1997 Auburn Tigers football team

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.

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
Division	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	Conf							Overall
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

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

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football 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

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

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

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

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

References

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.