CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 New Mexico

9–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Dennis Franchione.

Schedule and results

New Mexico in 1997, game by game: won vs. Northern Arizona 33–10; won vs. New Mexico State 61–24; won at UTEP 38–20; won at Utah State 25–22; won vs. SMU 22–15; won at San Diego State 36–21; lost vs. Rice 23–35; lost at Utah 10–15; won at TCU 40–10; won vs. BYU 38–28; won vs. Tulsa 51–13; lost vs. No. 18 Colorado State 13–41; lost vs. Arizona 14–20+38−28Won 33–10 vs. Northern Arizona+23Northern ArizonaWon 61–24 vs. New Mexico State+37New Mexico StateWon 38–20 at UTEP+18UTEPWon 25–22 at Utah State+3Utah StateWon 22–15 vs. SMU+7SMUWon 36–21 at San Diego State+15San Diego StateLost 23–35 vs. Rice-12RiceLost 10–15 at Utah-5UtahWon 40–10 at TCU+30TCUWon 38–28 vs. BYU+10BYUWon 51–13 vs. Tulsa+38TulsaLost 13–41 vs. No. 18 Colorado State-28No. 18 Colorado StateLost 14–20 vs. Arizona-6Arizona
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNorthern ArizonaW 33–⁠1080%
Sep 6vsNew Mexico StateW 61–⁠2477%
Sep 13atUTEPW 38–⁠2066%
Sep 20atUtah StateW 25–⁠2247%
Oct 4vsSMUW 22–⁠1571%
Oct 11atSan Diego StateW 36–⁠2147%
Oct 18vsRiceL 23–⁠3557%
Oct 25atUtahL 10–⁠1549%
Nov 1atTCUW 40–⁠1070%
Nov 15vsBYUW 38–⁠2850%
Nov 22vsTulsaW 51–⁠1382%
Dec 6Bowls & playoffvs18Colorado StateWestern Athletic Championship GameL 13–⁠4137%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsArizonaInsight.com BowlL 14–⁠2047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona 20–⁠14 in the Insight.com Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 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.

WAC Mountain champions6–⁠2 in the conference

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
404–⁠274
Coach
Dennis Franchione
Elo
1533 +67 this season
SP+ rating
7.1 No. 45 of 112; offense No. 36, defense No. 54
SRS
3.3 No. 46 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dennis Darnell
Defensive coordinator
Gary Patterson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 3Ramos McDonald DBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 6Scott McGarrahan DBGreen Bay Packers

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.