2017 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

The 2017 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fourth-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 12–2, 8–1 in Southland play to finish in second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they defeated South Dakota in the first round and Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to North Dakota State.

2017 Sam Houston State Bearkats football
FCS Playoffs Semifinals, L 13–55 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Southland Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 3
2017 record	12–2 (8–1 Southland)
Head coach	K. C. Keeler (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Cramsey (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Clayton Carlin (1st season as DC, 2nd overall season)
Home stadium	Bowers Stadium (Capacity: 12,593)

2017 Southland Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Central Arkansas $^		9	–	0					10	–	2
No. 4 Sam Houston State ^		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 25 Nicholls State ^		7	–	2					8	–	4
No. 22 McNeese State		7	–	2					9	–	2
Southeastern Louisiana		6	–	3					6	–	5
Northwestern State		4	–	5					4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin		4	–	5					4	–	7
Abilene Christian		2	–	7					2	–	9
Incarnate Word		1	–	7					1	–	10
Lamar		1	–	8					2	–	9
Houston Baptist		0	–	9					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Previous season

The Bearkats finished the season 12–1 overall and 9–0 in Southland play to win the Southland Conference title. They went undefeated (11–0) during the regular season. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Chattanooga the second round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to FCS national champion James Madison.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1[lower-alpha 1]	6:00 p.m.	No. 7 Richmond*	No. 3	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN3	W 48–34	8,048
September 7	6:30 p.m.	at Prairie View A&M*	No. 3	Panther Stadium at Blackshear Field Prairie View, TX	ESPNU	W 44–31	8,465
September 23	6:00 p.m.	Nicholls State	No. 3	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 66–17	12,863
September 30	6:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Central Arkansas	No. 3	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN3	L 30–41	11,347
October 7	1:00 p.m.	vs. Stephen F. Austin	No. 9	NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Battle of the Piney Woods)	ESPN3	W 27–16	26,792
October 14	3:45 p.m.	Northwestern State	No. 9	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ELVN	W 40–36	5,229
October 21	3:00 p.m.	Lamar	No. 7	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 63–27	8,031
October 28	7:00 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana	No. 5	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	ESPN3	W 33–23	6,027
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Incarnate Word	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 57–20	5,077
November 11	6:00 p.m.	at Abilene Christian	No. 4	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN3	W 44–35	5,995
November 18	1:00 p.m.	Houston Baptist	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 53–33	6,515
December 2	2:00 p.m.	No. 16 South Dakota*	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 54–42	4,401
December 9	7:30 p.m.	No. 18 Kennesaw State*	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	W 34–27	5,725
December 15	7:00 p.m.	at No. 4 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPN2	L 13–55	18,279
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

1. Game was originally scheduled for August 27, but postponed and relocated due to Hurricane Harvey.

Source:[1]

Game summaries

Richmond

Richmond at Sam Houston State[2][3]

1 2 3 4 Total No. 7 Spiders 6 14 7 7 34 • No. 3 Bearkats 6 35 7 0 48 Date: September 1 Location: McLane Stadium Waco, TX Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:50 Game attendance: 8,048 Game weather: 90 °F (32 °C) • S 5–10 mph (8.0–16.1 km/h) • Fair skies Referee: Dan Romeo TV announcers (ESPN3): Play-By-Play: Mike Couzens Analysis: John Congemi Sources:[2][3]

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@ Prairie View A&M

Sam Houston State at Prairie View A&M[4][5]

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Bearkats 17 13 7 7 44 Panthers 3 14 7 7 31 Date: September 7 Location: Panther Stadium at Blackshear Field Prairie View, TX Game start: 6:30 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:29 Game attendance: 8,468 Game weather: 82 °F (28 °C) • Sunny Referee: Eddie Kelley TV announcers (ESPNU): Play-By-Play: Eric Clemons Analysis: Jay Walker Sources:[4][5]

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Nicholls

Nicholls at Sam Houston State[6][7]

1 2 3 4 Total Colonels 0 3 0 14 17 • No. 3 Bearkats 14 24 21 7 66 Date: September 23 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:30 Game attendance: 12,863 Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C) • S 5–10 mph (8.0–16.1 km/h) Calm • Clear and sunny Referee: Dan Lewis TV announcers (ESPN3): Play-By-Play: Randy McIlvoy • Analysis: Shea Walker Sources:[6][7]

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@ Central Arkansas

Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas[8][9]

1 2 3 4 Total No. 3 Bearkats 7 10 7 6 30 • No. 11 Bears 14 17 3 7 41 Date: September 30 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:44 Game attendance: 11,347 Referee: Brandon Cruise TV announcers (ESPN3): Play-By-Play: Randy McIlvoy • Analysis: Shea Walker • Sideline: Tatum Everett Sources:[8][9]

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vs. Stephen F. Austin

Battle of the Piney Woods[10][11]

1 2 3 4 Total Lumberjacks 0 13 0 3 16 • No. 9 Bearkats 17 3 0 7 27 Date: October 7 Location: NRG Stadium Houston, TX Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:37 Game attendance: 26,792 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Ross Smith TV announcers (ESPN3): Play-By-Play: Randy McIlvoy • Analysis: Shea Walker • Sideline: Tatum Everett Sources:[10][11]

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Northwestern State

Northwestern State at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 17 10 9 0 36 • No. 9 Bearkats 7 14 7 12 40 Date: October 14 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 3:45 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 5,229 Television network: ELVN Sources:

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Lamar

Lamar at Sam Houston State (Homecoming)

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 7 13 7 0 27 • No. 7 Bearkats 16 31 10 6 63 Date: October 21 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 8,031 Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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@ Southeastern Louisiana

Sam Houston State at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 5 Bearkats 9 7 10 7 33 Lions 3 13 7 0 23 Date: October 28 Location: Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA Game start: 7:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 6,027 Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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Incarnate Word

Incarnate Word at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 7 7 0 6 20 • No. 5 Bearkats 23 13 21 0 57 Date: November 4 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 5,077 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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@ Abilene Christian

Sam Houston State at Abilene Christian

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 4 Bearkats 24 0 7 13 44 Demons 0 7 14 14 35 Date: November 11 Location: Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX Game start: 6:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 5,995 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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Houston Baptist

Houston Baptist at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 7 7 7 12 33 • No. 5 Bearkats 26 7 13 7 53 Date: November 18 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 6,515 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

FCS Playoffs

South Dakota–Second Round

FCS Playoffs Second Round

1 2 3 4 Total No. 16 Coyotes 7 7 14 14 42 • No. 5 Bearkats 14 27 0 13 54 Date: December 2 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 2:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 4,401 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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Kennesaw State–Quarterfinals

FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals

1 2 3 4 Total No. 18 Owls 7 3 3 14 27 • No. 5 Bearkats 14 10 3 7 34 Date: December 9 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 7:30 p.m. CST Game attendance: 5,725 Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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@ North Dakota State–Semifinals

FCS Playoffs Semifinals

1 2 3 4 Total No. 5 Bearkats 3 0 10 0 13 • No. 4 Bison 21 20 14 0 55 Date: December 15 Location: Fargodome Fargo, ND Game start: 7:00 p.m. CST Game attendance: 18,279 Television network: ESPN2 Sources:

Scoring summary 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 –

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Ranking movements

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	12	Final
STATS FCS	3 (7)	3 (2)	3	3 (1)	3 (2)	9	9	7	5	5	4	5	5	4
Coaches	3 (3)	3 (1)	3	3	3	11	9	7	5	5	4	4	5	3

References

1. "Football – 2017 Schedule". Sam Houston State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
2. "Richmond vs Sam Houston State (Sept 1, 2017)". Retrieved September 6, 2017.
3. "2017 SHSU FB Game Notes: Richmond" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2017.
4. "Sam Houston State vs Prairie View (Sept 7, 2017)". Retrieved September 8, 2017.
5. "2017 SHSU FB Game Notes: Prairie View A&M" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2017.
6. "Nicholls vs Sam Houston State (Sept 23, 2017)". Retrieved November 21, 2017.
7. "2017 SHSU FB Game Notes: Nicholls" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2017.
8. "Sam Houston State vs Central Arkansas (Sept 30, 2017)". Retrieved November 21, 2017.
9. "2017 SHSU FB Game Notes: Central Arkansas" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2017.
10. "Sam Houston State vs Stephen F. Austin (Oct 07, 2017)". Retrieved November 21, 2017.
11. "2017 SHSU FB Game Notes: Stephen F. Austin" (PDF). Retrieved November 21, 2017.