1997 Michigan State Spartans football team

1997 Michigan State Spartans football
Aloha Bowl, L 23–51 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Ten Conference
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
MVP	Ike Reese
Captains	Ike Reese Scott Shaw
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium

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

The 1997 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Nick Saban, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the Big Ten. Michigan State was invited to the Aloha Bowl, where they lost, 51–23, on December 25 to Washington. The team played home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

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 Plus	W 42–10	72,317
September 13	1:00 p.m.	Memphis*	No. 21	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 51–21	72,131
September 20	1:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame*	No. 17	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 23–7	80,225
October 4	1:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 12	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 31–10	75,263
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 38–6	35,082
October 18	3:30 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 12	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 17–19	47,129
October 25	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan	No. 15	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry, College GameDay)	ESPN	L 7–23	79,687
November 1	3:30 p.m.	No. 9 Ohio State	No. 21	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	L 13–37	74,903
November 8	12:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	L 21–22	55,539
November 22	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 27–17	30,087
November 29	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Penn State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 49–14	73,623
December 25	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 21 Washington*	No. 25	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ABC	L 23–51	34,419
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	25	25	25	21	17	12	12	11	12	15	21	—	—	—	—	25	25	—
Coaches	—		—	23	18	13	13	11	11	14	20	—	—	—	—	—	25	—

Game summaries

Notre Dame

Team	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

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

Roster

1997 Michigan State Spartans football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 76 Flozell Adams Sr QB 16 Bill Burke So RB 33 Sedrick Irvin So QB 11 Gus Ornstein Jr RB 32 Antwain Patrick Sr TE 84 Brad Rainko So TE 88 Kyle Rance So FB 41 Travis Reece Sr QB 9 Todd Schultz Sr WR 86 Gari Scott So G 73 Scott Shaw Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 69 Brandon Call So CB 3 Amp Campbell Jr SS 43 Scott Ernsberger Jr LB 53 Courtney Ledyard Jr CB 29 Lemar Marshall Jr LB 44 Ike Reese Sr DE 91 Robaire Smith So LB 57 Mike Smokevitch Jr DT 99 Dimitrius Underwood Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Paul Edinger So	Head coach Nick Saban Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

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