2017 Richmond Spiders football

Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	6–5 (4–4 CAA)
Head coach	Russ Huesman (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jeff Durden (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Adam Braithwaite (1st season)
Home stadium	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 11 Stony Brook ^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 20 Elon ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 12 New Hampshire ^	5	–	3	9	–	5
Delaware	5	–	3	7	–	4
Richmond	4	–	4	6	–	5
Towson	3	–	5	5	–	6
Villanova	3	–	5	5	–	6
Maine	3	–	5	4	–	6
Albany	2	–	6	4	–	7
Rhode Island	2	–	6	3	–	8
William & Mary	0	–	8	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 Richmond Spiders football team represented the University of Richmond in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Russ Huesman and played their home games at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium. The Spiders were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.^[1] They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in CAA play to finish in sixth place.

Coaching change

Russ Huesman, who previously served as defensive coordinator for the Spiders from 2004–2008 including the Spiders' national championship year of 2008, returned to the program after serving as head coach at Chattanooga for eight seasons. He replaced Danny Rocco, who served as head coach of the Spiders for five seasons before taking the same position at Delaware.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1^[a]	7:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Sam Houston State*	No. 7	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPN3	L 34–48	8,048
September 9	1:00 p.m.	at Colgate*	No. 9	Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	STADIUM	W 20–17	6,994
September 16	2:00 p.m.	Howard*	No. 8	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	CSN MA+	W 68–21	8,217
September 23	6:00 p.m.	Elon	No. 8	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	WTVR DT3	L 33–36	8,217
October 7	3:00 p.m.	No. 24 Albany	No. 14	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	NBCS WA+	W 41–38 ^2OT	8,217
October 14	4:00 p.m.	at Towson	No. 13	Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	FSGO	W 23–3	5,768
October 21	3:30 p.m.	at Delaware	No. 11	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	CSL^[2]	L 35–42 ^2OT	15,710
October 28	3:00 p.m.	No. 22 Stony Brook	No. 19	Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	CSL^[2]	L 24–27	8,217
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at No. 20 Villanova		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	NNAA	W 22–0	3,508
November 11	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 James Madison		Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (rivalry)	MASN2	L 13–20	24,586
November 18	3:00 p.m.	William & Mary		Robins Stadium Richmond, VA (Capital Cup)	NBCS WA	W 27–20	8,057
*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

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

Source: Schedule

Game summaries

At Sam Houston State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Spiders	6	14	7	7	34
No. 3 Bearkats	6	35	7	0	48

At Colgate

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Spiders	0	7	0	13	20
Raiders	0	7	7	3	17

Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	0	7	7	7	21
No. 8 Spiders	14	34	13	7	68

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix	6	13	7	10	36
No. 8 Spiders	7	7	12	7	33

Albany

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
No. 24 Great Danes	0	14	10	7	7	0	38
No. 14 Spiders	0	14	7	10	7	3	41

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Spiders	7	10	0	6	23
Tigers	0	0	0	3	3

At Delaware

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
No. 11 Spiders	7	7	14	0	7	0	35
Fightin' Blue Hens	14	7	0	7	7	7	42

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Seawolves	7	10	3	7	27
No. 19 Spiders	7	3	7	7	24

At Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	3	5	14	0	22
No. 20 Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

At James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	0	7	3	3	13
No. 1 Dukes	0	10	0	10	20

William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tribe	0	3	14	3	20
Spiders	0	7	13	7	27

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	9	8	8	16	14	13	11	19	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	7	9	6–T	6	15	14	13	10	17	RV	RV	RV	RV	—

References

^ "Seven Nationally-Ranked Programs Highlight 2017 Spiders Schedule". The Official Athletic Website of the University of Richmond. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Washburn, Rob (August 18, 2017). "CAA PARTNERS WITH CBS SPORTS DIGITAL". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved August 22, 2017.

v t e Richmond Spiders football
Venues	Tate Field (1891–1893, 1925–1928) West-End Park (1894) Broad Street Park (1897–1916) Boulevard Field (1917–1920) Stadium Field (1921–1924) City Stadium (1929–2009) E. Claiborne Robins Stadium (2010–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1968 Tangerine Bowl 1971 Tangerine Bowl James Madison VMI William & Mary: Capital Cup
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1881 1882 1883–1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold