1997 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

The 1997 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Billy Joe, the Rattlers compiled an overall record of 9–3, with a mark of 5–2 in conference play, and finished tied for second in the MEAC. Florida A&M completed their season with a loss against Georgia Southern in the NCAA Division I-AA First Round.

1997 Florida A&M Rattlers football
NCAA Division I-AA First Round, L 37–52 at Georgia Southern
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 10
Record	9–3 (5–2 MEAC)
Head coach	Billy Joe (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Gulf Coast
Home stadium	Bragg Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 Hampton $^		7	–	0					10	–	2
No. 22 South Carolina State		5	–	2					9	–	2
No. 10 Florida A&M ^		5	–	2					9	–	3
Howard		4	–	3					7	–	4
North Carolina A&T		3	–	4					7	–	4
Morgan State		2	–	5					3	–	7
Bethune–Cookman		1	–	6					4	–	7
Delaware State		1	–	6					3	–	8
Norfolk State		0	–	0					3	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Norfolk State games did not count as conference games. Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	Tennessee State*	No. 18	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 43–28	18,631	[1]
September 13	Norfolk State*	No. 16	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 41–26	10,083	[2]
September 20	No. 8 Jackson State*	No. 15	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 30–14	10,473	[3]
September 27	at Howard	No. 12	William H. Greene Stadium Washington, DC	W 24–15		[4]
October 4	at Hampton	No. 12	Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA	L 15–18	12,207	[5]
October 11	at North Carolina A&T	No. 16	Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC	L 37–40 2OT	12,597	[6]
October 18	Delaware State	No. 21	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 49–0	10,128	[7]
November 1	vs. Morgan State	No. 17	Chris Gillman Stadium Kingsland, GA	W 42–13		[8]
November 8	No. 6 Southern*	No. 15	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 33–3	33,441	[9]
November 15	at No. 17 South Carolina State	No. 10	Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Orangeburg, SC	W 22–20	12,784	[10]
November 22	vs. Bethune–Cookman	No. 10	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Classic)	W 52–35	56,531	[11]
November 29	at No. 8 Georgia Southern*	No. 10	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	L 37–52	10,409	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game