1997 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 1997 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during 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.

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
Captain	Ike Reese, Scott Shaw
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

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

^[1]

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

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

References

1. "Michigan State vs. Notre Dame". USA Today. September 20, 1997. Retrieved August 17, 2014.