From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American college football season
The 1997 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Nick Saban, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the Big Ten. Michigan State was invited to the Aloha Bowl, where they lost, 51–23, on December 25 to Washington. The team played home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
---|
September 6 | 12:30 p.m. | Western Michigan* | No. 25 | | ESPN Plus | W 42–10 | 72,317 |
September 13 | 1:00 p.m. | Memphis* | No. 21 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| | W 51–21 | 72,131 |
September 20 | 1:30 p.m. | at Notre Dame* | No. 17 | | NBC | W 23–7 | 80,225 |
October 4 | 1:00 p.m. | Minnesota | No. 12 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| | W 31–10 | 75,263 |
October 11 | 12:30 p.m. | at Indiana | No. 11 | | ESPN2 | W 38–6 | 35,082 |
October 18 | 3:30 p.m. | at Northwestern | No. 12 | | ABC | L 17–19 | 47,129 |
October 25 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 5 Michigan | No. 15 | | ESPN | L 7–23 | 79,687 |
November 1 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 9 Ohio State | No. 21 | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI
| ABC | L 13–37 | 74,903 |
November 8 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 24 Purdue | | | ESPN2 | L 21–22 | 55,539 |
November 22 | 2:00 p.m. | at Illinois | | | | W 27–17 | 30,087 |
November 29 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Penn State | | - Spartan Stadium
- East Lansing, MI (rivalry)
| ABC | W 49–14 | 73,623 |
December 25 | 3:30 p.m. | vs. No. 21 Washington* | No. 25 | | ABC | L 23–51 | 34,419 |
- *Non-conference game
- Homecoming
- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Eastern time
|
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked | Week |
---|
Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
---|
AP | 25 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 21 | — | — | — | — | 25 | 25 | — |
---|
Coaches | — | | — | 23 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — |
---|
|
1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
• Michigan St |
14 |
3 | 3 | 3 |
23 |
Notre Dame |
0 |
7 | 0 | 0 |
7 |
|
|
Scoring summary |
---|
| Q1 | 12:28 | MSU | Keur 5 yard pass from Schultz (Gardner kick) | MSU 7–0 |
| Q1 | 4:47 | MSU | Schultz 1 yard run (Gardner kick) | MSU 14–0 |
| Q2 | 6:28 | MSU | Gardner 31 yard field goal | MSU 17–0 |
| Q2 | :27 | ND | Brown 7 yard pass from Powlus (Sanson kick) | MSU 17–7 |
| Q3 | 7:12 | MSU | Gardner 32 yard field goal | MSU 20–7 |
| Q4 | 6:26 | MSU | Gardner 31 yard field goal | MSU 23–7 |
|
[1]
Michigan State's first win versus Notre Dame since 1986.
- Nick Saban, head coach
- Gary Tranquill, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
- Bobby Williams, running backs coach
- Charlie Baggett, wide receivers coach
- Pat Shurmur, tight ends coach, special teams coordinator
- Jim Bollman, offensive line coach
- Dean Pees, defensive coordinator, inside linebackers coach
- Todd Grantham, defensive line coach
- Mark Dantonio, defensive backs coach
- Greg Colby, defensive assistant
The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL draft.
|
---|
Venues | |
---|
Bowls & rivalries | |
---|
Culture & lore | |
---|
People | |
---|
Seasons | |
---|
National championship seasons in bold |