American college football season
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.[1] He finished at Western Illinois with a two-year record of 14–9.
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | at Tennessee Tech* | No. 25 | | OVCDN | W 41–14 | 7,886 |
September 9 | 6:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona* | No. 22 | | Pluto TV | W 38–20 | 9,053 |
September 23 | 5:30 p.m. | at Coastal Carolina* | No. 19 | | ESPN3 | W 52–10 | 14,996 |
September 30 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 10 South Dakota | No. 13 | | ESPN3 | L 33–38 | 5,631 |
October 7 | 4:00 p.m. | at Northern Iowa | No. 15 | | ESPN3 | W 38–29 | 12,642 |
October 14 | 3:00 p.m. | Missouri State | No. 14 | | ESPN3 | W 49–30 | 3,217 |
October 21 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 2 North Dakota State | No. 10 | | ESPN3 | L 12–24 | 18,630 |
October 28 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 11 South Dakota State | No. 12 | | ESPN3 | L 24–52 | 2,247 |
November 4 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Illinois State | No. 15 | | ESPN3 | W 31–14 | 13,192 |
November 11 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | No. 11 | | ESPN3 | W 45–0 | 3,173 |
November 18 | 1:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois | No. 9 | | ESPN3 | W 28–14 | 2,812 |
November 25 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Weber State* | No. 9 | | ESPN3 | L 19–21 | 6,876 |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Central time
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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 |
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
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STATS FCS | 25 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 13 |
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Coaches | RV | RV | 22 | 21 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
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References
- ^ "Western Illinois shows a big downside to the early signing period".
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Venues | |
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Culture & lore | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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2017 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants |
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Champion – North Dakota State |