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1997 Eastern Michigan

4–⁠7 (4–⁠5 Mid-American Conference), coached by Rick Rasnick.

Schedule and results

Eastern Michigan in 1997, game by game: lost at Missouri 24–44; lost at Toledo 35–38; lost vs. Kent State 38–41; won at Central Michigan 31–24; lost vs. Ohio 7–47; won vs. Ball State 38–32; won vs. Akron 45–0; lost at Marshall 25–48; lost vs. Western Michigan 38–41; won at Northern Illinois 38–10; lost at UCF 10–27+45−40Lost 24–44 at Missouri-20MissouriLost 35–38 at Toledo-3ToledoLost 38–41 vs. Kent State-3Kent StateWon 31–24 at Central Michigan+7Central MichiganLost 7–47 vs. Ohio-40OhioWon 38–32 vs. Ball State+6Ball StateWon 45–0 vs. Akron+45AkronLost 25–48 at Marshall-23MarshallLost 38–41 vs. Western Michigan-3Western MichiganWon 38–10 at Northern Illinois+28Northern Illino…Lost 10–27 at UCF-17UCF
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atMissouriL 24–⁠4435%
Sep 13atToledoL 35–⁠3827%
Sep 20vsKent StateL 38–⁠4176%
Sep 27atCentral MichiganW 31–⁠2432%
Oct 4vsOhioL 7–⁠4740%
Oct 11vsBall StateW 38–⁠3254%
Oct 18vsAkronW 45–⁠061%
Oct 25atMarshallL 25–⁠4837%
Nov 1vsWestern MichiganL 38–⁠4150%
Nov 8atNorthern IllinoisW 38–⁠1069%
Nov 15atUCFL 10–⁠2738%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCF 27–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 64 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
4–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠5 7th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
329–⁠352
Coach
Rick Rasnick
Elo
1379 −41 this season
SP+ rating
-6.3 No. 75 of 112; offense No. 35, defense No. 98
SRS
−7.4 No. 80 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Sam Gruneisen
Captains
Charlie Batch, Jermaine Brooks, Lional Dalton and Savon Edwards
Most valuable player
Charlie Batch

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 2Charlie Batch QBDetroit Lions

1997 Mid-American Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Marshall7–⁠110–⁠3
Toledo7–⁠19–⁠3
Western Michigan6–⁠28–⁠3
Miami (OH)6–⁠28–⁠3
Ohio6–⁠28–⁠3
Ball State4–⁠45–⁠6
Eastern Michigan4–⁠54–⁠7
Bowling Green3–⁠53–⁠8
Kent State3–⁠53–⁠8
Akron2–⁠72–⁠9
Central Michigan1–⁠72–⁠9
Northern Illinois0–⁠80–⁠11

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