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1997 Temple

3–⁠8 (3–⁠4 Big East), coached by Ron Dickerson.

Schedule and results

Temple in 1997, game by game: lost at Western Michigan 14–34; won vs. Boston College 28–21; lost at No. 1 Penn State 10–52; lost vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech 13–23; lost vs. Maryland 21–24; won vs. Pittsburgh 17–13; lost at Syracuse 7–60; lost at Miami 15–47; won vs. Rutgers 49–7; lost at Navy 17–49; lost at West Virginia 21–41+42−53Lost 14–34 at Western Michigan-20Western MichiganWon 28–21 vs. Boston College+7Boston CollegeLost 10–52 at No. 1 Penn State-42No. 1 Penn StateLost 13–23 vs. No. 18 Virginia Tech-10No. 18 Virginia TechLost 21–24 vs. Maryland-3MarylandWon 17–13 vs. Pittsburgh+4PittsburghLost 7–60 at Syracuse-53SyracuseLost 15–47 at Miami-32MiamiWon 49–7 vs. Rutgers+42RutgersLost 17–49 at Navy-32NavyLost 21–41 at West Virginia-20West Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28atWestern MichiganL 14–⁠3436%
Sep 6vsBoston CollegeW 28–⁠2142%
Sep 13at1Penn StateL 10–⁠529%
Sep 20vs18Virginia TechL 13–⁠2317%
Sep 27vsMarylandL 21–⁠2449%
Oct 4vsPittsburghW 17–⁠1335%
Oct 18atSyracuseL 7–⁠6012%
Oct 25atMiamiL 15–⁠4719%
Nov 1vsRutgersW 49–⁠765%
Nov 8atNavyL 17–⁠4924%
Nov 15atWest VirginiaL 21–⁠4114%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to West Virginia 41–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big East.

In program history: The 63rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 92 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
3–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
212–⁠371
Coach
Ron Dickerson
Elo
1340 −19 this season
SP+ rating
-16.4 No. 98 of 112; offense No. 91, defense No. 95
SRS
−15.5 No. 101 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Lew Carpenter
Defensive coordinator
Ron McCrone

All-Big East

3 second team

Second team

  • Larry ChesterDLCoaches-2
  • Excel LucasCBCoaches-2
  • Josh BolesPCoaches-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.