CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Pittsburgh

6–⁠6 (4–⁠3 Big East), coached by Walt Harris.

Schedule and results

Pittsburgh in 1997, game by game: won vs. Louisiana 45–13; lost at No. 1 Penn State 17–34; won at Houston 35–24; won vs. No. 22 Miami 21–17; lost at Temple 13–17; lost vs. Notre Dame 21–45; won at Rutgers 55–48; lost at Boston College 21–22; lost vs. No. 21 Syracuse 27–32; won vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech 30–23; won at West Virginia 41–38; lost vs. No. 22 Southern Miss 7–41+32−34Won 45–13 vs. Louisiana+32LouisianaLost 17–34 at No. 1 Penn State-17No. 1 Penn StateWon 35–24 at Houston+11HoustonWon 21–17 vs. No. 22 Miami+4No. 22 MiamiLost 13–17 at Temple-4TempleLost 21–45 vs. Notre Dame-24Notre DameWon 55–48 at Rutgers+7RutgersLost 21–22 at Boston College-1Boston CollegeLost 27–32 vs. No. 21 Syracuse-5No. 21 SyracuseWon 30–23 vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech+7No. 19 Virginia TechWon 41–38 at West Virginia+3West VirginiaLost 7–41 vs. No. 22 Southern Miss-34No. 22 Southern Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsLouisianaW 45–⁠1352%
Sep 6at1Penn StateL 17–⁠3416%
Sep 13atHoustonW 35–⁠2445%
Sep 18vs22MiamiW 21–⁠1739%
Oct 4atTempleL 13–⁠1765%
Oct 11vsNotre DameL 21–⁠4551%
Oct 25atRutgersW 55–⁠4862%
Nov 1atBoston CollegeL 21–⁠2252%
Nov 15vs21SyracuseL 27–⁠3226%
Nov 22vs19Virginia TechW 30–⁠2328%
Nov 28atWest VirginiaW 41–⁠3826%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs22Southern MissLiberty BowlL 7–⁠4128%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Southern Miss 41–⁠7 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big East.

In program history: The 97th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 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
6–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
333–⁠354
Coach
Walt Harris
Elo
1477 +54 this season
SP+ rating
-6.7 No. 77 of 112; offense No. 55, defense No. 90
SRS
−6.4 No. 77 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Steve Mooshagian
Defensive coordinator
Larry Coyer
Offense
West Coast
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

All-Big East

1 first team, 6 second team

First team

  • Tony OrlandiniOLCoaches-1

Second team

  • Pete GonzalezQBCoaches-2
  • Dwayne SchultersRBCoaches-2
  • Terry MurphyWRCoaches-2
  • Jon MarzochOLCoaches-2
  • Frank MooreDLCoaches-2
  • Phil ClarkeLBCoaches-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 East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Syracuse6–⁠19–⁠421
Virginia Tech5–⁠27–⁠5
West Virginia4–⁠37–⁠5
Pittsburgh4–⁠36–⁠6
Miami3–⁠45–⁠6
Boston College3–⁠44–⁠7
Temple3–⁠43–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠70–⁠11

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