1997 Colorado State Rams football team

The 1997 Colorado State Rams football team represented Colorado State University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season[1] The Rams were led by fifth-year head coach Sonny Lubick and played their home games at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference in the Pacific Division. They won that division with a 7–1 conference record, earning them a spot in the 1997 WAC Championship Game, where they defeated New Mexico to earn their third WAC title in four years. They were invited to the 1997 Holiday Bowl, where they defeated Missouri, and were ranked 17th in the final AP Poll of the season, the second ranked finish in school history and first since 1994.

1997 Colorado State Rams football
WAC champion WAC Pacific Division champion Holiday Bowl champion
Holiday Bowl, W 35-24 vs. Missouri
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 17
1997 record	11–2 (7–1 WAC)
Head coach	Sonny Lubick (5th season)
Home stadium	Hughes Stadium (Capacity: 30,000)

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mountain Division
New Mexico x		6	–	2					9	–	4
Rice		5	–	3					7	–	4
SMU		5	–	3					6	–	5
Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
BYU		4	–	4					6	–	5
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	7
Tulsa		2	–	6					2	–	9
TCU		1	–	7					1	–	10
Pacific Division
No. 17 Colorado State x$		7	–	1					11	–	2
Air Force		6	–	2					10	–	3
Fresno State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wyoming		4	–	4					7	–	6
San Diego State		4	–	4					5	–	7
San Jose State		4	–	4					4	–	7
UNLV		2	–	6					3	–	8
Hawaii		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Colorado State 41, New Mexico 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
August 30	Nevada*		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 45–13
September 6	at No. 8 Colorado*	No. 24	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain Showdown)	L 21–31
September 13	at Utah State*	No. 25	Romney Stadium Logan, UT	W 35–24
September 20	Air Force	No. 23	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (Ram–Falcon Trophy)	L 0–24
October 4	Hawaii		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 63–0
October 11	at San Jose State		Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 55–20
October 18	at Wyoming		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY (Border War)	W 14–7
October 26	Tulsa		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 44–8
November 1	at UNLV		Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	W 45–19
November 8	Fresno State		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	W 41–3
November 22	at San Diego State	No. 25	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	W 38–17
December 6	vs. New Mexico	No. 20	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV (WAC Championship Game)	W 41–13
December 29	vs. No. 19 Missouri*	No. 18	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	W 35–24
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Roster

1997 Colorado State Rams football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 15 Matt Newton Fr RB 36 Kevin McDougal So G 61 Blaine Saipaia So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 38 John Howell Fr DL 90 Greg Pollard So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Sonny Lubick Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 1998-01-15

References

1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/colorado-state/1997.html
2. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/colorado-state/1997-schedule.html