1997 Ole Miss Rebels football team

The 1997 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They participated as members of the Southeastern Conference in the West Division. Coached by Tommy Tuberville, the Rebels played their home games at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.

1997 Ole Miss Rebels football
Motor City Bowl champion
Motor City Bowl, W 34–31 vs. Marshall
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 22
Record	8–4 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Tommy Tuberville (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Noel Mazzone (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Art Kaufman (3rd season)
Home stadium	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	UCF*		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		W 24–23 OT	28,216	[1]
September 6	SMU*		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		W 23–15	36,521	[2]
September 13	at No. 16 Auburn		Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	JPS	L 9–19	81,203	[3]
September 27	Vanderbilt		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)		W 15–3	36,417	[4]
October 4	at No. 10 Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	L 17–31	106,229	[5]
October 18	at No. 8 LSU		Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	JPS	W 36–21	80,442	[6]
October 25	Alabama	No. 25	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	JPS	L 20–29	41,548	[7]
November 6	Arkansas		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	W 19–9	30,620	[8]
November 15	at Tulane*		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA (rivalry)		W 41–24	35,607	[9]
November 22	No. 14 Georgia		Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS		L 14–21	35,473	[10]
November 29	at No. 22 Mississippi State		Scott Field Starkville, MS (Egg Bowl)	JPS	W 15–14	41,200	[11]
December 26	vs. Marshall*		Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI (Motor City Bowl)	ESPN	W 34–31	43,340	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]

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	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22
Coaches	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	22

Roster

1997 Ole Miss Rebels football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 17 Alishma Alexander Jr FB 7 Eli Anding Sr WR 87 Jamie Armstrong Jr TB 20 John Avery Sr RB 22 Deuce McAllister Fr OL 72 John McGarvey Fr OL 79 Terrence Metcalf Fr C 68 Cooper Miles  Fr QB 11 Romero Miller Fr WR 86 Sheldon Morris Jr OL 76 Tutan Reyes So OL 73 Keydrick Vincent Fr OL 71 Todd Wade So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 56 Derrick Burgess  Fr DE 41 Quincy Washington So LB 38 Nate Wayne Sr LB 55 Matt Wells Sr LB 46 Amzie Williams  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Tommy Tuberville Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 1998-12-02

Game summaries

Vs. Marshall (Motor City Bowl)

1 2 3 4 Total • Rebels 7 0 14 13 34 Thundering Herd 10 7 0 14 31 Date: December 26 Location: Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, MI Game attendance: 43,430 TV announcers (ESPN): Jerry Punch and Mike Gottfried

Scoring summary 1 14:36 MISS John Avery 1-yard run (Steve Lindsey kick) MISS 7–0 14:19 MAR Randy Moss 80-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Billy Malashevich kick) Tied 7–7 MAR Billy Malashevich field goal MAR 10–7 2 MAR LaVorn Colclough pass from Chad Pennington (Bill Malashevich kick) MAR 17–7 3 MISS Andre Rone pass from Stewart Patridge (Steve Lindsey kick) MAR 17–14 MISS Deuce McAllister 20-yard pass from Stewart Patridge (Steve Lindsey kick) MISS 21–17 4 10:12 MAR Doug Chapman 6-yard pass from Chad Pennington (Billy Malashevich kick) MAR 24–21 5:39 MISS Grant Heard 19-yard pass from Stewart Patridge (kick failed) MISS 27–24 2:57 MAR Doug Chapman 9-yard run (Billy Malashevich kick) MAR 31–27 0:31 MISS Deuce McAllister 1-yard run (Steve Lindsey kick) MISS 34–31

Main article: 1997 Motor City Bowl

See also: 1997 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

^[14]

References

1. "Ole Miss slips past Knights in OT". The Vicksburg Post. August 31, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Ole Miss holds on to beat SMU, 23–15". Hattiesburg American. September 7, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Tigers ambush Rebs". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 14, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Vanderbilt unable to back up talk against Ole Miss". The Atlanta Constitution. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Vols heat up after halftime, beat Ole Miss". Bristol Herald Courier. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "LSU falls flat against Ole Miss". The Atlanta Constitution. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Tide knocks out Rebels 29–20". The Clarion-Ledger. October 26, 1997. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Rebels pin Hogs 19–9". The Clarion-Ledger. November 7, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Patridge guides Ole Miss past resurgent Green Wave". Sun Herald. November 16, 1997. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "'Lackadaisical' Rebels unable to hang with Georgia". The Greenwood Commonwealth. November 23, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Rebels edge Bulldogs". The Commercial Appeal. November 30, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "New bowl, Ole Miss". Detroit Free Press. December 27, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. DeLassus, David. "Mississippi Yearly Results: 1995–1999". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
14. "N.C.A.A.: FOOTBALL -- MOTOR CITY BOWL; Mississippi Captures Wild One". The New York Times. December 27, 1997. Retrieved January 3, 2019.