CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Iowa

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Hayden Fry.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1997, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 66–0; won vs. Tulsa 54–16; won at Iowa State 63–20; won vs. Illinois 38–10; lost at No. 7 Ohio State 7–23; lost at No. 5 Michigan 24–28; won vs. Indiana 62–0; won vs. No. 18 Purdue 35–17; lost at Wisconsin 10–13; lost at Northwestern 14–15; won vs. Minnesota 31–0; lost vs. No. 16 Arizona State 7–17+66−16Won 66–0 vs. Northern Iowa+66Northern IowaWon 54–16 vs. Tulsa+38TulsaWon 63–20 at Iowa State+43Iowa StateWon 38–10 vs. Illinois+28IllinoisLost 7–23 at No. 7 Ohio State-16No. 7 Ohio StateLost 24–28 at No. 5 Michigan-4No. 5 MichiganWon 62–0 vs. Indiana+62IndianaWon 35–17 vs. No. 18 Purdue+18No. 18 PurdueLost 10–13 at Wisconsin-3WisconsinLost 14–15 at Northwestern-1NorthwesternWon 31–0 vs. Minnesota+31MinnesotaLost 7–17 vs. No. 16 Arizona State-10No. 16 Arizona State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsNorthern IowaW 66–⁠089%
Sep 13vsTulsaW 54–⁠1682%
Sep 20atIowa StateW 63–⁠2078%
Sep 27vsIllinoisW 38–⁠1086%
Oct 4at7Ohio StateL 7–⁠2330%
Oct 18at5MichiganL 24–⁠2833%
Oct 25vsIndianaW 62–⁠084%
Nov 1vs18PurdueW 35–⁠1762%
Nov 8atWisconsinL 10–⁠1352%
Nov 15atNorthwesternL 14–⁠1558%
Nov 22vsMinnesotaW 31–⁠084%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs16Arizona StateSun BowlL 7–⁠1744%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona State 17–⁠7 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 35th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 3: 20
  4. Wk 4: 18
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 17
  9. Wk 9: 15
  10. Wk 10: 18
  11. Wk 11: 15
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 22

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.

Led the nationTim Dwight: punt return average (19.3)

Consensus All-AmericanTim Dwight, APB

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
411–⁠159
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1618 +17 this season
SP+ rating
14.3 No. 23 of 112; offense No. 43, defense No. 19
SRS
14.2 No. 16 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Don Patterson
Defensive coordinator
Bob Elliott
Captains
Kerry Cooks, Tim Dwight, Jon LaFleur and Matt Sherman
Most valuable player
Tavian Banks and Kerry Cooks

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 3Mike Goff OGCincinnati Bengals
Rd 4Tavian Banks RBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 4Tim Dwight WRAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Kerry Cooks DBMinnesota Vikings

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Derek RoseCCoaches-2; Media-2
  • Plez AtkinsDBCoaches-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 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠012–⁠01
Ohio State6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠316
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠315
Wisconsin5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠47–⁠5
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠5
Northwestern3–⁠55–⁠7
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠72–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠80–⁠11

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