2017 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

The 2017 North Carolina Central Eagles football team represented North Carolina Central University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Jerry Mack in his fourth and final season as head coach, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 5–3, tying for fourth place in the MEAC. North Carolina Central played home games at O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

2017 North Carolina Central Eagles football
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Record	7–4 (5–3 MEAC)
Head coach	Jerry Mack (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	T. C. Taylor (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Granville Eastman (4th season)
Home stadium	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 7 North Carolina A&T $		8	–	0					12	–	0
Howard		6	–	2					7	–	4
Bethune–Cookman		6	–	2					7	–	4
North Carolina Central		5	–	3					7	–	4
Hampton		5	–	3					6	–	5
Norfolk State		4	–	4					4	–	7
Savannah State *		3	–	5					3	–	8
South Carolina State		2	–	6					3	–	7
Florida A&M *		2	–	6					3	–	8
Delaware State		2	–	6					2	–	9
Morgan State *		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion * Florida A&M, Morgan State and Savannah State ineligible for postseason due to APR violations Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 8, Mack resigned to become the offensive coordinator at Rice University.^[1] He finished his four-year tenure at North Carolina Central with a record of 31–15.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at Duke*		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCN Extra	L 7–60	30,477
September 9	6:00 p.m.	Shaw*		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 41–0	9,141
September 21	7:30 p.m.	South Carolina State		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	ESPNU	W 33–28	9,012
September 28	7:30 p.m.	at Florida A&M		Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPNU	W 21–14	18,488
October 7	1:00 p.m.	at Howard		William H. Greene Stadium Washington, DC	WHBC	W 13–7	1,532
October 14	2:00 p.m.	Gardner–Webb*	No. 25	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 24–17	4,010
October 21	2:00 p.m.	Norfolk State	No. 25	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	L 21–28	7,431
October 28	2:00 p.m.	Delaware State		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 42–14	14,117
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Hampton		Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA		W 14–6	5,321
November 11	2:00 p.m.	Bethune–Cookman		O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	L 10–13	5,769
November 18	1:00 p.m.	at No. 9 North Carolina A&T		Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC (rivalry)		L 10–24	21,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2][3]

Game summaries

At Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	7	0	0	7
Blue Devils	21	26	6	7	60

See also: 2017 Duke Blue Devils football team

Shaw

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
Eagles	3	17	0	21	41

See also: Shaw Bears football

South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	14	7	0	28
Eagles	7	7	6	13	33

See also: 2017 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team

At Florida A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	14	0	0	7	21
Rattlers	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2017 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

At Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	6	7	0	13
Bison	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2017 Howard Bison football team

Gardner–Webb

	1	2	3	4	Total
Runnin' Bulldogs	0	3	0	14	17
No. 25 Eagles	3	7	7	7	24

See also: 2017 Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football team

Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	7	14	0	7	28
No. 25 Eagles	0	0	7	14	21

See also: 2017 Norfolk State Spartans football team

Delaware State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	0	7	7	0	14
Eagles	14	14	7	7	42

See also: 2017 Delaware State Hornets football team

At Hampton

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	14	0	0	14
Pirates	6	0	0	0	6

See also: 2017 Hampton Pirates football team

Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	7	6	13
Eagles	0	0	0	10	10

See also: 2017 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team

At North Carolina A&T

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	3	7	0	10
Aggies	7	14	3	0	24

See also: 2017 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	25	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	24	RV	RV	—	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—

References

1. "Jerry Mack, NC Central football coach, takes job at Rice | News & Observer". Archived from the original on December 12, 2017.
2. "North Carolina Central Eagles Schedule 2017". ESPN. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
3. "2017 Football Schedule". North Carolina Central University. Retrieved November 27, 2023.