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
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1997 record7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGary Tranquill (3rd season)
Offensive schemePro set
Defensive coordinatorDean Pees (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumSpartan 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
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 612:30 p.m.Western Michigan*No. 25
ESPN+W 42–1072,317[2]
September 131:00 p.m.Memphis*No. 23
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 51–2172,131[3]
September 201:30 p.m.at Notre Dame*No. 18
NBCW 23–780,225[4]
October 41:00 p.m.MinnesotaNo. 13
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
W 31–1075,263[5]
October 1112:30 p.m.at IndianaNo. 11
ESPN2W 38–635,082[6]
October 183:30 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 11
ABCL 17–1947,129[7]
October 2512:30 p.m.No. 5 MichiganNo. 14
ESPNL 7–2379,687[8]
November 13:30 p.m.No. 9 Ohio StateNo. 20
  • Spartan Stadium
  • East Lansing, MI
ABCL 13–3774,903[9]
November 812:30 p.m.at No. 24 Purdue
ESPN2L 21–2255,539[10]
November 222:00 p.m.at Illinois
W 27–1730,087[11]
November 291:00 p.m.No. 4 Penn State
ABCW 49–1473,623[12]
December 253:30 p.m.vs. No. 21 Washington*No. 25
ABCL 23–5134,419[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 234Total
• Michigan St 14 333 23
Notre Dame 0 700 7

[14]

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

Coaching Staff


1998 NFL Draft

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft.

PlayerRoundPickPositionNFL Team
Flozell Adams238Offensive TackleDallas Cowboys
Ike Reese5142LinebackerPhiladelphia Eagles
Scott Shaw5143Offensive GuardMiami 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.


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