1997 Washington Huskies football team

The 1997 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its fifth season under head coach Jim Lambright, the team compiled an 8–4 record, finished fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents 420 to 259.[1] Receiver Jerome Pathon was selected as the team's most valuable player. Seniors Pathon, Jerry Jensen, Rashaan Shehee, Tony Parrish were the team captains.

1997 Washington Huskies football
Aloha Bowl champion
Aloha Bowl, W 51–23 vs. Michigan State
ConferencePacific-10
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 18
Record8–4 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorScott Linehan (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorRandy Hart (3rd season)
MVPJerome Pathon
Captains
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →
1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 9 Washington State +   7 1     10 2  
No. 5 UCLA +   7 1     10 2  
No. 14 Arizona State   6 2     9 3  
No. 18 Washington   5 3     8 4  
Arizona   4 4     7 5  
USC   4 4     6 5  
Oregon   3 5     7 5  
Stanford   3 5     5 6  
California   1 7     3 8  
Oregon State   0 8     3 8  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

After a 27–0 shutout of USC on November 1,[2] the Huskies were 7–1 and ranked sixth in the nation. Saddled with injuries,[2][3] they lost the final three conference games to unranked Oregon,[4] #9 UCLA, and #11 Washington State.[5][6]

At the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day against #25 Michigan State, Washington built a 31–10 lead at halftime and won 51–23;[3][7] it was Lambright's sole bowl victory in his six seasons as head coach. The win moved UW up three spots in the final rankings, to #18 in both major polls.[8]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 612:30 p.m.at No. 19 BYU*No. 4FSNW 42–2065,978
September 1312:30 p.m.San Diego State*No. 3FSNW 36–371,081
September 2012:30 p.m.No. 7 Nebraska*No. 2
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
ABCL 14–2774,023
October 43:30 p.m.No. 25 Arizona StateNo. 10
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
FSNW 26–1474,986
October 1112:30 p.m.at CaliforniaNo. 10W 30–348,000
October 1812:30 p.m.at ArizonaNo. 10ABCW 58–2850,585
October 253:30 p.m.at Oregon StateNo. 7FSNW 45–1728,067
November 112:30 p.m.USCNo. 7
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
ABCW 27–073,401
November 812:30 p.m.OregonNo. 6
L 28–3173,775
November 1512:30 p.m.at No. 9 UCLANo. 13ABCL 28–5285,697
November 2212:30 p.m.No. 11 Washington StateNo. 17
ABCL 35–4174,268
December 2512:30 p.m.vs. No. 25 Michigan State*No. 21ABCW 51–2334,419
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP4 (10)4 (9)4 (9)3 (14)2 (19)10101010776131721212118
Coaches3 (15)4 (7)3 (13)3 (12)111198776142022222318

Roster

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1997 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 88 Jeremy Brigham Sr
TE 85 Cameron Cleeland Sr
OT 67 Tony Coats Jr
WR 22 Fred Coleman Sr
FB 47 Pat Conniff Fr
OT 75 Aaron Dalan Jr
WR 3 Andre DeSaussure Jr
RB 18 Jason Harris Jr
WR 4 Ja'Warren Hooker Fr
QB 7 Brock Huard So
G 70 Ben Kadletz Jr
FB 25 George Keiaho Jr
C 77 Olin Kreutz Jr
G 75 Benji Olson Jr
WR 24 Jerome Pathon (C) Sr
FB 36 Mike Reed Jr
RB 32 Maurice Shaw So
RB 1 Rashaan Shehee (C) Sr
QB 11 Marques Tuiasosopo Fr
G 71 Chad Ward Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
ROV 8 Nigel Burton Jr
CB 10 Toure Butler Fr
DE 35 Cris Campbell Sr
DE 46 Jason Chorak Sr
CB 15 Javon Daniels So
LB 27 Marques Hairston So
DT 95 Jabari Issa So
LB 40 Jerry Jensen (C) Sr
CB 25 Mel Miller So
FS 7 Tony Parrish (C) Sr
LB 4 Jeremiah Pharms Fr
CB 1 Jermaine Smith So
LB 17 Lester Towns So
DT 78 Mac Tuiaea So
NT 67 Sekou Wiggs Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
PK 19 Nick Lentz Fr
P 13 Sean O'Laughlin Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt
Source:[9][10]

NFL draft

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Ten Huskies were selected in the 1998 NFL draft, which lasted seven rounds (241 selections).

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Jerome Pathon WR 2nd 32 Indianapolis Colts
Tony Parrish S 2nd 35 Chicago Bears
Cameron Cleeland TE 2nd 40 New Orleans Saints
Olin Kreutz C 3rd 64 Chicago Bears
Rashaan Shehee RB 3rd 88 Kansas City Chiefs
Jeremy Brigham TE 5th 127 Oakland Raiders
Jerry Jensen LB 5th 136 Carolina Panthers
Benji Olson G 5th 139 Tennessee Oilers
Fred Coleman WR 6th 160 Buffalo Bills
Jason Chorak LB 7th 236 St. Louis Rams

References

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  1. ^ "Washington Yearly Results (1995–1999)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Condotta, Bob (November 2, 1997). "UW emerges battered, not beaten". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Tacoma News Tribune). p. C1.
  3. ^ a b "UW leis Spartans low". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 26, 1997. p. C1.
  4. ^ Conrad, John (November 9, 1997). "Ducks turn Huskies to mush". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
  5. ^ Cour, Jim (November 23, 1997). "Everything comes up roses for WSU". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 1G.
  6. ^ Sando, Mike (November 23, 1997). "On to Pasadena!". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  7. ^ Withers, Bud (December 26, 1997). "Huskies too fast, too big for Spartans". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). p. 1C.
  8. ^ "College football final polls". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. January 3, 1998. p. 3D.
  9. ^ "Washington Huskies". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Football '97). August 26, 1997. p. C2.
  10. ^ Conrad, John (November 8, 1997). "Ducks need special effort against Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.