1997 Auburn Tigers football team

1997 Auburn Tigers football
1997 Auburn Tigers football
SEC Western Division co-champion; Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl champion
SEC Championship Game, L 29-30 vs. Tennessee
Peach Bowl, W 21–17 vs. Clemson
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Western Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 11
Record	10–3 (6–2 SEC)
Head coach	Terry Bowden;
Offensive coordinator	Rodney Allison
Defensive coordinator	Bill Oliver
Home stadium	Jordan-Hare Stadium
	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 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team, coached by Terry Bowden, finished with a 10–3 record and won the school's first SEC West Division championship, but lost by a point to Tennessee in the 1997 SEC Championship Game. The Tigers ended the season with a #11 ranking in the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll after winning the Peach Bowl against Clemson on January 2.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	7:00 p.m.	at Virginia*	No. 18	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ESPN	W 28–17	45,300	^[1]
September 13	11:30 a.m.	Ole Miss	No. 16	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	JPS	W 19–9	81,203	^[2]
September 20	6:30 p.m.	at No. 10 LSU	No. 12	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 31–28	80,538	^[3]
September 27	6:00 p.m.	UCF*	No. 8	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	PPV	W 41–14	82,109	^[4]
October 4	11:30 a.m.	at South Carolina	No. 8	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	JPS	W 23–6	79,411	^[5]
October 11	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana Tech*	No. 8	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	PPV	W 49–13	84,761	^[6]
October 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Florida	No. 6	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry, College GameDay)	CBS	L 10–24	85,214	^[7]
October 25	5:00 p.m.	at Arkansas	No. 11	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	ESPN2	W 26–21	41,277	^[8]
November 1	1:00 p.m.	Mississippi State	No. 11	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		L 0–20	82,736	^[9]
November 15	4:50 p.m.	at No. 7 Georgia	No. 16	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)	ESPN	W 45–34	86,117	^[10]
November 22	6:30 p.m.	Alabama	No. 13	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (Iron Bowl)	ESPN	W 18–17	85,214	^[11]
December 6	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Tennessee	No. 11	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game, rivalry)	ABC	L 29–30	74,896	^[12]
January 2	2:00 p.m.	vs. Clemson*	No. 13	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl, rivalry)	ESPN	W 21–17	71,212	^[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ 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	16	17	16	16	12	8	8	8	6	11	11	17	16	13	13	11	13	11
Coaches	19		18	16	12	8	9	8	7	11	11	17	16	13	13	11	13	11

Game summaries

Florida

At Auburn

#7 Florida Gators (5–1) at #6 Auburn Tigers (6–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida	10	0	7	7	24
Auburn	7	3	0	0	10

at Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama

Date: October 18
Game time: 2:30 p.m. CDT
Game weather: Partly cloudy, 65 °F (18 °C)
Game attendance: 85,244
Referee: A. Sizemore
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

UF – Jamie Richardson 12-yard pass from Jacquez Green (Collins Cooper kick), 11:00. Florida 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 43 yards, 1:41.
UF – Collins Cooper 22-yard field goal, 5:49. Florida 10–0. Drive: 8 plays, 19 yards, 4:03.
AUB – Tyrone Dillard 15-yard pass from Dameyune Craig (Jaret Holmes kick), 0:16. Florida 10–7. Drive: 5 plays, 49 yards, 1:56.

Second quarter

AUB – Jaret Holmes 20-yard field goal, 0:00. Tie 10–10. Drive: 11 plays, 81 yards, 2:28.

Third quarter

UF – Jacquez Green 10-yard pass from Noah Brindise (Collins Cooper kick), 7:50. Florida 17–10. Drive: 14 plays, 97 yards, 5:20.

Fourth quarter

UF – Jacquez Green 5-yard run (Collins Cooper kick), 4:27. Florida 24–10. Drive: 2 plays, 6 yards, 0:49.

Top passers

UF – Jesse Palmer – 8/14, 92 yards, 2 INT
AUB – Dameyune Craig – 18/34, 187 yards, TD, INT

Top rushers

UF – Fred Taylor – 34 rushes, 140 yards
AUB – Rusty Williams – 8 rushes, 22 yards

Top receivers

UF – Travis McGriff – 3 receptions, 44 yards
AUB – Karsten Bailey – 4 receptions, 56 yards

References

^ "SEC's Auburn defeats ACC's Virginia". The Orlando Sentinel. September 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tigers ambush Rebs". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 14, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Late TD sparks Auburn". The Charlotte Observer. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UCF can't keep up at Auburn". The Orlando Sentinel. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Craig-led Auburn shuts door on Gamecocks, 23–6". The Courier-Journal. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Bring on the Gators! Auburn crushes La. Tech". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Gators top Auburn with No. 3 QB". The Atlanta Journal. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Arkansas rally falls short". Tulsa World. October 26, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "State shuts out Auburn". The Anniston Star. November 2, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tigers top Dawgs, stay in title hunt". The Sun Herald. November 16, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Holmes cookin' - Tigers cash in late fumble to steal historic win". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 23, 1997. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Volunteers win SEC title, await their bowl destiny". The Courier-Journal. December 7, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Other Tigers rally in 4th". The Herald. January 3, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

This college football 1990s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a sports team in Alabama is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "SEC's Auburn defeats ACC's Virginia". The Orlando Sentinel. September 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Tigers ambush Rebs". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 14, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "Late TD sparks Auburn". The Charlotte Observer. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "UCF can't keep up at Auburn". The Orlando Sentinel. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Craig-led Auburn shuts door on Gamecocks, 23–6". The Courier-Journal. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "Bring on the Gators! Auburn crushes La. Tech". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "Gators top Auburn with No. 3 QB". The Atlanta Journal. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Arkansas rally falls short". Tulsa World. October 26, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] "State shuts out Auburn". The Anniston Star. November 2, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "Tigers top Dawgs, stay in title hunt". The Sun Herald. November 16, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Holmes cookin' - Tigers cash in late fumble to steal historic win". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 23, 1997. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "Volunteers win SEC title, await their bowl destiny". The Courier-Journal. December 7, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "Other Tigers rally in 4th". The Herald. January 3, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[1]

v t e Auburn Tigers football
Venues	Drill Field (1892–1910) Drake Field (1911–1939) Legion Field (alternate, 1926–1991) Jordan-Hare Stadium (1939–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama: Iron Bowl (James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy) Clemson Florida Georgia: Deep South's Oldest Rivalry Georgia Tech LSU Ole Miss Tennessee Tulane
Culture & lore	History Traditions Aubie "War Eagle" Marching band Toomer's Corner Punt Bama Punt Earthquake Game Prayer at Jordan-Hare Kick Six (Kick Bama Kick) Porter Cup
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 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