CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Arizona

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Dick Tomey.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 1997, game by game: lost at Oregon 9–16; won vs. UAB 24–10; lost at No. 9 Ohio State 20–28; lost at No. 24 UCLA 27–40; won vs. San Diego State 31–28; won vs. No. 16 Stanford 28–22; lost vs. No. 10 Washington 28–58; lost at No. 10 Washington State 34–35; won vs. Oregon State 27–7; won vs. California 41–38; won at No. 12 Arizona State 28–16; won vs. New Mexico 20–14+20−30Lost 9–16 at Oregon-7OregonWon 24–10 vs. UAB+14UABLost 20–28 at No. 9 Ohio State-8No. 9 Ohio StateLost 27–40 at No. 24 UCLA-13No. 24 UCLAWon 31–28 vs. San Diego State+3San Diego StateWon 28–22 vs. No. 16 Stanford+6No. 16 StanfordLost 28–58 vs. No. 10 Washington-30No. 10 WashingtonLost 34–35 at No. 10 Washington State-1No. 10 Washington StateWon 27–7 vs. Oregon State+20Oregon StateWon 41–38 vs. California+3CaliforniaWon 28–16 at No. 12 Arizona State+12No. 12 Arizona StateWon 20–14 vs. New Mexico+6New Mexico
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atOregonL 9–⁠1639%
Sep 13vsUABW 24–⁠1078%
Sep 20at9Ohio StateL 20–⁠2819%
Sep 27at24UCLAL 27–⁠4032%
Oct 4vsSan Diego StateW 31–⁠2854%
Oct 11vs16StanfordW 28–⁠2244%
Oct 18vs10WashingtonL 28–⁠5835%
Oct 25at10Washington StateL 34–⁠3530%
Nov 8vsOregon StateW 27–⁠773%
Nov 15vsCaliforniaW 41–⁠3868%
Nov 28at12Arizona StateW 28–⁠1618%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsNew MexicoInsight.com BowlW 20–⁠1453%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat New Mexico 20–⁠14 in the Insight.com Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1997.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
317–⁠312
Coach
Dick Tomey
Elo
1591 +68 this season
SP+ rating
12.8 No. 29 of 112; offense No. 23, defense No. 38
SRS
7.9 No. 33 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Homer Smith
Defensive coordinator
Rich Ellerson

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 4Joe Salave’a DTTennessee Oilers
Rd 7Jimmy Sprotte LBTennessee Oilers
Rd 7Chester Burnett LBMinnesota Vikings

All-Pac-10

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jose PortillaOLCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington State7–⁠110–⁠29
UCLA7–⁠110–⁠25
Arizona State6–⁠29–⁠314
Washington5–⁠38–⁠418
Arizona4–⁠47–⁠5
USC4–⁠46–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠57–⁠5
Stanford3–⁠55–⁠6
California1–⁠73–⁠8
Oregon State0–⁠83–⁠8

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