1997 San Diego State Aztecs football team

1997 San Diego State Aztecs football
1997 San Diego State Aztecs football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
	Pacific Division
Record	5–7 (4–4 WAC)
Head coach	Ted Tollner (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Dave Lay (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Claude Gilbert (7th as DC, 15th overall season)
Home stadium	Jack Murphy Stadium
	Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Mountain Division
New Mexico x	6	–	2	9	–	4
Rice	5	–	3	7	–	4
SMU	5	–	3	6	–	5
Utah	5	–	3	6	–	5
BYU	4	–	4	6	–	5
UTEP	3	–	5	4	–	7
Tulsa	2	–	6	2	–	9
TCU	1	–	7	1	–	10
Pacific Division
No. 17 Colorado State x$	7	–	1	11	–	2
Air Force	6	–	2	10	–	3
Fresno State	5	–	3	6	–	6
Wyoming	4	–	4	7	–	6
San Diego State	4	–	4	5	–	7
San Jose State	4	–	4	4	–	7
UNLV	2	–	6	3	–	8
Hawaii	1	–	7	3	–	9
Championship: Colorado State 41, New Mexico 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 San Diego State Aztecs football team represented San Diego State University during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

The team was led by head coach Ted Tollner, in his third year. They played home games at Jack Murphy Stadium^{[note 1]} in San Diego, California. They completed the season with a record of five wins, seven losses (5–7, 4–4 WAC).

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	Navy*	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	Fox West	W 45–31	21,176
September 13	at No. 3 Washington*	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	Fox West	L 3–36	71,081
September 20	at Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		L 10–38	76,864
September 27	at No. 25 Air Force	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	ESPN2	L 18–24 ^OT	48,399
October 4	at Arizona*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	Fox West	L 28–31	39,195
October 11	New Mexico	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		L 21–36	28,732
October 18	UNLV	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		W 20–17 ^OT	24,628
October 25	at Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	Cox 4	W 10–3	29,342
November 1	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	Cox 4	L 17–41	15,157
November 8	San Jose State	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	Cox 4	W 48–21	29,869
November 15	at Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA (rivalry)	Cox 4	W 20–19	34,195
November 22	No. 25 Colorado State	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA	ESPN	L 17–38	25,704
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

The following were selected in the 1998 NFL draft.^[3]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL Team
Kyle Turley	Tackle - Guard	1	7	New Orleans Saints
Az-Zahir Hakim	Wide Receiver	4	96	St. Louis Rams
Ephraim Salaam	Tackle	7	199	Atlanta Falcons

The following finished their college career in 1997, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.^[4]

Player	Position	First NFL Team
Jason Moore	Defensive Back	1999 Denver Broncos
Justin Watson	Running Back	1999 St. Louis Rams

Award	Player
Most Valuable Player (John Simcox Memorial Trophy)	Kyle Turley
Outstanding Players (Byron H. Chase Memorial Trophy)	Kyle Turley, OT Jonas Lewis, RB Az-Zahir Hakim, WR Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, DE Rico Curtis, SS Andy Osbourne, LB
Team captains Dr. R. Hardy / C.E. Peterson Memorial Trophy	Kyle Turley, Off Andy Osbourne, Def Julius McChristian, Def
Most Inspirational Player	Julius McChristian

^ San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (SDCCU Stadium) was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 through 1997.

^ "San Diego State 1997 Schedule". Retrieved December 8, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "San Diego State 2016 Football Media Guide". Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
^ "1998 NFL Draft". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
^ "San Diego St. Players/Alumni". Retrieved December 8, 2016.

v t e San Diego State Aztecs football
Venues	College Field / Aztec Field (1921, 1923–1925, 1927–1928, 1934–1935) Navy "Sports" Field (1922, 1926, 1929–1931, 1933–1934) Balboa Stadium (1921–1925, 1927–1929, 1932, 1934–1935, 1940–1941, 1945–1947, alternate in several other seasons) Aztec Bowl (1936–1942, 1947–1966) San Diego Stadium (1967–2019) Dignity Health Sports Park (2020–2021) Snapdragon Stadium (2022–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Fresno State NFL draftees
Seasons	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

1997 San Diego State Aztecs football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Record	5–7 (4–4 WAC)
Head coach	Ted Tollner (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dave Lay (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Claude Gilbert (7th as DC, 15th overall season)
Home stadium	Jack Murphy Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →