2017 Sun Belt Conference football season

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 2017 Sun Belt Conference football season

| color = #003087

| color text = #F2A900

| league = NCAA Division I FBS

| sport = Football

| logo =

| pixels = 170

| caption =

| duration = August 31, 2017
through January 2018

| attendance =

| no_of_teams = 12

| TV = ESPN, ESPN3, Cox Sports Television

| draft = 2018 NFL Draft

| draft_link = 2018 NFL Draft

| top_pick = S Tracy Walker, Louisiana

| picked_by = Detroit Lions, 82nd overall

| season = Regular Season

| season_champs = Troy
Appalachian State

| second_place = Arkansas State

| MVP = Ja'Von Rolland-Jones

| MVP_link =

| top_scorer =

| top_scorer_link =

| seasonslistnames = Football

| prevseason_year = 2016

| nextseason_year = 2018

}}

The 2017 Sun Belt conference football season began on August 31, 2017 and ended on December 2, 2017. It was part of the 2017 season of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the top level of NCAA Division I football.

Season

This was the first season for Coastal Carolina, which was in its second and final transitional season from the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to FBS. This was also the final season for both Idaho and New Mexico State as associate members of the conference; New Mexico State will remain in the FBS as an independent program, while Idaho will move down to the FCS level in its main conference, the Big Sky Conference.

Records against FBS conferences

class="wikitable"
Conference !Record
The American \|align=center\|0–3
ACC \|align=center\|0–2
Big Ten \|align=center\|0–3
Big 12 \|align=center\|0–1
C-USA \|align=center\|1–4
Independents \|align=center\|1–2
MAC \|align=center\|1–1
Mountain West \|align=center\|1–3
Pac-12 \|align=center\|0–2
SEC \|align=center\|1–7
Total !5–28

class="wikitable"

Conference

!Record

|align=center|0–3

|align=center|0–2

|align=center|0–3

|align=center|0–1

|align=center|1–4

|align=center|1–2

|align=center|1–1

|align=center|1–3

|align=center|0–2

|align=center|1–7

Total

!5–28

=Power Five conferences and independents=

class="wikitable"
Conference !Record
ACC \|align=center\|0–2
Big Ten \|align=center\|0–3
Big 12 \|align=center\|0–1
Pac-12 \|align=center\|0–2
SEC \|align=center\|1–7
Notre Dame \|align=center\|0–0
Total !1–15

class="wikitable"

Conference

!Record

|align=center|0–2

|align=center|0–3

|align=center|0–1

|align=center|0–2

|align=center|1–7

|align=center|0–0

Total

!1–15

=Group of Five conferences=

class="wikitable"
Conference !Record
The American \|align=center\|0–3
C-USA \|align=center\|1–4
Independents (excluding Notre Dame) \|align=center\|1–2
MAC \|align=center\|1–1
Mountain West \|align=center\|1–3
Total !4–13

class="wikitable"

Conference

!Record

The American

|align=center|0–3

C-USA

|align=center|1–4

Independents (excluding Notre Dame)

|align=center|1–2

MAC

|align=center|1–1

Mountain West

|align=center|1–3

Total

!4–13

=FCS Subdivision=

class="wikitable"
FCS Opponents !Record
Football Championship Subdivision \|align=center\|7–2
colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"\|
Total FCS Record !0–0

class="wikitable"

FCS Opponents

!Record

Football Championship Subdivision

|align=center|7–2

colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|

Total FCS Record

!0–0

=Postseason=

class="wikitable"
Power 5 Conferences !Record
ACC \|align=center\|0–0
Big Ten \|align=center\|0–0
Big 12 \|align=center\|0–0
Pac-12 \|align=center\|0–0
SEC \|align=center\|0–0
Power 5 Total !0–0
colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"\|
Other FBS Conferences !Record
American \|align=center\|0–0
C–USA \|align=center\|2–1
Independents (Excluding Notre Dame) \|align=center\|0–0
MAC \|align=center\|1–0
Mountain West \|align=center\|1–0
colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"\|
Other FBS Total !4–1
Total Bowl Record !4–1

class="wikitable"

Power 5 Conferences

!Record

|align=center|0–0

|align=center|0–0

|align=center|0–0

|align=center|0–0

|align=center|0–0

Power 5 Total

!0–0

colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|

Other FBS Conferences

!Record

American

|align=center|0–0

C–USA

|align=center|2–1

Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)

|align=center|0–0

MAC

|align=center|1–0

Mountain West

|align=center|1–0

colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey;"|

Other FBS Total

!4–1

Total Bowl Record

!4–1

Awards and honors

=Individual awards=

Player of the Year: Ja'Von Rolland-Jones, Sr., DL, Arkansas State
Offensive Player of the Year: Justice Hansen, Jr., QB, Arkansas State
Defensive Player of the Year: Jeremy Reaves, Sr., DB, South Alabama
Freshman of the Year: Marcus Jones, DB/KR, Troy
Newcomer of the Year: Ron LaForce, Jr., DB, New Mexico State
Coach of the Year: Neal Brown, Troy

=All-Conference teams=

Offense:

class="wikitable"

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | First Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Second Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Third Team

style="text-align:center;"

|QB

|Justice Hansen

|Jr.

|Arkansas State

|QB

|Taylor Lamb

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|QB

|Tyler Rogers

|R-Sr.

|New Mexico State

style="text-align:center;"

|RB

|Jalin Moore

|Jr.

|Appalachian State

|RB

|Larry Rose III

|Sr.

|New Mexico State

|RB

|Osharmar Abercrombie

|Sr.

|Coastal Carolina

style="text-align:center;"

|RB

|Aaron Duckworth

|Jr.

|Idaho

|RB

|Jordan Chunn

|Sr.

|Troy

|RB

|Trey Ragas

|R-Fr.

|Louisiana

style="text-align:center;"

|WR

|Ike Lewis

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|WR

|Chris Murray

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

|WR

|Justin McInnis

|Jr.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|WR

|Penny Hart

|R-So.

|Georgia State

|WR

|Jamarius Way

|Jr.

|South Alabama

|WR

|Malcolm Williams

|Jr.

|Coastal Carolina

style="text-align:center;"

|WR

|Jaleel Scott

|R-Sr.

|New Mexico State

|WR

|Deondre Douglas

|Jr.

|Troy

|WR

|RJ Turner

|So.

|Louisiana–Monroe

style="text-align:center;"

|TE

|Blake Mack

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|TE

|Gabe Schrade

|Sr.

|Texas State

|TE

|Chase Rogers

|Fr.

|Louisiana

style="text-align:center;"

|OL

|Colby Gossett

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

|OL

|Noah Johnson

|So.

|Idaho

|OL

|Jaypee Philbert

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|OL

|Beau Nunn

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|OL

|Kevin Dotson

|So.

|Louisiana

|OL

|Grant Horst

|Sr.

|Louisiana

style="text-align:center;"

|OL

|Victor Johnson

|So.

|Appalachian State

|OL

|Noah Fisher

|Jr.

|South Alabama

|OL

|Frank Sutton

|Sr.

|Louisiana–Monroe

style="text-align:center;"

|OL

|Lanard Bonner

|R-Jr.

|Arkansas State

|OL

|Deontae Crumitie

|Jr.

|Troy

|OL

|Aaron Brewer

|So.

|Texas State

style="text-align:center;"

|OL

|Steven Rowzee

|Sr.

|Troy

|OL

|Tristan Crowder

|So.

|Troy

|OL

|Kirk Kelley

|So.

|Troy

Defense:

class="wikitable"

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | First Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Second Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Third Team

style="text-align:center;"

|DL

|Tee Sims

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|DL

|Ronheen Bingham

|Jr.

|Arkansas State

|DL

|Caleb Fuller

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

style="text-align:center;"

|DL

|Ja'Von Rolland-Jones

|R-Sr.

|Arkansas State

|DL

|Logan Hunt

|Jr.

|Georgia Southern

|DL

|Caleb Caston

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|DL

|Aikeem Coleman

|Sr.

|Idaho

|DL

|Jamal Stadom

|Sr.

|Troy

|DL

|Marterious Allen

|Jr.

|Georgia State

style="text-align:center;"

|DL

|Cedric Wilcots II

|R-So.

|New Mexico State

|DL

|Trevon Sanders

|Jr.

|Troy

|DL

|Joe Dillon

|So.

|Louisiana

style="text-align:center;"

|DL

|Hunter Reese

|Jr.

|Troy

|LB

|Kyle Wilson

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

|LB

|Devan Stringer

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

style="text-align:center;"

|LB

|Eric Boggs

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

|LB

|Shane Johnson

|Sr.

|Coastal Carolina

|LB

|Michael Shaw

|R-Jr.

|Georgia State

style="text-align:center;"

|LB

|Tony Lashley

|Jr.

|Idaho

|LB

|Kaden Elliss

|Jr.

|Idaho

|LB

|Frankie Griffin

|Jr.

|Texas State

style="text-align:center;"

|LB

|Dalton Herrington

|Sr.

|New Mexico State

|LB

|Tron Folsom

|So.

|Troy

|DB

|A.J. Howard

|Sr.

|Appalachian State

style="text-align:center;"

|DB

|Clifton Duck

|So.

|Appalachian State

|DB

|Tae Hayes

|Jr.

|Appalachian State

|DB

|Chandon Sullivan

|Sr.

|Georgia State

style="text-align:center;"

|DB

|Blaise Taylor

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

|DB

|Justin Clifton

|Jr.

|Arkansas State

|DB

|Tracy Walker

|Sr.

|Louisiana

style="text-align:center;"

|DB

|Jeremy Reaves

|Sr.

|South Alabama

|DB

|Monquavion Brinson

|So.

|Georgia Southern

|DB

|Shamad Lomax

|So.

|New Mexico State

style="text-align:center;"

|DB

|Blace Brown

|Jr.

|Troy

|DB

|Ron LaForce

|Jr.

|New Mexico State

|DB

|Cedarius Rookard

|Jr.

|Troy

Special Teams:

class="wikitable"

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

!Pos.

!Name

!Yr.

!School

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | First Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Second Team

colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Third Team

style="text-align:center;"

|PK

|Gavin Patterson

|Jr.

|South Alabama

|PK

|Tyler Bass

|R-So.

|Georgia Southern

|PK

|Sawyer Williams

|R-So.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|Corliss Waitman

|Jr.

|South Alabama

|Cade Coffey

|R-Fr.

|Idaho

|Cody Grace

|R-So.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|RS

|Marcus Green

|Jr.

|Louisiana–Monroe

|RS

|Marcus Jones

|Fr.

|Troy

|RS

|Blaise Taylor

|Sr.

|Arkansas State

style="text-align:center;"

|AP

|Marcus Green

|Jr.

|Louisiana–Monroe

|AP

|Marcus Jones

|Fr.

|Troy

|AP

|Glenn Smith

|Sr.

|Georgia State

Ref:{{cite web|title=Sun Belt announces 2017 Football All-Conference teams and Individual Awards|url=http://sunbeltsports.org/news/2017/12/6/sun-belt-announces-2017-football-all-conference-teams-and-individual-awards.aspx|website=SunBeltSports.org|publisher=Sun Belt Conference|accessdate=23 December 2017}}

Home attendance

class="wikitable sortable"
Attendance !Team !Stadium !Capacity !Game 1 !Game 2 !Game 3 !Game 4 !Game 5 !Game 6 !Total !Average !% of Capacity
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Appalachian State Mountaineers}}"\|Appalachian State \|Kidd Brewer Stadium \|30,000 \|20,109 \|35,126† \|22,787 \|30,179 \|23,110 \|23,411 \|154,722 \|25,787 \|85.96%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Arkansas State Red Wolves}}"\|Arkansas State \|Centennial Bank Stadium \|30,382 \|24,371 \|25,916† \|21,943 \|19,846 \|27,462 \| \|119,538 \|23,908 \|78.69%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Coastal Carolina Chanticleers}}"\|Coastal Carolina \|Brooks Stadium \|15,000 \|13,274 \|14,996 \|15,991† \|13,997 \|15,545 \|15,951 \|89,754 \|14,959 \|99.73%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Georgia State Panthers}}"\|Georgia State \|Georgia State Stadium \|24,333 \|24,333† \|15,388 \|12,125 \|13,154 \|14,163 \| \|79,163 \|15,833 \|65.07%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Georgia Southern Eagles}}"\|Georgia Southern \|Paulson Stadium \|25,000 \|13,781 \|16,278 \|18,722† \|12,250 \| \| \|61,031 \|15,258 \|61.03%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Idaho Vandals}}"\|Idaho \|Kibbie Dome \|16,000 \|10,526 \|10,156 \|14,198† \|10,168 \|10,705 \|7,444 \|63,197 \|10,533 \|65.83%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns}}"\|Louisiana \|Cajun Field \|36,900 \|18,289 \|18,318† \|13,106 \|16,058 \|12,993 \| \|78,764 \|15,753 \|42.69%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks}}"\|Louisiana–Monroe \|Malone Stadium \|30,427 \|11,061 \|10,359 \|12,578† \|7,397 \|8,245 \| \|49,640 \|9,928 \|32.63%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|New Mexico State Aggies}}"\|New Mexico State \|Aggie Memorial Stadium \|30,343 \|15,446 \|17,546 \|10,041 \|21,894 \|26,286† \| \|91,213 \|18,243 \|60.12%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|South Alabama Jaguars}}"\|South Alabama \|Ladd–Peebles Stadium \|33,471 \|26,487† \|18,103 \|12,603 \|16,495 \|12,742 \|17,640 \|104,070 \|17,345 \|51.82%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Texas State Bobcats}}"\|Texas State \|Bobcat Stadium \|30,000 \|15,560 \|19,520 \|31,333† \|12,238 \|12,012 \|14,017 \|104,680 \|17,447 \|58.16%
style="{{NCAA color cell\|Troy Trojans}}"\|Troy \|Veterans Memorial Stadium \|30,402 \|29,278† \|27,324 \|25,211 \|23,846 \|20,341 \|20,737 \|146,737 \|24,456 \|80.44%

class="wikitable sortable"

Attendance

!Team

!Stadium

!Capacity

!Game 1

!Game 2

!Game 3

!Game 4

!Game 5

!Game 6

!Total

!Average

!% of Capacity

style="{{NCAA color cell|Appalachian State Mountaineers}}"|Appalachian State

|Kidd Brewer Stadium

|30,000

|20,109

|35,126†

|22,787

|30,179

|23,110

|23,411

|154,722

|25,787

|85.96%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Arkansas State Red Wolves}}"|Arkansas State

|Centennial Bank Stadium

|30,382

|24,371

|25,916†

|21,943

|19,846

|27,462

|119,538

|23,908

|78.69%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Coastal Carolina Chanticleers}}"|Coastal Carolina

|Brooks Stadium

|15,000

|13,274

|14,996

|15,991†

|13,997

|15,545

|15,951

|89,754

|14,959

|99.73%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Georgia State Panthers}}"|Georgia State

|Georgia State Stadium

|24,333

|24,333†

|15,388

|12,125

|13,154

|14,163

|79,163

|15,833

|65.07%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Georgia Southern Eagles}}"|Georgia Southern

|Paulson Stadium

|25,000

|13,781

|16,278

|18,722†

|12,250

|61,031

|15,258

|61.03%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Idaho Vandals}}"|Idaho

|Kibbie Dome

|16,000

|10,526

|10,156

|14,198†

|10,168

|10,705

|7,444

|63,197

|10,533

|65.83%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns}}"|Louisiana

|Cajun Field

|36,900

|18,289

|18,318†

|13,106

|16,058

|12,993

|78,764

|15,753

|42.69%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks}}"|Louisiana–Monroe

|Malone Stadium

|30,427

|11,061

|10,359

|12,578†

|7,397

|8,245

|49,640

|9,928

|32.63%

style="{{NCAA color cell|New Mexico State Aggies}}"|New Mexico State

|Aggie Memorial Stadium

|30,343

|15,446

|17,546

|10,041

|21,894

|26,286†

|91,213

|18,243

|60.12%

style="{{NCAA color cell|South Alabama Jaguars}}"|South Alabama

|Ladd–Peebles Stadium

|33,471

|26,487†

|18,103

|12,603

|16,495

|12,742

|17,640

|104,070

|17,345

|51.82%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Texas State Bobcats}}"|Texas State

|Bobcat Stadium

|30,000

|15,560

|19,520

|31,333†

|12,238

|12,012

|14,017

|104,680

|17,447

|58.16%

style="{{NCAA color cell|Troy Trojans}}"|Troy

|Veterans Memorial Stadium

|30,402

|29,278†

|27,324

|25,211

|23,846

|20,341

|20,737

|146,737

|24,456

|80.44%

Bold: Exceeded capacity

†Season High

2017 Sun Belt Conference football season

Season

Records against FBS conferences

=Power Five conferences and independents=

=Group of Five conferences=

=FCS Subdivision=

=Postseason=

Awards and honors

=Individual awards=

=All-Conference teams=

Home attendance

References