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 →

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

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

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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v t e Weber State Wildcats football
Venues	Stewart Stadium (1966–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Southern Utah: Beehive Bowl
Culture & lore	Waldo the Wildcat Highest scoring NCAA football game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Big Sky Conference football champions
College Division / Division II	Idaho State (1963) Montana State (1964) Weber State & Idaho (1965) Montana State (1966) Montana State (1967) Idaho, Montana State, & Weber State (1968) Montana (1969) Montana (1970) Idaho (1971) Montana State (1972) Boise State (1973) Boise State (1974) Boise State (1975) Montana State (1976) Boise State (1977)
I-AA/FCS	Northern Arizona (1978) Montana State (1979) Boise State (1980) Idaho State (1981) Montana, Idaho, & Montana State (1982) Nevada (1983) Montana State (1984) Idaho (1985) Nevada (1986) Idaho (1987) Idaho (1988) Idaho (1989) Nevada (1990) Nevada (1991) Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992) Montana (1993) Boise State (1994) Montana (1995) Montana (1996) Eastern Washington (1997) Montana (1998) Montana (1999) Montana (2000) Montana (2001) Montana, Montana State, & Idaho State (2002) Montana State, Montana, & Northern Arizona (2003) Montana & Eastern Washington (2004) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Montana (2005) Montana (2006) Montana (2007) Weber State & Montana (2008) Montana (2009) Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010) Montana State & Montana (2011) Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Cal Poly (2012) Eastern Washington (2013) Eastern Washington (2014) Southern Utah (2015) Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016) Southern Utah & Weber State (2017) Eastern Washington, UC Davis, & Weber State (2018) Sacramento State & Weber State (2019) Weber State (2020) Sacramento State (2021) Montana State & Sacramento State (2022) Montana (2023)
National championships in bold