The 1997 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season . They were led by eight year head coach Barry Alvarez and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference . The Badgers played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin .
After suffering a humiliating loss at the hands of Donovan McNabb and the Syracuse Orangemen in their season opener, the Wisconsin Badgers sprang back to win eight of their next nine games. After defeating Boise State, San Jose State, and San Diego State, the Badgers won consecutive games with field goals as time expired against Indiana and Northwestern. In the course of this streak, the Badgers snapped a long losing streak at the hands of the Iowa Hawkeyes with a 13–10 win, the first Wisconsin win over a Hayden Fry -coached team ever. After defeating Iowa, Barry Alvarez's team fell apart down the stretch, losing to eventual national champion Michigan, Penn State, and Georgia in the Outback Bowl.
While the Badgers suffered a 3-game losing streak to close out the year, the 1997 campaign set the stage for the incredibly successful 1998 season .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source August 24 1:00 p.m. vs. No. 17 Syracuse * No. 24 ABC L 0–3451,185 September 6 2:00 p.m. Boise State * W 28–2473,209 September 13 5:30 p.m. at San Jose State * W 56–1023,042 September 20 1:00 p.m. San Diego State * Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI W 36–1076,864 September 27 11:20 a.m. Indiana Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI ESPN Plus W 27–2678,211 October 4 6:00 p.m. at Northwestern ESPN W 26–2547,129 October 11 11:20 a.m. Illinois Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI ESPN Plus W 31–779,327 October 18 1:00 p.m. at Purdue No. 24 L 20–4554,252 October 25 11:30 a.m. at Minnesota ESPN2 W 22–2157,563 November 8 11:30 a.m. No. 12 Iowa Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry ) ESPN W 13–1079,864 November 15 2:30 p.m. No. 1 Michigan No. 23 Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI ABC L 16–2679,806 November 22 2:30 p.m. at No. 6 Penn State No. 24 ABC L 10–3596,934 January 1, 1998 10:00 a.m. vs. No. 11 Georgia * ESPN L 6–3356,186 [ 1] *Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Final AP 24 — — — — — — — 24 — — — 23 24 — — — — Coaches 24 — — — — — — 24 — — — 24 24 — — — —
1
2 3 4 Total
• Syracuse
10
14 7 3
34
Wisconsin
0
0 0 0
0
[ 2]
1
2 3 4 Total
Boise St
10
7 0 7
24
• Wisconsin
7
7 7 7
28
[ 3]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Wisconsin
14
28 14 0
56
San Jose St
10
0 0 0
10
[ 4]
1
2 3 4 Total
San Diego St
0
0 3 7
10
• Wisconsin
17
5 7 7
36
[ 5]
1
2 3 4 Total
Indiana
7
10 6 3
26
• Wisconsin
7
10 0 10
27
[ 6]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Wisconsin
13
3 7 3
26
Northwestern
6
8 11 0
25
[ 7]
1
2 3 4 Total
Illinois
0
7 0 0
7
• Wisconsin
14
7 10 0
31
[ 8]
1
2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin
0
10 7 3
20
• Purdue
21
7 7 10
45
[ 9]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Wisconsin
7
6 0 9
22
Minnesota
8
0 13 0
21
Scoring summary Q1 12:00 WIS Simmons 53 yard pass from Samuel (Davenport kick)WIS 7–0 Q1 3:50 MINN Bailey 30 yard field goal WIS 7–3 Q1 1:55 MINN Safety WIS 7–5 Q1 :10 MINN Bailey 42 yard field goal MINN 8–7 Q2 11:52 WIS Hayes 53 yard pass from Samuel (two-point conversion failed)WIS 13–8 Q3 7:57 MINN Nelson 11 yard pass from Sauter (two-point conversion failed) MINN 14–13 Q3 3:50 MINN Evans 4 yard run (Bailey kick) MINN 21–13 Q4 13:18 WIS Davenport 38 yard field goal MINN 21–16 Q4 7:10 WIS Dayne 1 yard run (two-point conversion failed)WIS 22–21
[ 10]
1
2 3 4 Total
Iowa
0
0 7 3
10
• Wisconsin
0
13 0 0
13
[ 11]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Michigan
7
9 0 10
26
Wisconsin
0
3 7 6
16
[ 12]
1
2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin
3
0 0 7
10
• Penn St
7
14 14 0
35
[ 13]
1
2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin
0
0 0 6
6
• Georgia
12
7 7 7
33
[ 14]
1997 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Brad Childress – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Kevin Cosgrove – Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Tim Davis – Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends Phil Elmassian – Defensive Backs Jay Hayes – Outside Linebackers/Strong Safeties/Special Teams
Jim Hueber – Guards and Centers
Henry Mason – Wide Receivers
John Palermo – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line Brian White – Running Backs
Bernie Wyatt – Director of Football Operations Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible Roster
Source: [ 15] Team players selected in the 1998 NFL Draft
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