1997 Wisconsin Badgers football team

American college football season

1997 Wisconsin Badgers football

Outback Bowl, L 6-33 vs. Georgia

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 8-5 (5-3 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Barry Alvarez (8th season)

Offensive coordinator| Brad Childress (6th as OC; 7th overall season)
Offensive scheme| Smashmouth
Defensive coordinator| Kevin Cosgrove (3rd as OC; 8th overall season)
Base defense| 4–3
MVP| Tom Burke
Captain| Kevin Huntley
David Lysek
Carl McCullough
Home stadium| Camp Randall Stadium
(Capacity: 76,129)

Seasons

<- 1996

1998 ->

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

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 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.

## Schedule[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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|

August 24| 1:00 p.m.| vs. No. 17 Syracuse*| No. 24|

* Giants Stadium
* East Rutherford, NJ (Kickoff Classic)

| ABC| L 0–34| 51,185
September 6| 2:00 p.m.| Boise State*| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| | W 28–24| 73,209
September 13| 5:30 p.m.| at San Jose State*| |

* Spartan Stadium
* San Jose, CA

| | W 56–10| 23,042
September 20| 1:00 p.m.| San Diego State*| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| | W 36–10| 76,864
September 27| 11:20 a.m.| Indiana| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN+| W 27–26| 78,211
October 4| 6:00 p.m.| at Northwestern| |

* Ryan Field
* Evanston, IL

| ESPN| W 26–25| 47,129
October 11| 11:20 a.m.| Illinois| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ESPN+| W 31–7| 79,327
October 18| 1:00 p.m.| at Purdue| No. 24|

* Ross–Ade Stadium
* West Lafayette, IN

| | L 20–45| 54,252
October 25| 11:30 a.m.| at Minnesota| |

* Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* Minneapolis, MN (Paul Bunyan's Axe)

| ESPN2| W 22–21| 57,563
November 8| 11:30 a.m.| No. 12 Iowa| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI (rivalry)

| ESPN| W 13–10| 79,864
November 15| 2:30 p.m.| No. 1 Michigan| No. 23|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ABC| L 16–26| 79,806
November 22| 2:30 p.m.| at No. 6 Penn State| No. 24|

* Beaver Stadium
* University Park, PA

| ABC| L 10–35| 96,934
January 1, 1998| 10:00 a.m.| vs. No. 11 Georgia*| |

* Houlihan's Stadium
* Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)

| ESPN| L 6–33| 56,186

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

## Rankings[edit]

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked| 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| —| —| —| —

## Season summary[edit]

### Syracuse[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

• Syracuse | 10 | 14| 7| 3 | 34
Wisconsin | 0 | 0| 0| 0 | 0

* Date: August 24
* Location: Giants Stadium
* Game attendance: 51,185

[1]

### Boise State[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

Boise St | 10 | 7| 0| 7 | 24
• Wisconsin | 7 | 7| 7| 7 | 28

* Date: September 6
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium

[2]

### San Jose State[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

• Wisconsin | 14 | 28| 14| 0 | 56
San Jose St | 10 | 0| 0| 0 | 10

* Date: September 13
* Location: Spartan Stadium
* Game attendance: 23,042

[3]

### San Diego State[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

San Diego St | 0 | 0| 3| 7 | 10
• Wisconsin | 17 | 5| 7| 7 | 36

* Date: September 20
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium

[4]

### Indiana[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
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Indiana | 7 | 10| 6| 3 | 26
• Wisconsin | 7 | 10| 0| 10 | 27

* Date: September 27
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium

[5]

### Northwestern[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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|
|
|
|

• Wisconsin | 13 | 3| 7| 3 | 26
Northwestern | 6 | 8| 11| 0 | 25

* Date: October 4
* Location: Ryan Field

[6]

### Illinois[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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|
|
|
|

Illinois | 0 | 7| 0| 0 | 7
• Wisconsin | 14 | 7| 10| 0 | 31

* Date: October 11
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium

[7]

### Purdue[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

Wisconsin | 0 | 10| 7| 3 | 20
• Purdue | 21 | 7| 7| 10 | 45

* Date: October 18
* Location: Ross–Ade Stadium

[8]

### Minnesota[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

• Wisconsin | 7 | 6| 0| 9 | 22
Minnesota | 8 | 0| 13| 0 | 21

* Date: October 25
* Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* Game attendance: 57,563
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)

| 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

[9]

### Iowa[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
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Iowa | 0 | 0| 7| 3 | 10
• Wisconsin | 0 | 13| 0| 0 | 13

* Date: November 8
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium
* Game attendance: 79,864

See also: 1997 Iowa Hawkeyes football team and Iowa–Wisconsin football rivalry

[10]

### Michigan[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

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|
|
|
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• Michigan | 7 | 9| 0| 10 | 26
Wisconsin | 0 | 3| 7| 6 | 16

* Date: November 15
* Location: Camp Randall Stadium

[11]

### Penn State[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
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|
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Wisconsin | 3 | 0| 0| 7 | 10
• Penn St | 7 | 14| 14| 0 | 35

* Date: November 22
* Location: Beaver Stadium

[12]

### Outback Bowl[edit]

|  | 1 | 2| 3| 4| Total

|
|
|
|
|

Wisconsin | 0 | 0| 0| 6 | 6
• Georgia | 12 | 7| 7| 7 | 33

* Date: January 1
* Location: Tampa Stadium
* Game attendance: 56,186

Main article: 1998 Outback Bowl

[13]

## Roster[edit]

1997 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

WR | `7` | Willie Austin | So
FB | `32` | Branden Cantrell | Sr
WR | `88` | Chris Chambers | Fr
FB | `48` | Rob Christen |  Fr
G | `54` | Dave Costa |  Fr
OT | `66` | Pat Daley |  So
RB | `33` | Ron Dayne | So
RB | `4` | Eddie Faulkner |  Fr
G | `60` | Bill Ferrario |  Fr
OT | `79` | Aaron Gibson | Jr
WR | `23` | Rasheed Golden | Fr
TE | `89` | Eric Grams |  Jr
G | `73` | Joe Gribowski |  Fr
WR | `84` | Donald Hayes | Sr
WR | `6` | Kevin Huntley (C) | Sr
OL | `76` | Josh Jakubowski | Fr
OL | `52` | Coleman Johnson |  Jr
QB | `12` | Scott Kavanagh | So
FB | `37` | Cecil Martin |  Jr
QB | `19` | Ben McCormick |  Sr
RB | `13` | Carl McCullough (C) |  Sr
OT | `75` | Chris McIntosh |  So
WR | `1` | Ahmad Merritt |  So
C | `70` | Casey Rabach |  Fr
TE | `87` | Dague Retzlaff |  Fr
C | `53` | Rob Roell |  So
QB | `10` | Mike Samuel |  Jr
TE | `85` | John Sigmund | Fr
WR | `82` | Tony Simmons |  Sr
TE, LS | `86` | Mike Solwold |  Fr
TE | `49` | Ryan Sondrup |  Jr
OT | `74` | Mark Tauscher |  So
WR | `29` | Delta Triplett |  Sr
RB | `22` | Charles Williams |  So
RB | `21` | Tony Williams |  So
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

LB | `29` | Bob Adamov |  Jr
S | `17` | Demetrius Brown |  So
CB | `3` | Onjai Bryant | So
DE | `74` | Tom Burke | Jr
CB | `38` | Lamar Campbell | Sr
DE | `25` | Marcus Carpenter |  So
DE | `99` | Dave Cruickshank |  Jr
LB | `51` | Mark Davis |  Jr
S | `8` | Jason Doering |  Fr
LB | `50` | Donny Eicher |  So
DE | `96` | John Favret | Fr
LB | `16` | Chris Ghidorzi | So
LB | `5` | Edgerton Hartwell |  Fr
NT | `59` | Joe Innis |  Sr
NT | `58` | Chris Janek | So
S | `24` | Donte King | Fr
LB | `19` | Roger Knight | Fr
DT | `78` | Ross Kolodziej |  Fr
LB | `45` | Dan Lisowski | Fr
DE | `91` | Rob Lurtsema |  Sr
LB | `57` | David Lysek (C) |  Sr
NT | `71` | Eric Mahlik |  Fr
LB | `32` | Ryan Marks |  Fr
DE | `9` | Sam Mueller |  Fr
S | `26` | Bobby Myers |  So
S | `15` | Tim Rosga |  So
CB | `28` | Jason Suttle |  Sr
S | `34` | Leonard Taylor |  Jr
LB | `44` | Donnel Thompson | So
S | `33` | Scott Wagner |  Sr
S | `18` | Shadrick Washington |  Fr
LB | `2` | Marcus White |  So
DT | `92` | Brandon Williams |  Jr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

K | `28` | Matt Davenport | Jr
K | `20` | Vitaly Pisetsky | So
LS | `46` | Mike Schneck |  So
P | `23` | Eric Skrzypchak |  So
TE, LS | `86` | Mike Solwold |  Fr
P | `14` | Kevin Stemke | Fr

Head coach

* Barry Alvarez

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

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster
Last update: 1997-06-17

Source:[14]

## Regular starters[edit]

| Position  | Player

|

Quarterback  | Mike Samuel
Running Back  | Ron Dayne
Fullback  | Cecil Martin
Wide Receiver  | Donald Hayes
Wide Receiver  | Tony Simmons
Tight End  | Eric Grams
Left Tackle  | Chris McIntosh
Left Guard  | Bill Ferrario
Center  | Casey Rabach
Right Guard  | Dave Costa
Right Tackle  | Aaron Gibson
| Position  | Player

|

Defensive End  | John Favret
Defensive Tackle  | Ross Kolodziej
Nose Guard  | Chris Janek
Defensive End  | Tom Burke
Outside Linebacker  | Bob Adamov
Inside Linebacker  | Donnel Thompson
Outside Linebacker  | David Lysek
Cornerback  | Jason Suttle
Free Safety  | Bobby Myers
Strong Safety  | Leonard Taylor
Cornerback  | Lamar Campbell

## Team players selected in the 1998 NFL Draft[edit]

Player | Position | Round | Overall Selection | NFL Team

|
|
|
|

Tony Simmons | Wide Receiver | 2 | 52 | New England Patriots
Donald Hayes | Wide Receiver | 4 | 106 | Carolina Panthers

[15]

## References[edit]

1. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
2. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
3. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
4. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
5. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
6. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
7. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
8. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
9. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
10. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
11. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
12. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
13. ^ USA Today. Retrieved 2015-Oct-04.
14. ^ "Wisconsin Badgers". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. (roster). January 1, 1998. p. 4C.
15. ^ "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2016.

* v
* t
* e

Wisconsin Badgers football

Venues|

* Randall Field (1895–1916)
* Camp Randall Stadium (1917–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Iowa
* Minnesota
* Nebraska

Culture & lore|

* Bucky Badger
* "On, Wisconsin!"
* Marching band
* "Jump Around"
* Tall Grass Game
* Crazylegs

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders
* Retired numbers

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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number