# 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

The 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by second-year head coach Brent Thompson and played their home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium. They were members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

## Preseason
### Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 18, 2017, with the Bulldogs predicted to finish in second place, with six of 22 voters picking The Citadel first. The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bulldogs also predicted to finish in second place.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Wofford | 178 (11) |
| 2 | The Citadel | 166 (6) |
| 3 | Samford | 156 (3) |
| 4 | Chattanooga | 152 (2) |
| 5 | Mercer | 101 |
| 6 | Furman | 87 |
| 7 | Western Carolina | 71 |
| 8 | ETSU | 49 |
| 9 | VMI | 30 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Wofford | 63 (7) |
| 2 | The Citadel | 54 (2) |
| 3 | Samford | 52 |
| 4 | Chattanooga | 41 |
| 5 | Mercer | 32 |
| 6 | Western Carolina | 27 |
| 7 | Furman | 26 |
| 8 | ETSU | 17 |
| 9 | VMI | 12 |

### Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bulldogs placed five players on the preseason all-SoCon teams, and Kailik Williams was named as preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Defensive Player of the Year
Kailik Williams – DB

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Newberry* | No. 16 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | 7C, ESPN3 | W 31–14 | 7,467 |
| September 9 | Noon | at Presbyterian* | No. 14 | Bailey Memorial StadiumClinton, SC | BSN | W 48–7 | 2,586 |
| September 16 | 1:00 p.m. | at East Tennessee State | No. 13 | William B. Greene Jr. StadiumJohnson City, TN | ESPN3 | W 31–25 | 7,544 |
| September 30 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 25 Samford | No. 8 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN3 | L 14–35 | 9,233 |
| October 7 | 2:00 p.m. | Mercer | No. 17 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | L 14–24 | 9,969 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 5 Wofford | No. 23 | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC (rivalry) | ESPN3 | L 16–20 | 8,543 |
| October 21 | 2:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga | | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | ESPN3 | W 20–14 | 7,521 |
| October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | VMI | | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC (Military Classic of the South) | 7C, ESPN3 | W 21–3 | 11,609 |
| November 4 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 24 Western Carolina | | Johnson Hagood StadiumCharleston, SC | ESPN3 | L 19–31 | 7,384 |
| November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 21 Furman | | Paladin StadiumGreenville, SC (rivalry) | 7C | L 20–56 | 10,105 |
| November 18 | 12:20 p.m. | at No. 4 (FBS) Clemson* | | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | ACCN | L 3–61 | 80,618 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### Newberry

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wolves | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • No. 16 Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 31 |

### At Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 14 Bulldogs | 14 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 48 |
| Blue Hose | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 13 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 | 31 |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 25 |

### At Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Bulldogs (CIT) | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • No. 25 Bulldogs (SAM) | 28 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 35 |

### Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bears | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
| No. 17 Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 5 Terriers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| No. 23 Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 16 |

### At Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bulldogs | 0 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| Mocs | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Keydets | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Bulldogs | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 24 Catamounts | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 19 |

### At Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
| • No. 21 Paladins | 14 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 56 |

### At Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| • No. 4 (FBS) Tigers | 21 | 17 | 20 | 3 | 61 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS | 16 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 12 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — |