American college football season
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 * Pluto TV W 76–08,882
September 9 3:00 p.m. at California * No. 25 P12N L 20–3336,209
September 16 7:00 p.m. at Sacramento State * Pluto TV W 31–248,365
September 23 5:00 p.m. UC Davis No. 23 KJZZ W 41–39,450
September 30 1:30 p.m. at Montana State No. 20 ATTRM [ 11] W 25–1719,557
October 14 6:00 p.m. Southern Utah No. 18 ELVN L 16–329,135
October 21 1:30 p.m. at Cal Poly No. 23 Pluto TV W 17–39,234
October 28 2:00 p.m. No. 24 Montana KJZZ W 41–278,912
November 4 2:00 p.m. at No. 11 Eastern Washington No. 19 Pluto TV W 28–209,451
November 11 3:00 p.m. at Portland State No. 14 Pluto TV W 63–173,792
November 18 2:00 p.m. Idaho State No. 12 Pluto TV W 35–79,539
November 25 2:00 p.m. No. 9 Western Illinois * No. 11 ESPN3 W 21–1916,876
December 2 6:00 p.m. at No. 12 Southern Utah* No. 11 ESPN3 W 30–1311,811
December 8 5:00 p.m. at No. 1 James Madison * No. 11 ESPN2 L 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
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 movementsLegend: ██ 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 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons
College Division / Division II 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)
Montana State (2024)
National championships in bold