2017 Weber State Wildcats football team

2017 Weber State Wildcats football
2017 Weber State Wildcats football
Big Sky co-champion
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 28–31 vs. James Madison
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 5
FCS Coaches	No. 5
Record	11–3 (7–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jay Hill (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Fesi Sitake (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jason Kaufusi (2nd season)
Home stadium	Stewart Stadium
	Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

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 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Montana Western*		Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Pluto TV	W 76–0	8,882
September 9	3:00 p.m.	at California*	No. 25	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	P12N	L 20–33	36,209
September 16	7:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State*		Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	Pluto TV	W 31–24	8,365
September 23	5:00 p.m.	UC Davis	No. 23	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	KJZZ	W 41–3	9,450
September 30	1:30 p.m.	at Montana State	No. 20	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ATTRM^[11]	W 25–17	19,557
October 14	6:00 p.m.	Southern Utah	No. 18	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT (Beehive Bowl)	ELVN	L 16–32	9,135
October 21	1:30 p.m.	at Cal Poly	No. 23	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	Pluto TV	W 17–3	9,234
October 28	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 Montana		Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	KJZZ	W 41–27	8,912
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Eastern Washington	No. 19	Roos Field Cheney, WA	Pluto TV	W 28–20	9,451
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Portland State	No. 14	Providence Park Portland, OR	Pluto TV	W 63–17	3,792
November 18	2:00 p.m.	Idaho State	No. 12	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	Pluto TV	W 35–7	9,539
November 25	2:00 p.m.	No. 9 Western Illinois*	No. 11	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 21–19	16,876
December 2	6:00 p.m.	at No. 12 Southern Utah*	No. 11	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 30–13	11,811
December 8	5:00 p.m.	at No. 1 James Madison*	No. 11	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN2	L 28–31	13,497
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

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

At Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	16	8	0	7	31
Hornets	0	14	7	3	24

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	3	0	0	0	3
No. 23 Wildcats	17	14	10	0	41

At Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Wildcats	0	9	13	3	25
Bobcats	3	7	0	7	17

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	13	9	3	32
No. 18 Wildcats	3	10	3	0	16

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Wildcats	8	0	3	6	17
Mustangs	0	3	0	0	3

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Grizzlies	0	6	7	14	27
Wildcats	10	24	0	7	41

At Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Wildcats	0	14	7	7	28
No. 11 Eagles	7	7	0	6	20

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Wildcats	14	35	7	7	63
Vikings	3	0	7	7	17

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	7	0	0	0	7
No. 12 Wildcats	7	14	7	7	35

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

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

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	25	RV	23	20	19	18	23	RV	19	14	12	11	5
Coaches	22	20	21	18	18	16	16	23	22	14	12	9	8	5

References

^ "Weber State to play at Cal, host five in 2017". STATS FCS Football. January 26, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
^ "Hosting a football playoff game is historic, but Weber State wants to do more". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ 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.
^ "Western Illinois vs. Weber State - Game Recap - November 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "Leathernecks' season ends with 21-19 playoff loss". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "Weber State fends off Western Illinois in FCS playoffs". FOX Sports. November 25, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "Weber State vs. Southern Utah - Game Recap - December 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "Weber State beats Southern Utah 30-13 to advance to FCS quarterfinals". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ Standard-Examiner. "Weber State loses heartbreaker at No. 1 James Madison on last-second field goal". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "No. 1 James Madison survives Weber State upset bid in FCS quarterfinal". SBNation.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
^ "BIG SKY, ROOT SPORTS ANNOUNCE CONTRACT EXTENSION, 2017 SCHEDULE". Big Sky Conference. March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.

[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.

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