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 .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance [ a] 7:00 p.m. at No. 3 Sam Houston State * No. 7 ESPN3 L 34–488,048
September 9 1:00 p.m. at Colgate * No. 9 STADIUM W 20–176,994
September 16 2:00 p.m. Howard * No. 8 CSN MA+ W 68–218,217
September 23 6:00 p.m. Elon No. 8 Robins Stadium Richmond, VA WTVR DT3 L 33–368,217
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 FSGO W 23–35,768
October 21 3:30 p.m. at Delaware No. 11 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 24–278,217
November 4 1:00 p.m. at No. 20 Villanova NNAA W 22–03,508
November 11 3:30 p.m. at No. 1 James Madison MASN2 L 13–2024,586
November 18 3:00 p.m. William & Mary NBCS WA W 27–208,057
^ Game was originally scheduled for August 27, but postponed and relocated due to Hurricane Harvey .
At Sam Houston State
edit
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 7 Spiders
6
14
7
7
34
No. 3 Bearkats
6
35
7
0
48
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 9 Spiders
0
7
0
13
20
Raiders
0
7
7
3
17
1
2
3
4
Total
Bison
0
7
7
7
21
No. 8 Spiders
14
34
13
7
68
1
2
3
4
Total
Phoenix
6
13
7
10
36
No. 8 Spiders
7
7
12
7
33
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
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 13 Spiders
7
10
0
6
23
Tigers
0
0
0
3
3
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
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 22 Seawolves
7
10
3
7
27
No. 19 Spiders
7
3
7
7
24
1
2
3
4
Total
Spiders
3
5
14
0
22
No. 20 Wildcats
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
3
4
Total
Spiders
0
7
3
3
13
No. 1 Dukes
0
10
0
10
20
1
2
3
4
Total
Tribe
0
3
14
3
20
Spiders
0
7
13
7
27
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ 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 —