# 2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

The 2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah as sixth-year as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 9–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to earn a share of the conference championship with Weber State. They received the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Weber State in the second round.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:15 p.m. | at Oregon* | | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | P12N | L 21–77 | 52,204 |
| September 9 | 5:00 p.m. | at Stephen F. Austin* | | Homer Bryce StadiumNacogdoches, TX | ESPN3 | W 51–14 | 12,324 |
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 21 Northern Iowa* | | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | W 24–21 | 8,841 |
| September 23 | 7:00 p.m. | at Sacramento State | | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | Pluto TV | L 27–54 | 7,272 |
| October 7 | 6:00 p.m. | Cal Poly | | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | W 20–14 | 10,633 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 18 Weber State | | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (Beehive Bowl) | ELVN | W 32–16 | 9,135 |
| October 21 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 8 Eastern Washington | | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | ELVN | W 46–28 | 7,463 |
| October 28 | 12:30 p.m. | at Northern Colorado | No. 25 | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | CET | W 27–14 | 3,869 |
| November 4 | 6:00 p.m. | North Dakota | No. 17 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | W 47–21 | 7,641 |
| November 11 | 5:00 p.m. | at UC Davis | No. 15 | Aggie StadiumDavis, CA | Pluto TV | W 47–27 | 6,715 |
| November 18 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 23 Northern Arizona | No. 14 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT (Grand Canyon Rivalry) | ELVN | W 48–20 | 10,842 |
| December 2 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 11 Weber State* | No. 12 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 13–30 | 11,811 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Ducks | 21 | 21 | 21 | 14 | 77 |

### At Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 24 | 10 | 10 | 51 |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |

### Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Panthers | 0 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 21 |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### At Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |
| Hornets | 7 | 23 | 10 | 14 | 54 |

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Thunderbirds | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 20 |

### At Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 32 |
| No. 18 Wildcats | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 16 |

### Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Eagles | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 46 |

### At Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Thunderbirds | 13 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### North Dakota

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

### At UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Thunderbirds | 14 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 47 |
| Aggies | 0 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 27 |

### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Lumberjacks | 6 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| No. 14 Thunderbirds | 3 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 48 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Weber State–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 0 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 30 |
| No. 12 Thunderbirds | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 |

## 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 | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 14 |
| Coaches | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 23 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 13 |