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
2017 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 (Capacity: 11,015)

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 (Rivalry)	CSL[1]	W 24–23	15,854
September 9[2]	4:00 p.m.	at Georgia Southern*	No. 12	Legion Field[2] 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 Albany, NY	CSL[1]	L 0–15	3,459
November 25	2:00 p.m.	Central Connecticut*	No. 21	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (FCS Playoffs 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 (FCS Playoffs 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 (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	L 14–56	5,583
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
54–43–8	2016	W, 24–21

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2004	W, 27–23

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–6	2016	W, 39–28

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
58–27–5	2016	W, 39–17

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–1	2016	W, 43–14

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	2016	W, 21–7

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–9	2016	L, 22–55

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–14	2016	W, 21–12

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–0	2016	W, 13–10

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–1	2016	L, 25–36

FCS Playoffs

Central Connecticut–First Round

	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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–0	2015	W, 57–14

at Central Arkansas–Second Round

	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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at South Dakota State–Quarterfinals

	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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

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	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

References

1. Washburn, Rob (August 18, 2017). "CAA PARTNERS WITH CBS SPORTS DIGITAL". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
2. "UNH/Georgia Southern Game Moved to Birmingham, Ala". UNH Wildcats. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.