# 2017 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

The 2017 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Bubba Schweigert and played their home games at the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for 9th place.
This was North Dakota's final year as a full member of the Big Sky. While most of the school's athletic programs will move to the Summit League in 2018, the football program will be classified as an FCS independent in 2018 and 2019 before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020. Their games against Big Sky members will still count in the Big Sky standings but they will be ineligible for the Big Sky championship.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:30 p.m. | at Utah* | No. 8 | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | P12N | L 16–37 | 45,905 |
| September 9 | 4:00 p.m. | Missouri State* | No. 11 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND (Potato Bowl) | Midco | W 34–0 | 12,047 |
| September 16 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 23 South Dakota* | No. 10 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy) | Midco | L 7–45 | 9,645 |
| September 23 | 2:30 p.m. | Montana State | No. 17 | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco | L 21–49 | 12,342 |
| September 30 | 8:00 p.m. | at UC Davis | | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | ELVN | L 24–48 | 9,508 |
| October 7 | 2:30 p.m. | Northern Colorado | | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco | W 48–38 | 10,234 |
| October 14 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 24 Montana | | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | RTNW | L 17–41 | 25,085 |
| October 21 | 12:30 p.m. | Sacramento State | | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco | L 27–34 | 9,259 |
| October 28 | 6:00 p.m. | at Portland State | | Providence ParkPortland, OR | ELVN | W 48–21 | 3,002 |
| November 4 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 17 Southern Utah | | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | L 21–47 | 7,641 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 19 Eastern Washington | | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Midco | L 14–21 | 8,247 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Fighting Hawks | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Utes | 0 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 37 |

### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 11 Fighting Hawks | 3 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 34 |

### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Fighting Hawks | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 23 Coyotes | 17 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 45 |

### Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bobcats | 7 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 49 |
| No. 17 Fighting Hawks | 0 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 21 |

### At UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Hawks | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Aggies | 21 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 48 |

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
| Fighting Hawks | 14 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 48 |

### At Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Hawks | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| No. 24 Grizzlies | 7 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 41 |

### Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hornets | 3 | 7 | 24 | 0 | 34 |
| Fighting Hawks | 0 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Hawks | 0 | 13 | 21 | 14 | 48 |
| Vikings | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### At Southern Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Hawks | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 17 Thunderbirds | 13 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 47 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Eagles | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Fighting Hawks | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

## 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 FCS | 8 | 11 | 10 | 17 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 10 | 11 | 10 | 19 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |