2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

2017 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	4–7 (2–6 SoCon)
Head coach	Carl Torbush (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike O'Cain (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Billy Taylor (3rd season)
Home stadium	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium (Capacity: 7,694)

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 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team represented East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season and are in the second year of their second stint as football members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They are led by third-year head coach Carl Torbush and, for the first time, play all their home games at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. They finished the season 4–7, 2–6 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place.

On December 8, head coach Carl Torbush announced his retirement. He finished at ETSU with a three-year record of 11–22.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	7:00 p.m.	Limestone*	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 31–10	9,530
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at No. 1 James Madison*	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	CSN MA+	L 10–52	17,118
September 16	1:00 p.m.	No. 13 The Citadel	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 25–31	7,544
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Mercer	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 26–23 OT	8,022
September 30	1:00 p.m.	at Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	L 35–56	7,104
October 7	3:30 p.m.	Robert Morris*	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 16–3	8,540
October 14	3:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	ESPN3	L 10–49	8,300
October 28	1:00 p.m.	No. 8 Wofford	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 24–31	7,087
November 4	12:00 p.m.	VMI	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	W 24–6	7,327
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Samford	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	7C ESPN3	L 7–42	5,178
November 18	2:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN3	L 3–10	8,434
*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: [1]

Game summaries

Limestone

	1	2	3	4	Total
Saints	0	3	7	0	10
Buccaneers	7	14	7	3	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	7	3	0	10
No. 1 Dukes	21	7	17	7	52

See also: 2017 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–6	1997	L 27–32

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Bulldogs	7	0	7	17	31
Buccaneers	7	7	3	8	25

See also: 2017 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

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

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Bears	0	6	14	0	3	23
Buccaneers	7	3	0	10	6	26

See also: 2017 Mercer Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2016	L 13–21

at Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	7	10	0	18	35
Paladins	14	14	14	14	56

See also: 2017 Furman Paladins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–24	2016	L 7–52

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	0	0	3	3
Buccaneers	3	7	6	0	16

See also: 2017 Robert Morris Colonials football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2015	L 9–21

Western Carolina

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

See also: 2017 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

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

Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Terriers	3	14	7	7	31
Buccaneers	0	10	7	7	24

See also: 2017 Wofford Terriers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–12	2016	L 0–31

VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	0	3	3	0	6
Buccaneers	10	0	7	7	24

See also: 2017 VMI Keydets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–9	2016	L 7–37

at Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	7	0	0	7
No. 16 Bulldogs	14	21	0	7	42

See also: 2017 Samford Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–3	2016	W 15–14

at Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	3	0	0	0	3
Mocs	0	0	10	0	10

See also: 2017 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–21–1	2016	L 7–37