1997 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1997 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. Head coach Nick Saban was in his third season with the Spartans. Michigan State played their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. The Spartans went 7–4 overall and 4–4 in conference play during the regular season.[1] The team played in the Aloha Bowl on December 25, 1997, where they were defeated 51–23 by the Washington Huskies.

1997 Michigan State Spartans football
Aloha Bowl, L 23–51 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1997 record	7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nick Saban (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Dean Pees (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium (72,027)

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 Michigan $		8	–	0					12	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 16 Penn State		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 15 Purdue		6	–	2					9	–	3
Wisconsin		5	–	3					8	–	5
Iowa		4	–	4					7	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Northwestern		3	–	5					5	–	7
Minnesota		1	–	7					3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7					2	–	9
Illinois		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	12:30 p.m.	Western Michigan*	No. 25	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN+	W 42–10	72,317[2]
September 13	1:00 p.m.	Memphis*	No. 23	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 51–21	72,131[3]
September 20	1:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame*	No. 18	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)	NBC	W 23–7	80,225[4]
October 4	1:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 13	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 31–10	75,263[5]
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Brass Spittoon)	ESPN2	W 38–6	35,082[6]
October 18	3:30 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 11	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 17–19	47,129[7]
October 25	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan	No. 14	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Paul Bunyan Trophy) (College GameDay)	ESPN	L 7–23	79,687[8]
November 1	3:30 p.m.	No. 9 Ohio State	No. 20	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	L 13–37	74,903[9]
November 8	12:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	L 21–22	55,539[10]
November 22	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 27–17	30,087[11]
November 29	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Penn State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (Land Grant Trophy)	ABC	W 49–14	73,623[12]
December 25	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 21 Washington*	No. 25	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ABC	L 23–51	34,419[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan St 14 3 3 3 23 Notre Dame 0 7 0 0 7 Date: September 20 Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN Game attendance: 80,225

Scoring summary Q1 12:28 MSU Keur 5 yard pass from Schultz (Gardner kick) MSU 7–0 Q1 4:47 MSU Schultz 1 yard run (Gardner kick) MSU 14–0 Q2 6:28 MSU Gardner 31 yard field goal MSU 17–0 Q2 :27 ND Brown 7 yard pass from Powlus (Sanson kick) MSU 17–7 Q3 7:12 MSU Gardner 32 yard field goal MSU 20–7 Q4 6:26 MSU Gardner 31 yard field goal MSU 23–7

[14]

Michigan State's first win versus Notre Dame since 1986.

Coaching Staff

• Nick Saban – Head Coach
• Gary Tranquill – Offensive Coordinator/quarterbacks coach
• Bobby Williams – Running backs coach
• Charlie Baggett – Wide receivers coach
• Pat Shurmur – Tight ends coach/special teams coordinator
• Jim Bollman – Offensive line coach
• Dean Pees – Defensive Coordinator/inside linebackers coach
• Todd Grantham – Defensive line coach
• Mark Dantonio – Defensive backs coach
• Greg Colby – Defensive assistant

1998 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Team
Flozell Adams	2	38	Offensive Tackle	Dallas Cowboys
Ike Reese	5	142	Linebacker	Philadelphia Eagles
Scott Shaw	5	143	Offensive Guard	Miami Dolphins

References

1. "1997 Schedule". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
2. "Game One Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. September 6, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
3. "Game Two Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. September 13, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
4. "Game Three Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. September 20, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
5. "Game Four Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. October 4, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
6. "Michigan State–Indian Stats". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. October 11, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
7. "Michigan State–Northwestern Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. October 18, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
8. "Michigan State–Michigan Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. October 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
9. "Ohio State vs. Michigan State Summary (Final)". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. November 1, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
10. "Michigan State vs. Purdue Stats". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. November 8, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
11. "Michigan State vs. Illinois Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. November 22, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
12. "Penn State vs. Michigan State Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. November 29, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
13. "Washington vs. Michigan Statistics". Michigan State University Department of Athletics. December 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
14. "Michigan State vs. Notre Dame". USA Today. September 20, 1997. Retrieved August 17, 2014.