CAA Football Announces 2017 Schedule
Tim McDonnell
2017 CAA Football Composite Schedule
RICHMOND, Va. (June 12, 2017) – CAA Football officially revealed its 2017 schedule on Monday, which includes a challenging non-conference slate highlighted by 12 games versus Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents that sets the stage for the always-competitive league race.
The 2017 season starts on Sunday, August 27 when Richmond travels to Sam Houston State for a 7 p.m. game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Spiders and Bearkats both advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs in 2016 and are ranked in the top 10 nationally in preseason polls.
Every CAA Football member plays a complete Division I schedule, and there are 12 contests against FBS foes from six different conferences. CAA Football teams face opponents from the American Athletic Conference (UCF, East Carolina, South Florida, and Temple), Atlantic Coast Conference (Virginia and Virginia Tech), Big Ten Conference (Maryland), Conference USA (Old Dominion), Mid-American Conference (Central Michigan and Toledo) and the Sun Belt Conference (Georgia Southern). In addition, Maine meets FBS independent UMass in a game that takes place at historic Fenway Park in Boston on November 11. Eight of the league’s 12 FBS challengers competed in a bowl game last season. Dating back to 1998, CAA Football teams have beaten at least one FBS opponent in all but four seasons.
The remaining portion of the non-conference schedule features games against FCS members. Last fall, CAA Football led all leagues with a 24-7 record against FCS opponents and went 8-3 in the postseason, capped by James Madison capturing the 2016 National Championship in Frisco, Texas.
Richmond’s opener at Sam Houston State is one of four games against an FCS opponent that reached the postseason in 2016. The other contests feature Elon welcoming Charleston Southern to Rhodes Stadium on Sept. 16, Towson visiting Saint Francis (Pa.) that same weekend, and Villanova opening the year at Lehigh on Sept. 2.
Conference play kicks off on Thursday, August 31, with the earliest league matchup since CAA Football’s inaugural season in 2007. New Hampshire welcomes Maine to Wildcat Stadium in the “Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket” for the first regular season opener between the two longtime rivals since 1992.
Following UNH and Maine kicking off conference play in Week 1, Stony Brook hosts Rhode Island in league action on Saturday, Sept. 9. After a full week of non-conference play on Sept. 16, CAA Football matchups resume each Saturday through Nov. 18.
Headlining CAA Football’s league schedule will be four games between teams that advanced to last year’s FCS postseason. James Madison, which went a perfect 8-0 in conference play in 2016, hosts Villanova on Oct. 14, New Hampshire on Oct. 28, and Richmond on Nov. 11. New Hampshire’s trip to JMU is its first in the regular season since 2011, along with being a rematch of last season’s FCS playoffs second round contest that also took place in Harrisonburg, Va. Villanova hosts Richmond on Nov. 4 before the Spiders hit the road again to face the Dukes one week later.
Among head coaching changes in CAA Football, Curt Cignetti begins his first season guiding Elon, while long-time assistant Mark Ferrante takes over for legendary head coach Andy Talley at Villanova. After spending the past five seasons at UR, Danny Rocco was introduced as the 23rd head coach in Delaware program history last December. The Spiders hired Russ Huesman to take over head coaching duties following eight successful seasons at Chattanooga. Huesman was Richmond’s defensive coordinator during the 2008 National Championship campaign, and spent 14 years as an assistant at William & Mary.
The Tribe’s Jimmye Laycock enters his 38
th year at the helm of his alma mater – leading all of the FCS as the longest-tenured head coach. Among active coaches in the FCS, Laycock’s 243 career victories ranks second behind current Columbia head coach Al Bagnoli. New Hampshire’s Sean McDonnell (19
th season) enters the fall also ranking in the top 10 among the longest-tenured FCS coaches at No. 9.
Game times and broadcast information for the 2017 CAA Football schedule will be finalized over the summer.