaders	3	13	21	14	51

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	7	7	14
No. 15 Wildcats	8	7	0	13	28

Bryant

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	17	0	0	17
No. 15 Wildcats	17	14	0	14	45

At Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Wildcats	6	18	0	0	24
Seawolves	9	7	6	16	38

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	3	0	0	14	17
No. 18 Wildcats	7	26	7	0	40

At James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Dukes	0	14	7	0	21

At William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	7	14	7	7	35
Tribe	0	10	0	6	16

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Phoenix	0	0	0	6	6
No. 18 Wildcats	0	7	9	0	16

At Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
Great Danes	0	3	9	3	15

NCAA First Round—Central Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	0	0	0
No. 21 Wildcats	0	7	0	7	14

NCAA Second Round—at Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	7	0	7	7	21
No. 3 Bears	7	0	0	8	15

NCAA Quarterfinal–at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	0	0	7	7	14
No. 6 Jackrabbits	21	7	14	14	56

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	13	12	9	15	15	13	12	18	17	21	18	16	21
Coaches	16	12	11	16	14	13	12	18	16	19	16	14	20

References

^ ^a ^b Washburn, Rob (August 18, 2017). "CAA PARTNERS WITH CBS SPORTS DIGITAL". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "UNH/Georgia Southern Game Moved to Birmingham, Ala". UNH Wildcats. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

[gameoftheweek2017-1] Washburn, Rob (August 18, 2017). "CAA PARTNERS WITH CBS SPORTS DIGITAL". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved August 22, 2017.

[gamechange-2] "UNH/Georgia Southern Game Moved to Birmingham, Ala". UNH Wildcats. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.

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