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
Record	12–2 (8–1 Southland)
Head coach	K. C. Keeler (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Cramsey (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro spread
Defensive coordinator	Clayton Carlin (1st season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Bowers Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Southland Conference football standings

v t e	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 poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1[a]	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 (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 54–42	4,401
December 9	7:30 p.m.	No. 18 Kennesaw State*	No. 5	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	W 34–27	5,725
December 15	7:00 p.m.	at No. 4 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2	L 13–55	18,279
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS 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.

^[1]

Game summaries

Richmond

See also: Richmond Spiders football and 2017 Richmond Spiders football team

Richmond at Sam Houston State^[2][3]

Team	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

See also: Prairie View A&M Panthers football and 2017 Prairie View A&M Panthers football team

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

Team	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

See also: Nicholls State Colonels football and 2017 Nicholls State Colonels football team

Nicholls at Sam Houston State^[6][7]

Team	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

See also: Central Arkansas Bears football and 2017 Central Arkansas Bears football team

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

Team	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

See also: Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football, 2017 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team, and Battle of the Piney Woods

Battle of the Piney Woods^[10][11]

Team	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

See also: Northwestern State Demons football and 2017 Northwestern State Demons football team

Northwestern State at Sam Houston State

Team	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

See also: Lamar Cardinals football and 2017 Lamar Cardinals football team

Lamar at Sam Houston State (homecoming)

Team	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

See also: Southeastern Louisiana Lions football and 2017 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

Sam Houston State at Southeastern Louisiana

Team	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

See also: Incarnate Word Cardinals football and 2017 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

Incarnate Word at Sam Houston State

Team	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

See also: Abilene Christian Wildcats football and 2017 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

Sam Houston State at Abilene Christian

Team	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

See also: Houston Baptist Huskies football and 2017 Houston Baptist Huskies football team

Houston Baptist at Sam Houston State

Team	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

See also: South Dakota Coyotes football and 2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team

FCS Playoffs Second Round

Team	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

See also: Kennesaw State Owls football and 2017 Kennesaw State Owls football team

FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals

Team	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

See also: North Dakota State Bison football and 2017 North Dakota State Bison football team

FCS Playoffs Semifinals

Team	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
( ) = 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