1997 Missouri Tigers football team

The 1997 Missouri Tigers football team represented the University of Missouri during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 1997 Tigers went 7–5 (5–3 in Big 12 play), ending a streak of 13 consecutive losing seasons. However, the Tigers lost to Colorado State, 35–24, in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. They played their home games at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. They were members of the Big 12 Conference in the North Division. The team was coached by head coach Larry Smith.

1997 Missouri Tigers football
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
DivisionNorth Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 23
APNo. 23
1997 record7–5 (5–3 Big 12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJerry Berndt (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorMoe Ankney (4th season)
Home stadiumFaurot Field
(Capacity: 62,023)
1997 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Northern Division
No. 2 Nebraska † xy$  8 –0     13 –0  
No. 8 Kansas State %  7 –1     11 –1  
No. 23 Missouri  5 –3     7 –5  
Colorado  3 –5     5 –6  
Kansas  3 –5     5 –6  
Iowa State  1 –7     1 –10  
Southern Division
No. 20 Texas A&M xy  6 –2     9 –4  
No. 24 Oklahoma State  5 –3     8 –4  
Texas Tech  5 –3     6 –5  
Texas  2 –6     4 –7  
Oklahoma  2 –6     4 –8  
Baylor  1 –7     2 –9  
Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • † – Coaches Poll National Champion
    $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion
    % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The loss to eventual National Champion #1 ranked Nebraska in overtime came after the infamous Flea Kicker play. This was a deflection reception off an unintentionally kicked pass as the receiver that was falling and tried pull the ball to his chest with his foot, resulting in a deflection off the foot that another receiver was able to dive a catch.. it wasn't a "flea flicker" .

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 66:30 pmEastern Michigan*
W 44–2452,514
September 1311:30 amat Kansas
FSNL 7–1538,000
September 204:00 pmat Tulsa*
W 42–2140,385
September 2711:00 amNo. 7 Ohio State*
  • Faurot Field
  • Columbia, Missouri
ABCL 10–3158,882
October 41:00 pmIowa State
W 45–2144,386
October 1111:30 amat No. 22 Kansas State
FSNL 11–4143,510
October 181:00 pmTexas
  • Faurot Field
  • Columbia, Missouri
W 37–2948,451
October 2511:30 amat No. 12 Oklahoma State
FSNW 51–50 2OT33,300
November 11:30 pmat Colorado
W 41–3143,119
November 82:30 pmNo. 1 Nebraska
ABCL 38–45 OT66,846
November 151:00 pmBaylorNo. 25
  • Faurot Field
  • Columbia, Missouri
W 42–2443,825
December 297:00 pmvs. No. 18 Colorado State*No. 19
ESPNL 24–3550,761
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[1]

References
  1. "1997 Archive". Missouri Athletics. Archived from the original on January 16, 2000. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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