2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

The 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bulldogs were led by second-year head coach Brent Thompson and played their home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium. They were members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football
Conference	Southern Conference
2017 record	5–6 (3–5 SoCon)
Head coach	Brent Thompson (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Lou Conte (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Blake Harrell (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Johnson Hagood Stadium (Capacity: 11,332)

2017 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Wofford $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 18 Samford ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 19 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	5
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
The Citadel		3	–	5					5	–	6
Chattanooga		3	–	5					3	–	8
East Tennessee State		2	–	6					4	–	7
VMI		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Schedule

The Bulldogs planned to host Mercer for their traditional Parents' Day game on October 7, and will face VMI for Homecoming.[1][2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Newberry*	No. 16	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	7C ESPN3	W 31–14	7,467
September 9[3]	Noon	at Presbyterian*	No. 14	Bailey Memorial Stadium Clinton, SC	BSN	W 48–7	2,586
September 16	1:00 p.m.	at East Tennessee State	No. 13	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 31–25	7,544
September 30	3:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Samford	No. 8	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	L 14–35	9,233
October 7	2:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 17	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN3	L 14–24	9,969
October 14	6:00 p.m.	No. 5 Wofford	No. 23	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN3	L 16–20	8,543
October 21	2:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga		Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	W 20–14	7,521
October 28	2:00 p.m.	VMI		Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC (Military Classic of the South)	7C ESPN3	W 21–3	11,609
November 4	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 Western Carolina		Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN3	L 19–31	7,384
November 11	2:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Furman		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC (Rivalry)	7C	L 20–56	10,105
November 18	12:20 p.m.	at No. 4 (FBS) Clemson*		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ACCN	L 3–61	80,618
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Newberry

1 2 3 4 Total Wolves 0 7 0 7 14 • No. 16 Bulldogs 7 7 7 10 31 Date: September 2, 2017 Location: Johnson Hagood Stadium, Charleston, SC Game start: 6:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:10 Game attendance: 7,467 Game weather: 85°F • N 10 • Mostly cloudy Referee: Thomas Graham TV announcers (7C/ESPN3): Kendall Lewis, James Riley, Eric Summers

Scoring summary 1 7:14 CIT Grant Drakeford 29-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) CIT 7–0 2 10:30 NEW Darius Clark 3-yard run (Shea Rodgers kick) 7–7 2 1:28 CIT Jordan Black 1-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 14–7 3 0:37 CIT Cam Jackson 74-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 21–7 4 7:22 CIT Josh LeBlanc 6-yard pass from Black (Godek kick) CIT 28–7 4 4:28 NEW Chance Walker 26-yard pass from Nick Jones (Rodgers kick) CIT 28–14 4 0:17 CIT Godek 37-yard field goal CIT 31–14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
32–4–4	1997	W 33–13

at Presbyterian

See also: 2017 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 14 Bulldogs 14 21 6 7 48 Blue Hose 7 0 0 0 7 Date: September 9, 2017[3] Location: Bailey Memorial Stadium, Clinton, SC Game start: Noon EST Elapsed time: 2:26 Game attendance: 2,586 Game weather: 73°F • NNE 12 • Sunny Referee: Greg Waybright TV announcers (BSN/ESPN3): Kendall Lewis, James Riley, Eric Summers

Scoring summary 1 6:36 CIT Dominique Allen 1-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) CIT 7–0 1 6:18 PRE Torrance Marable 76-yard run (Brett Norton kick) 7–7 1 1:55 CIT Lorenzo Ward 5-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) CIT 14–7 2 13:21 CIT Raleigh Webb 57-yard pass from Jordan Black (Godek kick) CIT 21–7 2 8:22 CIT Rod Johnson 18-yard pass from Black (Godek kick) CIT 28–7 2 1:09 CIT Allen 1-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 35–7 3 5:41 CIT Allen 2-yard run (Godek kick failed) CIT 41–7 4 5:27 CIT Brandon Rainey 14-yard pass from Black (Godek kick) CIT 48–7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
50–11–1	2010	W 26–14

at East Tennessee State

See also: 2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 13 Bulldogs 7 0 7 17 31 Buccaneers 7 7 3 8 25 Date: September 16, 2017 Location: William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, Johnson City, TN Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:02 Game attendance: 7,544 Game weather: 80°F • NE 6 • Mostly Sunny Referee: Larry Adcock TV announcers (ESPN3): David Jackson, Mark Hutsell, Kasey Marler

Scoring summary 1 12:38 ETSU Vincent Lowe 22-yard pass from Austin Herink (JJ Jerman kick) ETSU 7–0 1 7:10 CIT Brandon Rainey 10-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) 7–7 2 1:05 ETSU Drake Powell 8-yard pass from Austin Herink (JJ Jerman kick) ETSU 14–7 3 11:01 ETSU JJ Jerman 46-yard field goal ETSU 17–7 3 4:17 CIT Dominique Allen 1-yard run (Godek kick) ETSU 17–14 4 11:42 CIT Raleigh Webb 7-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 21–17 4 7:50 CIT Webb 28-yard pass from Allen (Godek kick) CIT 28–17 4 5:15 ETSU Jajuan Stinson 4-yard run (Austin Herink pass to Kobe Kelley for two-point conv.) CIT 28–25 4 2:17 CIT Godek 46-yard field goal CIT 31–25

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–15	2016	W 45–10

at Samford

See also: 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team

1 2 3 4 Total No. 8 Bulldogs (CIT) 0 7 7 0 14 • No. 25 Bulldogs (SAM) 28 7 0 0 35 Date: September 30, 2017 Location: Seibert Stadium, Homewood, AL Game start: 3:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:58 Game attendance: 9,233 Game weather: 79°F • NE 6 • Clear and sunny Referee: Jerry Welmaker TV announcers (ESPN3): Curt Bloom, Chad Pilcher, Hattie Breece

Scoring summary 1 14:00 SAM Kelvin McKnight 8-yard pass from Devlin Hodges (Jordan Weaver kick) SAM 7–0 1 11:56 SAM Yassar El-Amin 70-yard pass from Hodges (Weaver kick) SAM 14–0 1 9:40 SAM Moise Satine 10-yard run (Weaver kick) SAM 21–0 1 4:!9 SAM Devlin Hodges 1-yard run (Weaver kick) SAM 28–0 2 10:39 SAM T.D. Marshall 63-yard pass from Hodges (Weaver kick) SAM 35–0 2 6:55 CIT Jordan Black 1-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) SAM 35–7 3 8:41 CIT Brandon Rainey 8-yard run (Godek kick) SAM 35–14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–4	2016	W 37–34 ^OT

Mercer

See also: 2017 Mercer Bears football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 7 7 7 3 24 No. 17 Bulldogs 0 0 0 14 14 Date: October 7, 2017 Location: Johnson Hagood Stadium, Charleston, SC Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:21 Game attendance: 9,969 Game weather: 85°F • Calm • Partly cloudy Referee: Edwin Lee TV announcers (ESPN3): Kevin Fitzgerald, James Riley

Scoring summary 1 9:19 MER CJ Leggett 1-yard run (Cole Fisher kick) MER 7–0 2 4:29 MER Tee Mitchell 16-yard run (Fisher kick) MER 14–0 3 2:57 MER Mitchell 2-yard run (Fisher kick) MER 21–0 4 13:17 CIT Dominique Allen 1-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) MER 21–7 4 3:59 MER Cole Fisher 29-yard field goal MER 24–7 4 2:33 CIT Brandon Berry 2-yard run (Godek kick) MER 24–14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–4–1	2016	W 24–23

Wofford

See also: 2017 Wofford Terriers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 5 Terriers 0 7 7 6 20 No. 23 Bulldogs 7 7 2 0 16 Date: October 14, 2017 Location: Johnson Hagood Stadium, Charleston, SC Game start: 6:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:03 Game attendance: 8,549 Game weather: Low 80s • Calm • Mostly clear Referee: Thomas Graham TV announcers (ESPN3): Kevin Fitzgerald, James Riley

Scoring summary 1 7:28 CIT Dominique Allen 7-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) CIT 7–0 2 8:24 WOF Brandon Goodson 1-yard run (Luke Carter kick) 7–7 2 0:11 CIT Rod Johnson 2-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 14–7 3 13:15 WOF Jason Hill 59-yard pass from Brandon Goodson (Luke Carter kick) 14–14 3 8:07 CIT Team 2-yard Safety CIT 16–14 4 1:10 WOF Andre Stoddard 3-yard run (Lennox McAfee rush failed) WOF 20–16

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
42–27–1	2016 FCS Playoffs	L 3–17

at Chattanooga

See also: 2017 Chattanooga Mocs football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Bulldogs 0 7 6 7 20 Mocs 7 7 0 0 14 Date: October 21, 2017 Location: Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2:44 Game attendance: 7,521 Game weather: 74°F • SE 3 • Partly cloudy Referee: B. Johnson TV announcers (ESPN3): Chris Goforth, B.J. Coleman

Scoring summary 1 0:17 CHA Darrell Bridges 61-yard run (Victor Ulmo kick) CHA 7–0 2 11:15 CIT Josh LeBlanc 25-yard pass from Dominique Allen (Jacob Godek kick) 7–7 2 4:09 CHA Bridges 1-yard run (Ulmo kick) CHA 14–7 3 10:05 CIT Godek 45-yard field goal CHA 14–10 3 1:51 CIT Rod Johnson 4-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 17–14 4 11:39 CIT Godek 34-yard field goal CIT 20–14

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–29–2	2016	W 22–14

VMI

See also: 2017 VMI Keydets football team and Military Classic of the South

Homecoming

1 2 3 4 Total Keydets 3 0 0 0 3 • Bulldogs 14 0 0 7 21 Date: October 28, 2017 Location: Johnson Hagood Stadium, Charleston, SC Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 11,609 Game weather: High 70's • Mostly cloudy Referee: Edwin Lee TV announcers (7C/ESPN3): Kendall Lewis, James Riley

Scoring summary 1 10:59 VMI Grant Clemons 37-yard field goal VMI 3–0 1 10:01 CIT Grant Drakeford 71-yard run (Jacob Godek kick) CIT 7–3 1 0:10 CIT Dominique Allen 1-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 14–3 4 2:45 CIT Lorenzo Ward 45-yard run (Godek kick) CIT 21–3

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
40–30–2	2016	W 30–20

Western Carolina

See also: 2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 24 Catamounts 7 10 7 7 31 Bulldogs 0 10 9 0 19 Date: November 4, 2017 Location: Johnson Hagood Stadium, Charleston, SC Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Television network: ESPN3

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
24–16–1	2016	W 37–14

at Furman

See also: 2017 Furman Paladins football team and The Citadel–Furman football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 0 0 14 6 20 • No. 21 Paladins 14 21 14 7 56 Date: November 11, 2016 Location: Paladin Stadium, Greenville, SC Television network: 7C

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
35–58–3	2016	W 19–14

at Clemson

See also: 2017 Clemson Tigers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Bulldogs 0 0 0 3 3 • No. 4 (FBS) Tigers 21 17 20 3 61 Date: November 18, 2017 Location: Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–31–1	2013	L 6–52

Ranking movements

Main article: 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football 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	12	Final
STATS	16	14	13	10	8	17	23	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	12	13	13	10	11	17	22	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

1. "Five In-State Games Highlight 2017 Schedule". The Citadel Bulldogs. September 12, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
2. "2017 Football Schedule". The Citadel Bulldogs. December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
3. "CITADEL-PC FOOTBALL GAME MOVED TO CLINTON, SC; KICKOFF AT NOON ON SAT". The Citadel Bulldogs. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2017.