# 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

The 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team represented Western Illinois University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Charlie Fisher and played their home games at Hanson Field. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They finished the season 8–4, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to Weber State in the first round.
On December 22, Fisher resigned to become the wide receivers coach at Arizona State. He finished at Western Illinois with a two-year record of 14–9.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech* | No. 25 | Tucker StadiumCookeville, TN | OVCDN | W 41–14 | 7,886 |
| September 9 | 6:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona* | No. 22 | Walkup SkydomeFlagstaff, AZ | Pluto TV | W 38–20 | 9,053 |
| September 23 | 5:30 p.m. | at Coastal Carolina* | No. 19 | Brooks StadiumConway, SC | ESPN3 | W 52–10 | 14,996 |
| September 30 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 10 South Dakota | No. 13 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | L 33–38 | 5,631 |
| October 7 | 4:00 p.m. | at Northern Iowa | No. 15 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | W 38–29 | 12,642 |
| October 14 | 3:00 p.m. | Missouri State | No. 14 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | W 49–30 | 3,217 |
| October 21 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 2 North Dakota State | No. 10 | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN3 | L 12–24 | 18,630 |
| October 28 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 11 South Dakota State | No. 12 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | L 24–52 | 2,247 |
| November 4 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Illinois State | No. 15 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | ESPN3 | W 31–14 | 13,192 |
| November 11 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | No. 11 | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | W 45–0 | 3,173 |
| November 18 | 1:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois | No. 9 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | ESPN3 | W 28–14 | 2,812 |
| November 25 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Weber State* | No. 9 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | L 19–21 | 6,876 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Tennessee Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Leathernecks | 3 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 41 |
| Golden Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### At Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Leathernecks | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |

### At Coastal Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Leathernecks | 7 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 52 |
| Chanticleers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Coyotes | 7 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
| No. 13 Leathernecks | 0 | 6 | 14 | 13 | 33 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Leathernecks | 3 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 38 |
| Panthers | 0 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 29 |

### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 14 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
| No. 14 Leathernecks | 7 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 49 |

### At North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Leathernecks | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| No. 2 Bison | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |

### South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Jackrabbits | 10 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 52 |
| No. 12 Leathernecks | 10 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### At Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 15 Leathernecks | 0 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 31 |
| No. 12 Redbirds | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Leathernecks | 3 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 45 |
| Sycamores | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Salukis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| No. 9 Leathernecks | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

## FCS Playoffs
### At Weber State–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 9 Leathernecks | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking 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 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 13 |
| Coaches | RV | RV | 22 | 21 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 |