# 2017 Weber State Wildcats football team

The 2017 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by fourth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11–3, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for the Big Sky championship with Southern Utah. Due to their head-to-head loss to Southern Utah in the regular season, they did not receive the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, but did receive an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, their second straight trip to the playoffs. In the first round, they defeated Western Illinois. In the second round, they avenged their regular season loss to Southern Utah. In the quarterfinals, they lost to eventual national runner-up, James Madison.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Montana Western* | | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | Pluto TV | W 76–0 | 8,882 |
| September 9 | 3:00 p.m. | at California* | No. 25 | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA | P12N | L 20–33 | 36,209 |
| September 16 | 7:00 p.m. | at Sacramento State* | | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | Pluto TV | W 31–24 | 8,365 |
| September 23 | 5:00 p.m. | UC Davis | No. 23 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | KJZZ | W 41–3 | 9,450 |
| September 30 | 1:30 p.m. | at Montana State | No. 20 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | ATTRM | W 25–17 | 19,557 |
| October 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Southern Utah | No. 18 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (Beehive Bowl) | ELVN | L 16–32 | 9,135 |
| October 21 | 1:30 p.m. | at Cal Poly | No. 23 | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | Pluto TV | W 17–3 | 9,234 |
| October 28 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 24 Montana | | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | KJZZ | W 41–27 | 8,912 |
| November 4 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Eastern Washington | No. 19 | Roos FieldCheney, WA | Pluto TV | W 28–20 | 9,451 |
| November 11 | 3:00 p.m. | at Portland State | No. 14 | Providence ParkPortland, OR | Pluto TV | W 63–17 | 3,792 |
| November 18 | 2:00 p.m. | Idaho State | No. 12 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | Pluto TV | W 35–7 | 9,539 |
| November 25 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 9 Western Illinois* | No. 11 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | W 21–19 | 16,876 |
| December 2 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Southern Utah* | No. 11 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 30–13 | 11,811 |
| December 8 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 1 James Madison* | No. 11 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN2 | L 28–31 | 13,497 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
Despite also being a member of the Big Sky Conference, the game with Sacramento State on September 16 was considered a non-conference game.

## Game summaries
### Montana Western

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildcats | 20 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 76 |

### At California

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Wildcats | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Golden Bears | 7 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 33 |

### At Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 16 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Hornets | 0 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 23 Wildcats | 17 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 41 |

### At Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Wildcats | 0 | 9 | 13 | 3 | 25 |
| Bobcats | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Southern Utah

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

### At Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Wildcats | 8 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 17 |
| Mustangs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Grizzlies | 0 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 27 |
| Wildcats | 10 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 41 |

### At Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Wildcats | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| No. 11 Eagles | 7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 20 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 14 Wildcats | 14 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 63 |
| Vikings | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 |

### Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 12 Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Western Illinois–First Round

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

### At Southern Utah–Second Round

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

### At James Madison–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| No. 1 Dukes | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 31 |

## 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 | RV | 25 | RV | 23 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 23 | RV | 19 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 5 |
| Coaches | 22 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 23 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 |