2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

The 2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football team represented Central Michigan University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by third-year head coach John Bonamego and played their home games at Kelly/Shorts Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They received an invitation to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Wyoming.

2017 Central Michigan Chippewas football
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, L 14–37 vs. Wyoming
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	8–5 (6–2 MAC)
Head coach	John Bonamego (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Ostrowsky (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (3rd season)
Home stadium	Kelly/Shorts Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Akron xy		6	–	2					7	–	7
Ohio		5	–	3					9	–	4
Miami (OH)		4	–	4					5	–	7
Buffalo		4	–	4					6	–	6
Bowling Green		2	–	6					2	–	10
Kent State		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Toledo xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Central Michigan		6	–	2					8	–	5
Northern Illinois		6	–	2					8	–	5
Western Michigan		4	–	4					6	–	6
Eastern Michigan		3	–	5					5	–	7
Ball State		0	–	8					2	–	10
Championship: Toledo 45, Akron 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

Preseason

Central Michigan was picked to finish in fifth place in the MAC West Division in a preseason poll of league media.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 p.m.	Rhode Island*	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	W 30–27 3OT	16,311
September 9	3:00 p.m.	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 45–27	28,531
September 16	3:30 p.m.	at Syracuse*	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ACCN Extra	L 17–41	33,004
September 23	3:30 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 14–31	17,193
September 30	1:00 p.m.	at Boston College*	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ACCN Extra	L 8–28	27,036
October 7	2:00 p.m.	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	ESPN3	W 26–23	23,570
October 14	3:30 p.m.	Toledo	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 10–30	15,572
October 21	3:00 p.m.	at Ball State	Scheumann Stadium Muncie, IN	ESPN3	W 56–9	15,850
November 1	8:00 p.m.	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 35–28	11,776
November 8	8:00 p.m.	Eastern Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 42–30	9,700
November 14	7:00 p.m.	at Kent State	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	ESPNU	W 42–23	5,580
November 24	12:00 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	CBSSN	W 31–24	8,744
December 22	4:00 p.m.	vs. Wyoming*	Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–37	16,512
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Rams	0	0	7	14	3	0	3	27
Chippewas	0	13	0	8	3	0	6	30

See also: 2017 Rhode Island Rams football team

At Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	0	24	7	14	45
Jayhawks	3	3	14	7	27

See also: 2017 Kansas Jayhawks football team

At Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	10	7	0	0	17
Orange	10	14	17	0	41

See also: 2017 Syracuse Orange football team

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	14	14	3	0	31
Chippewas	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2017 Miami RedHawks football team

At Boston College

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	2	6	0	0	8
Eagles	14	7	7	0	28

See also: 2017 Boston College Eagles football team

At Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	6	6	7	26
Bobcats	7	7	0	9	23

See also: 2017 Ohio Bobcats football team

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	7	10	0	13	30
Chippewas	0	0	3	7	10

See also: 2017 Toledo Rockets football team

At Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	7	21	56
Cardinals	3	3	3	0	9

See also: 2017 Ball State Cardinals football team

At Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	0	7	21	35
Broncos	14	7	7	0	28

See also: 2017 Western Michigan Broncos football team, Michigan MAC Trophy, and Central Michigan–Western Michigan football rivalry

In an increasingly heavy downpour in Kalamazoo, the Chips avenged their 49-10 loss to the Broncos the year before. During the battle between the two bitter in-state rivals, the Chippewas fell behind 28-14 in the 3rd quarter. The Chips then staged a dramatic comeback in the 4th quarter, scoring 21 unanswered points, capped off by Shane Morris’ 77 yard touchdown pass to Corey Willis with 2:37 left in the game to defeat the Broncos for the first time since 2013 by a score of 35-28.

Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	10	0	13	30
Chippewas	14	14	7	7	42

See also: 2017 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team and Michigan MAC Trophy

At Kent State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	21	0	14	42
Golden Flashes	3	14	0	6	23

See also: 2017 Kent State Golden Flashes football team

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	14	3	0	7	24
Chippewas	0	0	17	14	31

See also: 2017 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Vs. Wyoming–Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	0	7	0	14
Cowboys	21	6	3	7	37

See also: 2017 Wyoming Cowboys football team and 2017 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl