1997 San Jose State Spartans football team

The 1997 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The team was led by head coach Dave Baldwin, in his first year as head coach at San Jose State. They played home games at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. The Spartans finished the 1997 season with a record of four wins and seven losses (4–7, 4–4 WAC).

1997 San Jose State Spartans football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Record	4–7 (4–4 WAC)
Head coach	Dave Baldwin (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ron Ponciano (1st season)
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mountain Division
New Mexico x		6	–	2					9	–	4
Rice		5	–	3					7	–	4
SMU		5	–	3					6	–	5
Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
BYU		4	–	4					6	–	5
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	7
Tulsa		2	–	6					2	–	9
TCU		1	–	7					1	–	10
Pacific Division
No. 17 Colorado State x$		7	–	1					11	–	2
Air Force		6	–	2					10	–	3
Fresno State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wyoming		4	–	4					7	–	6
San Diego State		4	–	4					5	–	7
San Jose State		4	–	4					4	–	7
UNLV		2	–	6					3	–	8
Hawaii		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Colorado State 41, New Mexico 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	at No. 17 Stanford*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		L 12–28	37,500
September 13	Wisconsin*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		L 10–56	23,042	[1]
September 20	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		L 10–30
October 4	at Oregon State*	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		L 12–26	19,168	[2]
October 11	Colorado State	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		L 20–55	10,384
October 18	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX		W 10–7	25,908
October 25	Air Force	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	ESPN2	W 25–22
November 1	Fresno State	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA (rivalry)		L 12–53	18,753	[3]
November 8	at San Diego State	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		L 21–48	29,869	[4]
November 15	Hawaii	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA (rivalry)		W 38–17	9,437	[5]
November 22	at UNLV	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV		W 55–48 OT	15,141	[6]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Game summaries

At No. 17 Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
No. 17 Cardinal					0

See also: 1997 Stanford Cardinal football team and Bill Walsh Legacy Game

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Badgers	14	28	14	0	56
Spartans	10	0	0	0	10

See also: 1997 Wisconsin Badgers football team

At Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Cowboys					0

See also: 1997 Wyoming Cowboys football team

At Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Beavers					0

See also: 1997 Oregon State Beavers football team

Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams					0
Spartans					0

See also: 1997 Colorado State Rams football team

At UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Miners					0

See also: 1997 UTEP Miners football team

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons					0
Spartans					0

See also: 1997 Air Force Falcons football team

Fresno State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs					0
Spartans					0

See also: 1997 Fresno State Bulldogs football team and Fresno State–San Jose State football rivalry

At San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Aztecs					0

See also: 1997 San Diego State Aztecs football team

Hawaii

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rainbow Warriors					0
Spartans					0

See also: 1997 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

At UNLV

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans					0
Rebels					0

See also: 1997 UNLV Rebels football team