1997 Michigan State Spartans football team

1997 Michigan State Spartans football
Aloha Bowl, L 23–51 vs. Washington
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Nick Saban (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro set
Defensive coordinator	Dean Pees (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Ike Reese
Captain	Ike Reese, Scott Shaw
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
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

The 1997 Michigan State Spartans football team competed on behalf of Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by third-year head coach Nick Saban, the Spartans compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the Big Ten. Michigan State was invited to the Aloha Bowl, where they lost, 51–23, on December 25 to Washington. The team played home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	12:30 p.m.	Western Michigan*	No. 25	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN Plus	W 42–10	72,317
September 13	1:00 p.m.	Memphis*	No. 21	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 51–21	72,131
September 20	1:30 p.m.	at Notre Dame*	No. 17	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 23–7	80,225
October 4	1:00 p.m.	Minnesota	No. 12	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		W 31–10	75,263
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at Indiana	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 38–6	35,082
October 18	3:30 p.m.	at Northwestern	No. 12	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 17–19	47,129
October 25	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan	No. 15	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry, College GameDay)	ESPN	L 7–23	79,687
November 1	3:30 p.m.	No. 9 Ohio State	No. 21	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ABC	L 13–37	74,903
November 8	12:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	L 21–22	55,539
November 22	2:00 p.m.	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 27–17	30,087
November 29	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Penn State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI (rivalry)	ABC	W 49–14	73,623
December 25	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 21 Washington*	No. 25	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ABC	L 23–51	34,419
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Michigan St	14	3	3	3	23
Notre Dame	0	7	0	0	7

Scoring summary

Q1	12:28	MSU	Keur 5 yard pass from Schultz (Gardner kick)	MSU 7–0

Q1	4:47	MSU	Schultz 1 yard run (Gardner kick)	MSU 14–0

Q2	6:28	MSU	Gardner 31 yard field goal	MSU 17–0

Q2	:27	ND	Brown 7 yard pass from Powlus (Sanson kick)	MSU 17–7

Q3	7:12	MSU	Gardner 32 yard field goal	MSU 20–7

Q4	6:26	MSU	Gardner 31 yard field goal	MSU 23–7

Michigan State's first win versus Notre Dame since 1986.

The following players were selected in the 1998 NFL Draft.

^ "Michigan State vs. Notre Dame". USA Today. September 20, 1997. Retrieved August 17, 2014.

v t e Michigan State Spartans football
Venues	Old College Field (1902–1922) Spartan Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana Michigan Notre Dame Penn State
Culture & lore	Sparty "Victory for MSU" Marching band Zeke the Wonder Dog 1966 "Game of the Century" 2001 Michigan game 2006 Northwestern game 2015 Michigan game
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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