CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Utah

6–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Ron McBride.

Schedule and results

Utah in 1997, game by game: lost vs. Utah State 14–21; won at Louisville 27–21; won at TCU 32–18; won vs. UTEP 56–3; lost at Fresno State 13–27; lost vs. SMU 19–20; lost at Oregon 13–31; won vs. New Mexico 15–10; lost at Tulsa 13–21; won vs. Rice 31–14; won at BYU 20–14+53−18Lost 14–21 vs. Utah State-7Utah StateWon 27–21 at Louisville+6LouisvilleWon 32–18 at TCU+14TCUWon 56–3 vs. UTEP+53UTEPLost 13–27 at Fresno State-14Fresno StateLost 19–20 vs. SMU-1SMULost 13–31 at Oregon-18OregonWon 15–10 vs. New Mexico+5New MexicoLost 13–21 at Tulsa-8TulsaWon 31–14 vs. Rice+17RiceWon 20–14 at BYU+6BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsUtah StateL 14–⁠2168%
Sep 6atLouisvilleW 27–⁠2148%
Sep 13atTCUW 32–⁠1856%
Sep 20vsUTEPW 56–⁠385%
Oct 2atFresno StateL 13–⁠2764%
Oct 11vsSMUL 19–⁠2072%
Oct 18atOregonL 13–⁠3142%
Oct 25vsNew MexicoW 15–⁠1051%
Nov 1atTulsaL 13–⁠2166%
Nov 15vsRiceW 31–⁠1444%
Nov 22atBYUW 20–⁠1434%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat BYU 20–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 67th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 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
6–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
253–⁠200
Coach
Ron McBride
Elo
1534 +0 this season
SP+ rating
-0.6 No. 67 of 112; offense No. 93, defense No. 33
SRS
−2.0 No. 64 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fred Graves
Defensive coordinator
Kyle Whittingham
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1Kevin Dyson WRTennessee Oilers
Rd 6Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala RBPittsburgh Steelers

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.