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1997 Penn State

9–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1997, game by game: won vs. Pittsburgh 34–17; won vs. Temple 52–10; won at Louisville 57–21; won at Illinois 41–6; won vs. No. 7 Ohio State 31–27; won vs. Minnesota 16–15; won at Northwestern 30–27; lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 8–34; won at No. 19 Purdue 42–17; won vs. No. 24 Wisconsin 35–10; lost at Michigan State 14–49; lost vs. No. 6 Florida 6–21+42−35Won 34–17 vs. Pittsburgh+17PittsburghWon 52–10 vs. Temple+42TempleWon 57–21 at Louisville+36LouisvilleWon 41–6 at Illinois+35IllinoisWon 31–27 vs. No. 7 Ohio State+4No. 7 Ohio StateWon 16–15 vs. Minnesota+1MinnesotaWon 30–27 at Northwestern+3NorthwesternLost 8–34 vs. No. 4 Michigan-26No. 4 MichiganWon 42–17 at No. 19 Purdue+25No. 19 PurdueWon 35–10 vs. No. 24 Wisconsin+25No. 24 WisconsinLost 14–49 at Michigan State-35Michigan StateLost 6–21 vs. No. 6 Florida-15No. 6 Florida
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsPittsburghW 34–⁠1784%
Sep 13vsTempleW 52–⁠1091%
Sep 20atLouisvilleW 57–⁠2175%
Oct 4atIllinoisW 41–⁠685%
Oct 11vs7Ohio StateW 31–⁠2755%
Oct 18vsMinnesotaW 16–⁠1592%
Nov 1atNorthwesternW 30–⁠2773%
Nov 8vs4MichiganL 8–⁠3460%
Nov 15at19PurdueW 42–⁠1761%
Nov 22vs24WisconsinW 35–⁠1077%
Nov 29atMichigan StateL 14–⁠4967%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6FloridaCitrus BowlL 6–⁠2138%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida 21–⁠6 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 1
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 2
  13. Wk 13: 6
  14. Wk 14: 6
  15. Wk 15: 4
  16. Wk 16: 12
  17. Wk 17: 11
  18. Final: 16

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.

Heisman voteCurtis Enis, fifth

Consensus All-AmericanCurtis Enis, RB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 1
Points
366–⁠254
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1681 −12 this season
SP+ rating
12.8 No. 29 of 112; offense No. 26, defense No. 34
SRS
10.8 No. 20 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
ChoMo Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Aaron Collins, Matt Fornadel, Mike McQueary and Phil Ostrowski
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1Curtis Enis RBChicago Bears
Rd 2Joe Jurevicius WRNew York Giants
Rd 5Phil Ostrowski OGSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

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 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.