American college football season
The 2017 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season . They were led by fourth-year head coach Bubba Schweigert and played their home games at the Alerus Center . The Fighting Hawks were a member of the Big Sky Conference . They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for 9th place.
This was North Dakota's final year as a full member of the Big Sky. While most of the school's athletic programs will move to the Summit League in 2018, the football program will be classified as an FCS independent in 2018 and 2019 before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020. Their games against Big Sky members will still count in the Big Sky standings but they will be ineligible for the Big Sky championship.
Previous season [ ] In 2016, North Dakota finished with a record of 9–3, 8–0 in Big Sky play, to share the conference title with Eastern Washington . They qualified for the FCS Playoffs for the first time and lost to Richmond in the second round.
Schedule [ ] Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 31 6:30 p.m. at Utah * No. 8 P12N L 16–3745,905 September 9 4:00 p.m. Missouri State * No. 11 Midco W 34–012,047 September 16 2:00 p.m. at No. 23 South Dakota * No. 10 Midco L 7–459,645 September 23 2:30 p.m. Montana State No. 17 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco L 21–4912,342 September 30 8:00 p.m. at UC Davis ELVN L 24–489,508 October 7 2:30 p.m. Northern Colorado Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco W 48–3810,234 October 14 2:00 p.m. at No. 24 Montana RTNW [1] L 17–4125,085 October 21 12:30 p.m. Sacramento State Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco L 27–349,259 October 28 6:00 p.m. at Portland State ELVN W 48–213,002 November 4 7:00 p.m. at No. 17 Southern Utah Pluto TV L 21–477,641 November 11 1:00 p.m. No. 19 Eastern Washington Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco L 14–218,247 *Non-conference game Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[2]
Game summaries [ ] at Utah [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 8 Fighting Hawks
3
6
0
7
16
Utes
0
17
10
10
37
Missouri State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bears
0
0
0
0
0
No. 11 Fighting Hawks
3
21
0
10
34
at South Dakota [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 10 Fighting Hawks
0
0
7
0
7
No. 23 Coyotes
17
14
7
7
45
Montana State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bobcats
7
21
7
14
49
No. 17 Fighting Hawks
0
10
11
0
21
at UC Davis [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
10
7
0
7
24
Aggies
21
17
3
7
48
Northern Colorado [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bears
7
17
14
0
38
Fighting Hawks
14
14
10
10
48
at Montana [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
0
3
7
7
17
No. 24 Grizzlies
7
13
14
7
41
Sacramento State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Hornets
3
7
24
0
34
Fighting Hawks
0
10
7
10
27
at Portland State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
0
13
21
14
48
Vikings
14
0
0
7
21
at Southern Utah [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
7
7
7
0
21
No. 17 Thunderbirds
13
14
13
7
47
Eastern Washington [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 19 Eagles
7
14
0
0
21
Fighting Hawks
7
0
0
7
14
Ranking movements [ ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Final
STATS FCS
8
11
10
17
RV
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
Coaches
10
11
10
19
RV
RV
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
