2017 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

2017 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 10–41 vs. San Diego
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 25
Record	7–5 (6–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jerome Souers (20th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Sheppard (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (9th season)
Home stadium	Walkup Skydome

2017 Big Sky Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Southern Utah +^		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 5 Weber State +^		7	–	1					11	–	3
Northern Arizona ^		6	–	2					7	–	5
No. 21 Eastern Washington		6	–	2					7	–	4
Sacramento State		6	–	2					7	–	4
Montana		5	–	3					7	–	4
Montana State		5	–	3					5	–	6
UC Davis		3	–	5					5	–	6
Idaho State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	7
North Dakota		2	–	6					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					1	–	10
Portland State		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 20th-year head coach Jerome Souers and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid into the FCS Playoffs where they were lost to San Diego in the first round.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	8:00 p.m.	at Arizona*		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	P12N	L 24–62	43,620
September 9	4:00 p.m.	No. 22 Western Illinois*		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	FCSP, FSAZ+, Pluto TV	L 20–38	9,053
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ELVN	W 28–10	7,726
September 30	4:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW, NAU-TV	W 48–20	5,107
October 7	4:00 p.m.	No. 11 Illinois State*		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	FCSP, FSAZ+, Pluto TV	W 37–16	10,420
October 14	2:00 p.m.	at Portland State		Providence Park Portland, OR	Pluto TV	W 42–20	4,430
October 21	4:00 p.m.	UC Davis		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW, NAU-TV	W 45–31	5,093
October 28	4:00 p.m.	Sacramento State		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW, NAU-TV	W 37–17	6,068
November 4	2:30 p.m.	at Montana	No. 18	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	L 15–17	22,747
November 11	5:00 p.m.	Montana State	No. 24	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ELVN	W 37–36	6,187
November 18	2:30 p.m.	at No. 14 Southern Utah	No. 23	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT (Grand Canyon Rivalry)	ELVN	L 20–48	10,842
November 25	6:00 p.m.	San Diego*	No. 25	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 10–41	4,068
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Game summaries

At Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	0	10	24
Wildcats	14	20	14	14	62

See also: 2017 Arizona Wildcats football team

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Leathernecks	7	10	14	7	38
Lumberjacks	0	7	6	7	20

See also: 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

At Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	14	0	28
Mustangs	3	0	7	0	10

See also: 2017 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	13	0	20
Lumberjacks	7	13	14	14	48

See also: 2017 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Redbirds	0	6	3	7	16
Lumberjacks	0	13	14	10	37

See also: 2017 Illinois State Redbirds football team

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	14	0	14	14	42
Vikings	7	0	6	7	20

See also: 2017 Portland State Vikings football team

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	0	17	7	31
Lumberjacks	0	28	7	10	45

See also: 2017 UC Davis Aggies football team

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	10	7	0	17
Lumberjacks	10	7	6	14	37

See also: 2017 Sacramento State Hornets football team

At Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 18 Lumberjacks	3	6	0	6	15
Grizzlies	7	0	7	3	17

See also: 2017 Montana Grizzlies football team

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	9	7	13	36
No. 24 Lumberjacks	3	13	14	7	37

See also: 2017 Montana State Bobcats football team

At Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Lumberjacks	6	7	0	7	20
No. 14 Thunderbirds	3	24	14	7	48

See also: 2017 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team and Northern Arizona–Southern Utah football rivalry

FCS Playoffs

San Diego–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Toreros	10	14	10	7	41
No. 25 Lumberjacks	0	10	0	0	10

See also: 2017 San Diego Toreros football team

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	RV	RV	RV	RV	18	24	23	25	RV
Coaches	RV	RV	—	—	—	RV	24	22	24	16	24	23	RV	RV