CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Utah State

6–⁠6 (4–⁠1 Big West), coached by John Smith.

Schedule and results

Utah State in 1997, game by game: won at Utah 21–14; won vs. Idaho State 41–7; lost vs. No. 25 Colorado State 24–35; lost vs. New Mexico 22–25; lost at No. 24 BYU 35–42; lost at Oregon State 16–24; won vs. New Mexico State 38–7; won at Idaho 63–17; won vs. Boise State 24–20; won at Nevada 38–19; lost at North Texas 48–51; lost vs. Cincinnati 19–35+46−16Won 21–14 at Utah+7UtahWon 41–7 vs. Idaho State+34Idaho StateLost 24–35 vs. No. 25 Colorado State-11No. 25 Colorado StateLost 22–25 vs. New Mexico-3New MexicoLost 35–42 at No. 24 BYU-7No. 24 BYULost 16–24 at Oregon State-8Oregon StateWon 38–7 vs. New Mexico State+31New Mexico StateWon 63–17 at Idaho+46IdahoWon 24–20 vs. Boise State+4Boise StateWon 38–19 at Nevada+19NevadaLost 48–51 at North Texas-3North TexasLost 19–35 vs. Cincinnati-16Cincinnati
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atUtahW 21–⁠1432%
Sep 6vsIdaho StateW 41–⁠782%
Sep 13vs25Colorado StateL 24–⁠3548%
Sep 20vsNew MexicoL 22–⁠2553%
Oct 3at24BYUL 35–⁠4220%
Oct 11atOregon StateL 16–⁠2449%
Oct 18vsNew Mexico StateW 38–⁠780%
Oct 25atIdahoW 63–⁠1745%
Nov 1vsBoise StateW 24–⁠2080%
Nov 15atNevadaW 38–⁠1936%
Nov 22atNorth TexasL 48–⁠5171%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsCincinnatiHumanitarian BowlL 19–⁠3547%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Cincinnati 35–⁠19 in the Humanitarian Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Big West champions.

In program history: The 43rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 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.

Big West champions4–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Nevada

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠1 shared first in Big West
AP final
Unranked
Points
389–⁠296
Coach
John Smith
Elo
1486 +28 this season
SP+ rating
2.1 No. 58 of 112; offense No. 30, defense No. 81
SRS
−1.3 No. 61 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bobby Petrino
Defensive coordinator
Chris Smeland

1997 Big West standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah State4–⁠16–⁠6
Nevada4–⁠15–⁠6
Boise State3–⁠24–⁠7
Idaho2–⁠35–⁠6
North Texas2–⁠34–⁠7
New Mexico State0–⁠52–⁠9

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