# 2017 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

The 2017 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team represented the University of the Incarnate Word in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were in their first full season of FCS and Southland Conference eligibility, as they had completed their four-year transition to Division I from Division II. They were led by sixth-year head coach Larry Kennan. They played their home games at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium. They finished the season 1–10, 1–7 in Southland play to finish in ninth place.
On November 28, head coach Larry Kennan was fired. He finished at Incarnate Word with a six-year record of 20–46.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 9:00 p.m. | at Fresno State* | Bulldog StadiumFresno, CA | | L 0–66 | 39,447 |
| September 9 | 8:00 p.m. | at Sacramento State* | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | Pluto TV | L 22–56 | 7,806 |
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | at Stephen F. Austin | Homer Bryce StadiumNacogdoches, TX | ESPN3 | L 31–37 | 11,401 |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | Abilene Christian | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | KCWX | L 20–45 | 5,323 |
| October 7 | 10:00 a.m. | at Southeastern Louisiana | Strawberry StadiumHammond, LA | LionVision | L 30–49 | 4,156 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Lamar | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | UIWtv | W 33–24 | 5,001 |
| October 21 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 20 McNeese State | Cowboy StadiumLake Charles, LA | AACI | L 7–55 | 9,732 |
| October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | Nicholls State | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | UIWtv | L 31–38 | 4,999 |
| November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Sam Houston State | Bowers StadiumHuntsville, TX | ESPN3 | L 20–57 | 5,077 |
| November 11 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 Central Arkansas | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | UIWtv | L 10–56 | 4,652 |
| November 16 | 6:00 p.m. | Prairie View A&M* | Gayle and Tom Benson StadiumSan Antonio, TX | Eleven Sports | L 28–42 | 4,430 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||
* ↑ Game was originally scheduled for 4:00 p.m. CST, but was moved up due to the threat of inclement weather.
Source:

## Personnel

Source:

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Alma mater | Joined staff |
| Larry Kennan | Head coach | La Verne (1966) | 2012 |
| Larry Moore | Associate head coach for offense / Offensive Line | BYU (1996) | 2011 |
| Robert Lyles | Associate head coach for defense / Outside Linebackers | TCU (1984) | 2015 |
| Kyle Kennan | Offensive coordinator / wide receivers | Roger Williams (2001) | 2008 |
| Brian Gamble | Defensive coordinator / Inside Linebackers | Texas A&M (2002) | 2008 |
| Sean Davis | Pass game coordinator / quarterbacks | Azusa Pacific (2006) | 2013 |
| Nick Debose | Defensive backs | Southeastern Oklahoma (2006) | 2008 |
| Mike Barela | Run game coordinator / tight ends | North Texas (1996) | 2015 |
| Jim Partee | Running backs | Occidental College (2016) | 2016 |
| Polo Gutierrez | Special teams coordinator / Defensive Line | New Mexico State (2009) | 2017 |
| Miguel Rodriguez | Defensive Graduate Assistant | UTSA (2014) | 2017 |
| Patrick Banigan | Defensive Quality Control | Texas A&M (2015) | 2017 |
| Robert Churchman | Director of football operations | Sul Ross (2013) | 2016 |
| Darin Lovat | Strength and Conditioning Coach | UNLV (1997) | 2012 |
| T.R. St. Charles | Head Football Athletic Trainer | Vanderbilt (1976) | 2008 |

### Roster
## Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* 23 Kyle Covington, So
* 38 Tim McCoy, Jr
| WLB | ILB | ILB | SLB |
| 42 Israel Acuay, Jr | 9 Mar'kel Cooks, So | 8 Quandre Washington, Sr | 92 Blake Klumpp, Jr |
| 17 Karee Berry, Jr | 35 Dax Eisinger, Jr | 43 West Lambert, So | 3 Greg Lemon, Sr |
| 56 Andy Jennings, Jr | 47 Leighton Dimando, Fr | ⋅ | 12 Silas Stewart, Jr |
* SS
* 27 Jawun Jiles, Jr
* 33 Shaquirius Miller, R-Fr
* 24 Chris Thomas, So
* CB
* 13 Jeilyn Williams, Sr
* 10 Devin Bracy, Jr
* 26 Marquis Britten, Fr
| DE | NT | DE |
| 54 Corey Lee, Sr | 96 John Williams, Jr | 55 Darrius Montgomery, Jr |
| 2 Justin Alexandre, Jr | 97 Tyler Colbert, Sr | 94 Cameron Wilson, So |
| ⋅ | 95 Jordan Collins, Sr | ⋅ |
* CB
* 25 Jamarkese Williams, Jr
* 18 Cam Knight, Jr
* 14 Jared Ambres, Sr
Offense :
* WR
* 22 Jamari Gilbert, Sr
* 11 Zaire Andre, Jr
* 2 Cam Johnson, R-Fr
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| 77 Terence Hickman II, So | 73 German Valenzuela, Jr | 63 Tyler Preston, Jr | 61 Draven Taylor, Sr | 75 Jeremy Jones, So |
| 70 Ryan Carlson, R-Fr | 57 Devyn Jensen, Sr | 66 Levi Swang, R-Fr | 72 Brandon Floores, So | 76 Austin Jennings, Sr |
| 79 Mark Palacios, R-Fr | 78 Uzoma Okere, R-Fr | ⋅ | 64 Roberto Limon, Jr | ⋅ |
* TE
* 89 John Meyers, So
* 84 Malik Harris, Jr
* 45 Marcus Valverde, Fr
* WR
* 21 Phillip Baptiste, Jr
* 16 Daryl Brooks, Sr
* 5 Breylann McCollum, Sr
* QB
* 15 Taylor Laird, Sr
* 3 Sean Brophy, Jr
* 10 Chandler Herman, Fr
* RB
* 6 Derrick Mitchell, Sr
* 4 Ra'Quanne Dickens, Jr
* 1 Desmond Hite, So
* FB
* 80 Jezel Parra, Jr
* 46 Phillip Higgins, So
* Special teams
* PK 37 Jose Perez, So
* PK 39 James Liker, Sr
* P 36 Joseph Zema, Gr
* P 41 Cody Seidel, Jr
* KR 1 Desmond Hite, So
* PR 11 Zaire Andre, Jr
* LS 92 Blake Klumpp, Jr
* H 85 Anthony Marciano, Jr

## Postseason honors

The following Cardinals received postseason honors for the 2017 season:
Associated Press FCS All–America First–Team P Joe Zema – Senior
STATS FCS All–America First–Team P Joe Zema – Senior
STATS FCS All–America Second–Team KR Desmond Hite – Sophomore
AFCA FCS Coaches' All–America Second–Team P Joe Zema – Senior
HERO Sports FCS All–America First–Team P Joe Zema – Senior
HERO Sports FCS All–America Second–Team KR Desmond Hite – Sophomore
All–Southland Conference First–Team P Joe Zema – Senior KR Desmond Hite – Sophomore
All–Southland Conference Second–Team AP Desmond Hite – Sophomore
All–Southland Conference Honorable Mention RB Derrick Mitchell – Senior OL Terence Hickman II – Sophomore LB Mar'Kel Cooks – Sophomore
Athletic Directors Association (ADA) FCS Top Collegiate Punter P Joe Zema – Senior

## Game summaries
### @ Fresno State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Bulldogs | 17 | 17 | 32 | 0 | 66 |

### @ Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 22 |
| • Hornets | 7 | 21 | 28 | 0 | 56 |

### @ Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| • Lumberjacks | 21 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 37 |

### Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Wildcats | 7 | 28 | 3 | 7 | 45 |
| Cardinals | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 20 |

### @ Southeastern Louisiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 3 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 30 |
| • Lions | 7 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 49 |

### Lamar

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals (LU) | 0 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| • Cardinals (UIW) | 14 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 33 |

### @ McNeese State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| • #20 Cowboys | 17 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 55 |

### Nicholls State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Colonels | 14 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 38 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 31 |

### @ Sam Houston State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |
| • #5 Bearkats | 23 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 57 |

### Central Arkansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #3 Bears | 14 | 28 | 0 | 14 | 56 |
| Cardinals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

### Prairie View A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Panthers | 14 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 28 |