2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 SoCon)
Head coach	Mark Speir (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brad Glenn (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	John Wiley (1st season)
Base defense	3-4
Home stadium	E.J. Whitmire Stadium (Capacity: 13,742)

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 Poll

The 2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football team represented Western Carolina University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southern Conference. They were led by sixth-year head coach Mark Speir and played their home games at Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium. They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in fourth place.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 a.m.	at Hawaii*		Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	SPEC	L 18–41	25,472
September 9	6:00 p.m.	Davidson*		E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 63–17	11,763
September 16	6:00 p.m.	at Gardner–Webb*		Ernest W. Spangler Stadium Boiling Springs, NC	WMYA	W 42–27	6,152
September 23	3:30 p.m.	No. 18 Samford		E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 38–34	12,018
September 30	6:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga		Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	W 45–7	10,101
October 7	1:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Wofford	No. 22	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	L 28–35 OT	6,982
October 14	3:30 p.m.	East Tennessee State	No. 21	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	W 49–10	8,300
October 21	1:30 p.m.	at VMI	No. 19	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN3	W 26–7	4,119
October 28	3:30 p.m.	Furman	No. 18	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	L 6–28	9,973
November 4	2:00 p.m.	at The Citadel	No. 24	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN3	W 31–19	7,384
November 11	2:00 p.m.	Mercer	No. 22	E.J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	L 33–35	10,681
November 18	3:00 p.m.	at North Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN Extra	L 10–65	43,000
*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

at Hawaii

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	0	10	8	0	18
Rainbow Warriors	7	14	13	7	41

See also: 2017 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Davidson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	14	0	3	17
Catamounts	28	21	7	7	63

See also: 2017 Davidson Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	1985	WCU, 13–0

at Gardner–Webb

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	14	14	7	42
Runnin' Bulldogs	0	13	0	14	27

See also: 2017 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–2	2016	WCU, 44–14

Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Bulldogs	7	7	13	7	34
Catamounts	10	7	7	14	38

See also: 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–12	2016	SAM, 30–17

at Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	10	14	14	7	45
Mocs	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2017 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–27	2016	CHAT, 38–25

at Wofford

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 22 Catamounts	7	7	7	7	0	28
No. 5 Terriers	3	10	8	7	7	35

See also: 2017 Wofford Terriers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–25	2016	WOFF, 31–19

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	3	0	0	7	10
No. 21 Catamounts	0	7	21	21	49

See also: 2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
23–22–1	2016	ETSU, 34–31

at VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Catamounts	0	13	3	10	26
Keydets	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2017 VMI Keydets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–3	2016	WCU, 32–29

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	0	7	14	7	28
No. 18 Catamounts	0	0	0	6	6

See also: 2017 Furman Paladins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–30–2	2016	FUR, 49–21

at The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Catamounts	7	10	7	7	31
Bulldogs	0	10	9	0	19

See also: 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

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

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	14	0	7	35
Catamounts	7	13	3	10	33

See also: 2017 Mercer Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2016	MERC, 38–24

at North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	0	0	3	10
Tar Heels	7	35	10	13	65

See also: 2017 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	21	19	18	24	22	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	25	21	20	RV	25	RV	RV	RV