1997 Florida Gators football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 4
Record10–2 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive schemeFun and gun
Defensive coordinatorBob Stoops (2nd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumBen Hill Griffin Stadium
(Capacity: 83,000)[1]
1997 Southeastern Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Eastern Division
No. 7 Tennessee x$  7 –1   11 –2  
No. 10 Georgia  6 –2   10 –2  
No. 4 Florida  6 –2   10 –2  
South Carolina  3 –5   5 –6  
Kentucky  2 –6   5 –6  
Vanderbilt  0 –8   3 –8  
Western Division
No. 11 Auburn xy  6 –2   10 –3  
No. 13 LSU x  6 –2   9 –3  
No. 22 Ole Miss  4 –4   8 –4  
Mississippi State  4 –4   7 –4  
Arkansas  2 –6   4 –7  
Alabama  2 –6   4 –7  
Championship: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the eighth for Steve Spurrier as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1997 Florida Gators finished with a 10–2 overall record and a 6–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for second place among the six SEC Eastern Division teams.[2]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 30Southern Miss*No. 2
ESPN2W 21–685,439
September 6Central Michigan*No. 2
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
PPVW 82–685,347
September 20No. 4 TennesseeNo. 3
CBSW 33–2085,714
September 27at KentuckyNo. 1
CBSW 55–2859,244
October 4ArkansasNo. 1
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
ESPN2W 56–785,253
October 11at No. 14 LSUNo. 1
ESPNL 21–2880,677
October 18at No. 6 AuburnNo. 7
CBSW 24–1085,244
November 1vs. No. 14 GeorgiaNo. 6
CBSL 17–3784,297
November 8VanderbiltdaggerNo. 13
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL
JPSW 20–785,305
November 15at South CarolinaNo. 12
JPSW 48–2180,072
November 22No. 2 Florida State*No. 10
  • Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
  • Gainesville, FL (rivalry, College GameDay)
CBSW 32–2985,677
January 1, 1998vs. No. 11 Penn State*No. 6
ABCW 21–672,940
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[2]

Personnel

1997 Florida Gators football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB Ian Alestock
OL Cheston Blackshear
QB Noah Brindise
RB Bo Carroll
OL Mo Collins
TE Dwight Edge
FB Rod Frazier
WR 5 Jacquez Green Jr
WR Darrell Jackson
RB Terry Jackson
TE Erron Kinney
RB Eugene McCaslin
QB 7 Jesse Palmer Fr
QB 12 Doug Johnson So
OL Ryan Kalich
WR Nafis Karim
WR 3 Travis McGriff Jr
OL Zach Piller
WR Jamie Richardson
QB Larry Richart
OL Wyley Ritch
TE Taras Ross
WR Ian Skinner
RB 21 Fred Taylor Sr
WR Travis Taylor
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DL Tim Beauchamp
DB Teako Brown
DL Ed Chester
DL Willie Cohens
CB 1 Tony George Jr
DB Ron Graddy
DL Jevon Kearse
LB Keith Kelsey
DL Reggie McGrew
DL Mike Moten
LB Mike Peterson
DL Willie Rodgers
LB Johnny Rutledge
LB Dwayne Thomas
CB 24 Fred Weary Sr
DB Elijah Williams
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K Jeff Chandler
K 95 Collins Cooper
P Josh Korn
P Robby Stevenson
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP2 (12)2 (14)2 (14)2 (15)3 (14)1 (32)1 (36)1 (35)7661312107664
Coaches Poll1 (19)1 (19)1 (25)1 (25)1 (25)1 (43)1 (45)1 (48)6661312108886


References

  1. ↑ University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1997 Football Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. 1 2 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.