1997 Florida Gators football team

1997 Florida Gators football
1997 Florida Gators football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 21–6 vs. Penn State
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 4
Record	10–2 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach	Steve Spurrier (8th season);
Offensive coordinator	Carl Franks (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Fun and gun
Defensive coordinator	Bob Stoops (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium; (Capacity: 83,000)
	Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Eastern Division
No. 7 Tennessee x$	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 10 Georgia	6	–	2	10	–	2
No. 4 Florida	6	–	2	10	–	2
South Carolina	3	–	5	5	–	6
Kentucky	2	–	6	5	–	6
Vanderbilt	0	–	8	3	–	8
Western Division
No. 11 Auburn xy	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 13 LSU x	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 22 Ole Miss	4	–	4	8	–	4
Mississippi State	4	–	4	7	–	4
Arkansas	2	–	6	4	–	7
Alabama	2	–	6	4	–	7
Championship: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season was the eighth for Steve Spurrier as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team. Spurrier's 1997 Florida Gators finished with a 10–2 overall record and a 6–2 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), tying for second place among the six SEC Eastern Division teams.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	Southern Miss*	No. 2	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	ESPN2	W 21–6	85,439	^[3]
September 6	Central Michigan*	No. 2	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	W 82–6	85,347	^[4]
September 20	No. 4 Tennessee	No. 3	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry, College GameDay)	CBS	W 33–20	85,714	^[5]
September 27	at Kentucky	No. 1	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	CBS	W 55–28	59,244	^[6]
October 4	Arkansas	No. 1	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	ESPN2	W 56–7	85,253	^[7]
October 11	at No. 14 LSU	No. 1	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry, College GameDay)	ESPN	L 21–28	80,677	^[8]
October 18	at No. 6 Auburn	No. 7	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry, College GameDay)	CBS	W 24–10	85,244	^[9]
November 1	vs. No. 14 Georgia	No. 6	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	CBS	L 17–37	84,297	^[10]
November 8	Vanderbilt	No. 13	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	JPS	W 20–7	85,305	^[11]
November 15	at South Carolina	No. 12	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	JPS	W 48–21	80,072	^[12]
November 22	No. 2 Florida State*	No. 10	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry, College GameDay)	CBS	W 32–29	85,677	^[13]
January 1, 1998	vs. No. 11 Penn State*	No. 6	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 21–6	72,940	^[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	2 (12)	2 (14)	2 (14)	2 (15)	3 (14)	1 (32)	1 (36)	1 (35)	7	6	6	13	12	10	7	6	6	4
Coaches Poll	1 (19)	1 (19)	1 (25)	1 (25)	1 (25)	1 (43)	1 (45)	1 (48)	6	6	6	13	12	10	8	8	8	6

Personnel

1997 Florida Gators football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Ian Alestock
OL		Cheston Blackshear
QB		Noah Brindise
RB		Bo Carroll
OL		Mo Collins
TE		Dwight Edge
FB		Rod Frazier
WR	`5`	Jacquez Green	Jr
WR		Darrell Jackson
RB		Terry Jackson
TE		Erron Kinney
RB		Eugene McCaslin
QB	`7`	Jesse Palmer	Fr
QB	`12`	Doug Johnson	So
OL		Ryan Kalich
WR		Nafis Karim
WR	`3`	Travis McGriff	Jr
OL		Zach Piller
WR		Jamie Richardson
QB		Larry Richart
OL		Wyley Ritch
TE		Taras Ross
WR		Ian Skinner
RB	`21`	Fred Taylor	Sr
WR		Travis Taylor

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL		Tim Beauchamp
DB		Teako Brown
DL		Ed Chester
DL		Willie Cohens
CB	`1`	Tony George	Jr
DB		Ron Graddy
DL		Jevon Kearse
LB		Keith Kelsey
DL		Reggie McGrew
DL		Mike Moten
LB		Mike Peterson
DL		Willie Rodgers
LB		Johnny Rutledge
LB		Dwayne Thomas
CB	`24`	Fred Weary	Sr
DB		Elijah Williams

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name
K		Jeff Chandler
K	`95`	Collins Cooper
P		Josh Korn
P		Robby Stevenson

Head coach

Steve Spurrier

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Bob Stoops
Rod Broadway
Defensive line
Carl Franks
Offensive coordinator/Running backs
Sammy McCorkle
Graduate assistant

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1997 Football Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
^ ^a ^b 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.
^ "Gators crawl to win". Florida Today. August 31, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "No. 2 Florida airs it out in 82–6 rout". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 7, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Chokehold stymies Vols". Chicago Tribune. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Kentucky closes gap, but UF rolls". The Orlando Sentinel. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "No. 1 Gators butcher Hogs". The Bradenton Herald. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Motivated Tigers upset Gators". Albuquerque Journal. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators top Auburn with No. 3 QB". The Atlanta Journal. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The party's over as Dawgs chomp on Gators". Tallahassee Democrat. November 2, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "To Gators, Vandy is handy". South Florida Sun Sentinel. November 9, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Florida pulls away from Gamecocks". The Times and Democrat. November 16, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gator redemption: Rally shocks FSU". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 23, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Somber ending; Senior Nittany Lions melancholy after loss to Florida". The Times Leader. January 2, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] University of Florida Sports Information Department. "Florida 1997 Football Guide" (PDF). floridagators.com. University Athletic Association, Inc. Retrieved March 15, 2018.

[ufmediaguide-2] 2015 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 107 (2015). Retrieved August 16, 2015.

[3] "Gators crawl to win". Florida Today. August 31, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "No. 2 Florida airs it out in 82–6 rout". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 7, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Chokehold stymies Vols". Chicago Tribune. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Kentucky closes gap, but UF rolls". The Orlando Sentinel. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "No. 1 Gators butcher Hogs". The Bradenton Herald. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Motivated Tigers upset Gators". Albuquerque Journal. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "Gators top Auburn with No. 3 QB". The Atlanta Journal. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "The party's over as Dawgs chomp on Gators". Tallahassee Democrat. November 2, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "To Gators, Vandy is handy". South Florida Sun Sentinel. November 9, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "Florida pulls away from Gamecocks". The Times and Democrat. November 16, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "Gator redemption: Rally shocks FSU". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 23, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[14] "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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v t e Florida Gators football
Venues	The Baseball Park (1906–1910) University Athletic Field / Fleming Field (1911–1930) Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Auburn Florida State (Florida Cup) Georgia Kentucky LSU Miami (Florida Cup) Tennessee
Culture & lore	History The Pride of the Sunshine Gator Chomp Mr. Two Bits Gatorade 1961 gambling scandal 1992 SEC Championship Game 2009 SEC Championship Game
People	Head coaches Ring of Honor All-Americans UF Athletic Hall of Fame Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL draftees
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National championship seasons in bold