2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 19th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 9–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Central Connecticut and Central Arkansas before losing in the quarterfinals to South Dakota State.

2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 14–56 vs. South Dakota State
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
STATS	No. 21
FCS Coaches	No. 20
Record	9–5 (5–3 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (19th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty (10th season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (6th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium

2017 Colonial Athletic Association football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^		8	–	0					14	–	1
No. 11 Stony Brook ^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 20 Elon ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 12 New Hampshire ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
Delaware		5	–	3					7	–	4
Richmond		4	–	4					6	–	5
Towson		3	–	5					5	–	6
Villanova		3	–	5					5	–	6
Maine		3	–	5					4	–	6
Albany		2	–	6					4	–	7
Rhode Island		2	–	6					3	–	8
William & Mary		0	–	8					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Maine	No. 13	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	CSL	W 24–23	15,854
September 9	4:00 p.m.	at Georgia Southern*	No. 12	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ESPN3	W 22–12	3,387
September 16	1:00 p.m.	at Holy Cross*	No. 9	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	L 26–51	7,906
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Rhode Island	No. 15	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ESPN3	W 28–14	22,135
September 30	6:00 p.m.	Bryant*	No. 15	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	ESPN3	W 45–17	7,951
October 14	6:00 p.m.	at Stony Brook	No. 12	Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	Wolfievision	L 24–38	12,311
October 21	2:00 p.m.	Towson	No. 18	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	UNHAthletics via YouTube	W 40–17	10,522
October 28	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 James Madison	No. 17	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	MadiZone	L 0–21	25,298
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at William & Mary	No. 21	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	TATV	W 35–16	5,426
November 11	2:00 p.m.	No. 7 Elon	No. 18	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FCS FSGO	W 16–6	7,294
November 18	1:00 p.m.	at Albany	No. 16	Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium Albany, NY	CSL	L 0–15	3,459
November 25	2:00 p.m.	Central Connecticut*	No. 21	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 14–0	2,385
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Central Arkansas*	No. 21	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 21–15	6,243
December 9	3:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Dakota State*	No. 21	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	L 14–56	5,583
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	7	3	7	6	23
No. 13 Wildcats	14	3	0	7	24

See also: 2017 Maine Black Bears football team

At Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Wildcats	15	7	0	0	22
Eagles	0	0	5	7	12

See also: 2017 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

At Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Wildcats	7	0	12	7	26
Crusaders	3	13	21	14	51

See also: 2017 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	0	7	7	14
No. 15 Wildcats	8	7	0	13	28

See also: 2017 Rhode Island Rams football team

Bryant

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	17	0	0	17
No. 15 Wildcats	17	14	0	14	45

See also: 2017 Bryant Bulldogs football team

At Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Wildcats	6	18	0	0	24
Seawolves	9	7	6	16	38

See also: 2017 Stony Brook Seawolves football team

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	3	0	0	14	17
No. 18 Wildcats	7	26	7	0	40

See also: 2017 Towson Tigers football team

At James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Dukes	0	14	7	0	21

See also: 2017 James Madison Dukes football team

At William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	7	14	7	7	35
Tribe	0	10	0	6	16

See also: 2017 William & Mary Tribe football team

Elon

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

See also: 2017 Elon Phoenix football team

At Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0
Great Danes	0	3	9	3	15

See also: 2017 Albany Great Danes football team

NCAA First Round—Central Connecticut

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	0	0	0	0
No. 21 Wildcats	0	7	0	7	14

See also: 2017 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team

NCAA Second Round—at Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	7	0	7	7	21
No. 3 Bears	7	0	0	8	15

See also: 2017 Central Arkansas Bears football team

NCAA Quarterfinal–at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Wildcats	0	0	7	7	14
No. 6 Jackrabbits	21	7	14	14	56

See also: 2017 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	13	12	9	15	15	13	12	18	17	21	18	16	21
Coaches	16	12	11	16	14	13	12	18	16	19	16	14	20