2017 Florida Tech Panthers football team

The 2017 Florida Tech Panthers football team represented Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) during the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Steve Englehart. The Panthers played their home games at Florida Tech Panther Stadium, approximately one mile from the Florida Tech campus, and were members of the Gulf South Conference.

2017 Florida Tech Panthers football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
2017 record	5–6 (3–5 GSC)
Head coach	Steve Englehart (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jayson Martin (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Minter (1st season)
Home stadium	Florida Tech Panther Stadium (Capacity: 4,989)

2017 Gulf South Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 West Alabama $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 West Florida ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 21 Delta State ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
No. 19 West Georgia ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
Valdosta State		5	–	3					5	–	4
North Alabama		5	–	3					5	–	5
Florida Tech		3	–	5					5	–	6
Mississippi College		1	–	7					1	–	9
Shorter		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AFCA Poll

Schedule

Florida Tech announced its 2017 football schedule on April 11, 2017. The schedule consists of 5 home and 6 away games in the regular season. The Panthers will host GSC foes Shorter, West Alabama, West Florida, and West Georgia, and will travel to Delta State, Mississippi College, North Alabama, and Valdosta State.[1]

The Panthers will host only one non-conference game against Virginia University of Lynchburg and travel to McNeese State of the Southland Conference and North Greenville whom is independent from a conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	7:00 p.m.	VUL*	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		W 44–0	1,230
September 9	7:00 p.m.	at McNeese State*	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA		L 21–42	11,101
September 16	7:00 p.m.	Shorter	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		W 31–6	1,450
September 23	8:00 p.m.	at Mississippi College	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS		W 35–0	3,934
September 30	7:00 p.m.	West Florida	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL (Coastal Classic)	ESPN3	L 21–23	3,422
October 7	7:00 p.m.	at North Alabama	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL		L 7–30	7,002
October 14	12:00 p.m.	at North Greenville*	Younts Stadium Tigerville, SC		W 42–31	2,400
October 21	2:00 p.m.	No. 18 West Alabama	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL	ESPN3	W 41–39	2,900
October 28	7:00 p.m.	at Valdosta State	Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA		L 14–42	3,018
November 4	1:00 p.m.	No. 25 West Georgia	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL		L 13–20	3,800
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Delta State	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS	ESPN3	L 20–42	6,555
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AFCA	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Game summaries

Virginia-Lynchburg

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dragons	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	3	7	14	20	44

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at McNeese State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	14	0	21
Cowboys	14	7	7	14	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Shorter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	6	0	0	0	6
Panthers	14	7	3	7	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4-0	September 17, 2016	W 40-0

at Mississippi College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	14	14	35
Choctaws	0	0	0	0	0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3-0	September 10, 2016	W 41-0

West Florida

	1	2	3	4	Total
Argonauts	7	6	7	3	23
Panthers	7	7	7	0	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-1	October 1, 2016	L 39-42

at North Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	0	0	7
Lions	3	0	21	6	30

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-3	September 26, 2015	L 48-55

at North Greenville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	21	7	7	42
Crusaders	7	10	14	0	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-1	November 19, 2016	L 13-27

West Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	14	3	0	22	39
Panthers	7	13	7	14	41

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2-2	October 22, 2016	L 35-45

at Valdosta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	0	7	14
Blazers	0	14	14	14	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-3	October 29, 2016	W 38-20

West Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolves	0	0	3	17	20
Panthers	6	0	0	7	13

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2-2	November 5, 2016	W 45-21

at Delta State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	13	0	0	7	20
Statesmen	0	21	14	7	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2-2	November 12, 2016	W 42-16

Awards and milestones

Gulf South Conference honors

Five players from Florida Tech were honored as All-GSC selections by the league's coaches.[2]

Gulf South Conference All-Conference First Team

Antwuan Haynes, RB Adonis Davis, DL Gulf South Conference All-Conference Second Team Romell Guerrier, WR Kevin Purlett, TE J.T. Hassell, LB Gulf South Conference offensive player of the week September 18: Antwuan Haynes [3] October 16: Mark Cato [4] October 23: Mark Cato [5] Gulf South Conference defensive player of the week October 16: Adonis Davis [6] Gulf South Conference special teams player of the week September 4: Max Erdman [7] References "Florida Tech Announces 2017 Football Schedule" (Press release). Florida Institute of Technology Department of Athletics. April 11, 2017. Retrieved July 15, 2017. "GSC Announces 2017 Football All-Conference Awards". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 18". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "GSC Football Players of the Week: October 16". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "GSC Football Players of the Week: October 23". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "GSC Football Players of the Week: October 16". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019. "GSC Football Players of the Week: September 4". Gulf South Conference. Retrieved 7 January 2019.