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1997 Kentucky

5–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Hal Mumme.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1997, game by game: won vs. Louisville 38–24; lost at Mississippi State 27–35; won at Indiana 49–7; lost vs. No. 1 Florida 28–55; won vs. No. 20 Alabama 40–34; lost at South Carolina 24–38; won vs. UL Monroe 49–14; lost at No. 16 Georgia 13–23; lost vs. No. 16 LSU 28–63; won at Vanderbilt 21–10; lost vs. No. 5 Tennessee 31–59+42−35Won 38–24 vs. Louisville+14LouisvilleLost 27–35 at Mississippi State-8Mississippi Sta…Won 49–7 at Indiana+42IndianaLost 28–55 vs. No. 1 Florida-27No. 1 FloridaWon 40–34 vs. No. 20 Alabama+6No. 20 AlabamaLost 24–38 at South Carolina-14South CarolinaWon 49–14 vs. UL Monroe+35UL MonroeLost 13–23 at No. 16 Georgia-10No. 16 GeorgiaLost 28–63 vs. No. 16 LSU-35No. 16 LSUWon 21–10 at Vanderbilt+11VanderbiltLost 31–59 vs. No. 5 Tennessee-28No. 5 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsLouisvilleW 38–⁠2452%
Sep 6atMississippi StateL 27–⁠3541%
Sep 20atIndianaW 49–⁠739%
Sep 27vs1FloridaL 28–⁠5522%
Oct 4vs20AlabamaW 40–⁠3433%
Oct 11atSouth CarolinaL 24–⁠3845%
Oct 18vsUL MonroeW 49–⁠1477%
Oct 25at16GeorgiaL 13–⁠2331%
Nov 1vs16LSUL 28–⁠6342%
Nov 15atVanderbiltW 21–⁠1054%
Nov 22vs5TennesseeL 31–⁠5921%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 59–⁠31; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 74th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 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.

Led the nationTim Couch: passing yards (3,884 yds)

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
348–⁠362
Coach
Hal Mumme
Elo
1476 +29 this season
SP+ rating
2.6 No. 55 of 112; offense No. 16, defense No. 91
SRS
3.2 No. 47 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Leach
Defensive coordinator
Mike Major
Offense
Air raid
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 7Kio Sanford WRSan Diego Chargers

All-SEC

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • John SchlarmanOGAP-1; Coaches-2

Second team

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

1997 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee7–⁠111–⁠27
Florida6–⁠210–⁠24
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠210
Auburn6–⁠210–⁠311
LSU6–⁠29–⁠313
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠422
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠4
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠6
Alabama2–⁠64–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠8

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