Jump to content

1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 17
APNo. 16
Record9–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorFran Ganter (14th season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJerry Sandusky (21st season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumBeaver Stadium
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →
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 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 32nd-year head coach Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions compiled an overall record of 9–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for second in the Big Ten. Penn State was invited to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Nittany Lions lost to Florida. The team played home games at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 63:30 p.m.Pittsburgh*No. 1
ABCW 34–1797,115
September 131:00 p.m.Temple*No. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
W 52–1096,735
September 2012:00 p.m.at Louisville*No. 1
CBSW 57–2139,826
October 412:30 p.m.at IllinoisNo. 2
ESPN2W 41–651,523
October 113:30 p.m.No. 7 Ohio StateNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCW 31–2797,282
October 1812:00 p.m.MinnesotadaggerNo. 1
ESPN PlusW 16–1596,953
November 112:30 p.m.at NorthwesternNo. 2
ESPNW 30–2747,129
November 83:30 p.m.No. 4 MichiganNo. 2
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (rivalry)
ABCL 8–3497,498
November 1512:00 p.m.at No. 19 PurdueNo. 6
ESPNW 42–1752,156
November 223:30 p.m.No. 24 WisconsinNo. 6
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA
ABCW 35–1096,934
November 291:00 p.m.at Michigan StateNo. 4
ABCL 14–4973,623
January 1, 19981:00 p.m.vs. No. 6 Florida*No. 11
ABCL 6–2172,940[1]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

[edit]
See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP1 (21)1 (22)1 (23)1 (22)1 (25)2 (28)2 (25)2 (26)1 (51)2 (26)2 (25)2 (16)664121116
Coaches2 (9)2 (13)2 (12)2 (14)2 (14)2 (13)2 (11)1 (51)2 (29)2 (20)3 (8)664121217

Roster

[edit]
1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 39 Curtis Enis Jr
WR 2 Chafie Fields So
WR 83 Joe Jurevicius Sr
QB 9 Mike McQueary Sr
G 64 Phil Ostrowski Sr
QB 16 Kevin Thompson So
G 69 Floyd Wedderburn Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 11 LaVar Arrington Fr
DE 86 Courtney Brown So
CB 17 Brad Johnson Jr
SS 4 Derek Fox So
LB 44 Jim Nelson Sr
CB 27 David Macklin So
DE 5 Brad Scioli Jr
LB 43 Brandon Short So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 41 Pat Pidgeon So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

NFL draft

[edit]

Three Nittany Lions were drafted in the 1998 NFL draft.

Round Pick Overall Name Position Team
1st 5 5 Curtis Enis Running back Chicago Bears
2nd 25 55 Joe Jurevicius Wide receiver New York Giants
5th 28 151 Phil Ostrowski Offensive guard San Francisco 49ers

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Somber ending; Senior Nittany Lions melancholy after loss to Florida". The Times Leader. January 2, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Stub icon

This college football 1997 season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article about a sports team in Pennsylvania is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1997_Penn_State_Nittany_Lions_football_team&oldid=1289980794"