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 Kyle 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 |
Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
P12N |
L 16–37 |
45,905 |
September 9 |
4:00 p.m. |
Missouri State* |
No. 11 |
Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND (Potato Bowl) |
Midco |
W 34–0 |
12,047 |
September 16 |
2:00 p.m. |
at No. 23 South Dakota* |
No. 10 |
DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy) |
Midco |
L 7–45 |
9,645 |
September 23 |
2:30 p.m. |
Montana State |
No. 17 |
Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND |
Midco |
L 21–49 |
12,342 |
September 30 |
8:00 p.m. |
at UC Davis |
|
Aggie Stadium • Davis, CA |
ELVN |
L 24–48 |
9,508 |
October 7 |
2:30 p.m. |
Northern Colorado |
|
Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND |
Midco |
W 48–38 |
10,234 |
October 14 |
2:00 p.m. |
at No. 24 Montana |
|
Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, MT |
RTNW[1] |
L 17–41 |
25,085 |
October 21 |
12:30 p.m. |
Sacramento State |
|
Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND |
Midco |
L 27–34 |
9,259 |
October 28 |
6:00 p.m. |
at Portland State |
|
Providence Park • Portland, OR |
ELVN |
W 48–21 |
3,002 |
November 4 |
7:00 p.m. |
at No. 17 Southern Utah |
|
Eccles Coliseum • Cedar City, UT |
Pluto TV |
L 21–47 |
7,641 |
November 11 |
1:00 p.m. |
No. 19 Eastern Washington |
|
Alerus Center • Grand Forks, ND |
Midco |
L 14–21 |
8,247 |
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to 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 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
First meeting |
Missouri State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Bears |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
No. 11 Fighting Hawks |
3 |
21 |
0 |
10 |
34 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
0–1 |
2014 |
MSU, 38–0 |
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 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
61–29–5 |
2016 |
UND, 47–44 2OT |
Montana State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Bobcats |
7 |
21 |
7 |
14 |
49 |
No. 17 Fighting Hawks |
0 |
10 |
11 |
0 |
21 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
15–18–1 |
2016 |
UND, 17–15 |
at UC Davis
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Hawks |
10 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
24 |
Aggies |
21 |
17 |
3 |
7 |
48 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
3–4 |
2015 |
UND, 31–24 |
Northern Colorado
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Bears |
7 |
17 |
14 |
0 |
38 |
Fighting Hawks |
14 |
14 |
10 |
10 |
48 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
17–12 |
2016 |
UND, 23–13 |
at Montana
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Hawks |
0 |
3 |
7 |
7 |
17 |
No. 24 Grizzlies |
7 |
13 |
14 |
7 |
41 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
8–14–1 |
2015 |
MONT, 42–16 |
Sacramento State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Hornets |
3 |
7 |
24 |
0 |
34 |
Fighting Hawks |
0 |
10 |
7 |
10 |
27 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
3–1 |
2016 |
UND, 40–7 |
at Portland State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Hawks |
0 |
13 |
21 |
14 |
48 |
Vikings |
14 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
21 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
4–2 |
2015 |
UND, 19–17 |
at Southern Utah
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Hawks |
7 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
21 |
No. 17 Thunderbirds |
13 |
14 |
13 |
7 |
47 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
4–4 |
2016 |
UND, 45–23 |
Eastern Washington
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
No. 19 Eagles |
7 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
Fighting Hawks |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
14 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
0–3 |
2014 |
EWU, 54–3 |
Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
| 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
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Venues | |
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Bowls & rivalries | |
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Culture & lore | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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National championship seasons in bold |