CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Air Force

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Fisher DeBerry.

Schedule and results

Air Force in 1997, game by game: won vs. Idaho 14–10; won at Rice 41–12; won vs. UNLV 25–24; won at No. 23 Colorado State 24–0; won vs. San Diego State 24–18; won vs. The Citadel 17–3; won at Navy 10–7; lost vs. Fresno State 17–20; lost at San José State 22–25; won at Hawai’i 34–27; won vs. Army 24–0; won vs. Wyoming 14–3; lost vs. Oregon 13–41+29−28Won 14–10 vs. Idaho+4IdahoWon 41–12 at Rice+29RiceWon 25–24 vs. UNLV+1UNLVWon 24–0 at No. 23 Colorado State+24No. 23 Colorado StateWon 24–18 vs. San Diego State+6San Diego StateWon 17–3 vs. The Citadel+14The CitadelWon 10–7 at Navy+3NavyLost 17–20 vs. Fresno State-3Fresno StateLost 22–25 at San José State-3San José StateWon 34–27 at Hawai’i+7Hawai’iWon 24–0 vs. Army+24ArmyWon 14–3 vs. Wyoming+11WyomingLost 13–41 vs. Oregon-28Oregon
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsIdahoW 14–⁠1072%
Sep 6atRiceW 41–⁠1243%
Sep 13vsUNLVW 25–⁠2487%
Sep 20at23Colorado StateW 24–⁠041%
Sep 27vsSan Diego StateW 24–⁠1871%
Oct 4vsThe CitadelW 17–⁠390%
Oct 11atNavyW 10–⁠759%
Oct 18vsFresno StateL 17–⁠2085%
Oct 25atSan José StateL 22–⁠2581%
Nov 1atHawai’iW 34–⁠2777%
Nov 8vsArmyW 24–⁠078%
Nov 15vsWyomingW 14–⁠363%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvsOregonLas Vegas BowlL 13–⁠4162%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oregon 41–⁠13 in the Las Vegas Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 71 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 23
  2. Wk 8: 19
  3. Wk 9: 18
  4. Wk 15: 24
  5. Wk 16: 23
  6. Wk 17: 23
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
279–⁠190
Coach
Fisher DeBerry
Elo
1594 +58 this season
SP+ rating
6.4 No. 47 of 112; offense No. 91, defense No. 12
SRS
2.8 No. 48 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinators
Richard Bell and Cal McCombs
Captains
Chris Gizzi, Jemal Singleton and Jeff Mohr
Offense
Wishbone triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

1997 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado State7–⁠111–⁠217
Air Force6–⁠210–⁠3
New Mexico6–⁠29–⁠4
Rice5–⁠37–⁠4
Utah5–⁠36–⁠5
SMU5–⁠36–⁠5
Fresno State5–⁠36–⁠6
BYU4–⁠46–⁠5
Wyoming4–⁠47–⁠6
San Diego State4–⁠45–⁠7
San José State4–⁠44–⁠7
UTEP3–⁠54–⁠7
UNLV2–⁠63–⁠8
Tulsa2–⁠62–⁠9
Hawai’i1–⁠73–⁠9
TCU1–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.