# 2017 Elon Phoenix football team

The 2017 Elon Phoenix football team represented Elon University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Curt Cignetti and played their home games at Rhodes Stadium. They were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in CAA play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they were lost to Furman in the first round.

## Preseason poll

First place votes in parentheses
| Place | School |
| 1 | James Madison (21) |
| 2 | Richmond (3) |
| 3 | Villanova |
| 4 | New Hampshire |
| 5 | Delaware |
| 6 | Albany |
| 7 | William & Mary |
| 8 | Stony Brook |
| 9 | Maine |
| 10 | Towson |
| 11 | Elon |
| 12 | Rhode Island |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 7:00 p.m. | at Toledo* | | Glass BowlToledo, OH | ESPN3 | L 13–47 | 22,104 |
| September 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at Furman* | | Paladin StadiumGreenville, SC | ESPN3 | W 34–31 | 6,342 |
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 16 Charleston Southern* | | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | CSL | W 19–17 | 5,248 |
| September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 8 Richmond | | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | CSN+ | W 36–33 | 8,217 |
| September 30 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 19 Albany | No. 23 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | CSL | W 6–0 | 5,024 |
| October 7 | 2:00 p.m. | William & Mary | No. 18 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | W 25–17 | 10,137 |
| October 21 | Noon | at Rhode Island | No. 14 | Meade StadiumKingston, RI | CSL | W 35–34 | 7,221 |
| October 28 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 13 Villanova | No. 10 | Villanova StadiumVillanova, PA | NNAA | W 19–14 | 5,451 |
| November 4 | 2:00 p.m. | Towson | No. 7 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | W 33–30 $^{2OT}$ | 10,113 |
| November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 18 New Hampshire | No. 7 | Wildcat StadiumDurham, NH | FCS FSGO | L 6–16 | 7,294 |
| November 18 | Noon | No. 1 James Madison | No. 11 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC | PAA | L 3–31 | 8,662 |
| November 25 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 22 Furman* | No. 15 | Rhodes StadiumElon, NC (FCS Playoffs First Round) | ESPN3 | L 27–28 | 2,934 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Toledo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Rockets | 13 | 6 | 21 | 7 | 47 |

### At Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 21 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 34 |
| Paladins | 0 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 31 |

### Charleston Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Buccaneers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| Phoenix | 6 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 19 |

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Phoenix | 6 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 36 |
| No. 8 Spiders | 7 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 33 |

### Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Great Danes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 23 Phoenix | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tribe | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 18 Phoenix | 6 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 25 |

### At Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Phoenix | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Rams | 7 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 34 |

### At Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Phoenix | 0 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 19 |
| No. 13 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| Tigers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| No. 7 Phoenix | 7 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 33 |

### At New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| No. 18 Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 16 |

### James Madison

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Dukes | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| No. 11 Phoenix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Furman–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Paladins | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| No. 15 Phoenix | 7 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 27 |

## 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 | — | — | — | RV | 23 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 20 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | RV | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 21 |