2017 Valdosta State Blazers football team

The 2017 Valdosta State Blazers football team represented Valdosta State University during the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by second-year head coach Kerwin Bell. The Blazers played their home games at Bazemore–Hyder Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference.

2017 Valdosta State Blazers football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
2017 record	5–4 (5–3 GSC)
Head coach	Kerwin Bell (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Danny Verpaele (1st season)
Home stadium	Bazemore–Hyder Stadium (Capacity: 11,249)

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

Valdosta State announced its 2017 football schedule on March 17, 2017. The schedule consists of 4 home, 5 away, and 1 neutral site games in the regular season. The Blazers will host GSC foes Florida Tech, Mississippi College, North Alabama, and West Alabama, and will travel to Delta State, Shorter, West Florida, and West Georgia.[1]

The Blazers will travel to both non-conference games which are against Albany State of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and travel to a neutral site game against Fort Valley State from the same conference as Albany State.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	7:00 p.m	at Albany State*	No. 11	Albany State University Coliseum Albany, GA		L 12–29	4,011
September 9	7:00 p.m	vs. Fort Valley State*		Memorial Stadium Waycross, GA (Okefenokee Classic)		Canceled^[a]
September 16	7:00 p.m	No. 10 North Alabama		Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA	ESPN3	L 24-30	4,191
September 23	7:00 p.m	at West Florida		Blue Wahoos Stadium Pensacola, Florida		W 30-19	5,416
October 7	2:00 p.m	at No. 25 West Georgia		University Stadium Carrollton, GA (Rivalry)	ESPN3	L 13-42	4,927
October 14	7:00 p.m	Mississippi College		Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA	ESPN3	W 55-3	4,455
October 21	3:00 p.m	No. 19 Delta State		McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		W 34-13	3,451
October 28	7:00 p.m	Florida Tech		Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA		W 42-14	3,018
November 4	3:00 p.m	No. 23 West Alabama		Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA		L 14-38	5,921
November 11	1:30 p.m	Shorter		Barron Stadium Rome, GA		W 52-0	1,100
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

^{^[a]} The game between Fort Valley State and Valdosta State was cancelled in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irma.[2]

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	11	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

1. "Football Announces 2017 Schedule; Prepares for Spring Practice" (Press release). Valdosta State University Department of Athletics. March 17, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
2. "Fort Valley State Game Cancelled Due to Hurricane Irma" (Press release). Valdosta State University Department of Athletics. September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.