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1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

The 1997 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season.[1] The team was coached by Joe Paterno and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania.

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
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

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
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.Minnesota No. 1
  • Beaver Stadium
  • University Park, PA (Governor's Victory Bell)
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
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

| source = [2]

Rankings

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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

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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
  •   Redshirt

NFL draft

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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

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  1. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1995-1999)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Somber ending; Senior Nittany Lions melancholy after loss to Florida". The Times Leader. January 2, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.


 

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