CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Wake Forest

5–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jim Caldwell.

Schedule and results

Wake Forest in 1997, game by game: won vs. No. 21 Northwestern 27–20; lost at East Carolina 24–25; lost vs. Georgia Tech 26–28; won vs. NC State 19–18; lost at Virginia 13–21; lost at No. 5 North Carolina 12–30; won vs. Maryland 35–17; won at Duke 38–24; lost vs. Clemson 16–33; won at Rutgers 28–14; lost at No. 2 Florida State 7–58+18−51Won 27–20 vs. No. 21 Northwestern+7No. 21 NorthwesternLost 24–25 at East Carolina-1East CarolinaLost 26–28 vs. Georgia Tech-2Georgia TechWon 19–18 vs. NC State+1NC StateLost 13–21 at Virginia-8VirginiaLost 12–30 at No. 5 North Carolina-18No. 5 North CarolinaWon 35–17 vs. Maryland+18MarylandWon 38–24 at Duke+14DukeLost 16–33 vs. Clemson-17ClemsonWon 28–14 at Rutgers+14RutgersLost 7–58 at No. 2 Florida State-51No. 2 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vs21NorthwesternW 27–⁠2022%
Sep 13atEast CarolinaL 24–⁠2520%
Sep 20vsGeorgia TechL 26–⁠2846%
Sep 25vsNC StateW 19–⁠1842%
Oct 4atVirginiaL 13–⁠2123%
Oct 11at5North CarolinaL 12–⁠3010%
Oct 18vsMarylandW 35–⁠1751%
Oct 25atDukeW 38–⁠2448%
Nov 1vsClemsonL 16–⁠3343%
Nov 8atRutgersW 28–⁠1462%
Nov 15at2Florida StateL 7–⁠587%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 58–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 61st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 119 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
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
245–⁠288
Coach
Jim Caldwell
Elo
1416 +66 this season
SP+ rating
-0.3 No. 64 of 112; offense No. 69, defense No. 54
SRS
1.4 No. 56 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Hank Small
Defensive coordinator
James Bell
Captains
Thabiti Davis, Robert Fatzinger, Chris Gaskell and D’Angelo Solomon
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

All-ACC

3 second team

Second team

  • Brian KuklickQBAP-2
  • D’Angelo SolomonDBAP-2
  • Tripp MoorePAP-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 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State8–⁠011–⁠13
North Carolina7–⁠111–⁠16
Virginia5–⁠37–⁠4
Georgia Tech5–⁠37–⁠525
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠5
NC State3–⁠56–⁠5
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠6
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠9

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