1997 Kansas State Wildcats football team

The 1997 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University as a member of the North Division of the Big 12 Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Bill Snyder, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 11–1 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big 12's North Division. Kansas State was invited to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Wildcats defeated Donovan McNabb's Syracuse Orangemen. The team played home games at KSU Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.

1997 Kansas State Wildcats football
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 35–18 vs. Syracuse
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 8
Record	11–1 (7–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Bill Snyder (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron Hudson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Mike Stoops (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	KSU Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Big 12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
No. 2 Nebraska † xy$		8	–	0					13	–	0
No. 8 Kansas State  %		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 23 Missouri		5	–	3					7	–	5
Colorado		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		3	–	5					5	–	6
Iowa State		1	–	7					1	–	10
South Division
No. 20 Texas A&M xy		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 24 Oklahoma State		5	–	3					8	–	4
Texas Tech		5	–	3					6	–	5
Texas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Oklahoma		2	–	6					4	–	8
Baylor		1	–	7					2	–	9
Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15
x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant † – Coaches Poll national champion $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	6:30 p.m.	at Northern Illinois*	No. 21	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 47–7	26,873
September 13	6:10 p.m.	Ohio*	No. 20	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 23–20	42,097
September 27	1:10 p.m.	Bowling Green*	No. 18	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 58–0	41,524
October 4	6:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Nebraska	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	FX	L 26–56	75,856
October 11	11:30 a.m.	Missouri	No. 22	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	FSN	W 41–11	43,510
October 18	2:30 p.m.	No. 14 Texas A&M	No. 20	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	ABC	W 36–17	43,601
October 25	1:30 p.m.	at Oklahoma	No. 14	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		W 26–7	68,433
November 1	11:30 a.m.	at Texas Tech	No. 13	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	FSN	W 13–2	38,322
November 8	1:10 p.m.	Kansas	No. 11	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	PPV	W 48–16	43,832
November 15	2:30 p.m.	Colorado	No. 10	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ABC	W 37–20	43,981
November 22	11:30 a.m.	at Iowa State	No. 9	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)	FSN	W 28–3	24,042
December 31	6:00 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Syracuse*	No. 10	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	CBS	W 35–18	69,367
*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
т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	23	22	21т	20	20	18	17	22	20	14	13	11	10	9	11	10	10	8
Coaches	23		23	20	19	17	16	23	20	13	12	10	8	7	9	9	9	7

Game summaries

Nebraska

See also: 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Kansas State at Nebraska

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas State	6	0	6	14	26
• Nebraska	10	10	21	15	56

• Date: 1997-10-04
• Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Game start: 6:00 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 75,856
• TV announcers (FX): Drew Goodman, Artie Gigantino

Texas A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Texas A&M	0	3	7	7	17
No. 20 Kansas State	13	3	7	13	36

Kansas

See also: Sunflower Showdown

Kansas Jayhawks at #11 Kansas State Wildcats

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Kansas	3	6	0	7	16
Kansas State	14	10	14	10	48

at KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas

• Date: November 8, 1997
• Game time: 1:10 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 43,832
• Box Score & Recap

Syracuse (Fiesta Bowl)

Main article: 1997 Fiesta Bowl (December)

See also: 1997 Syracuse Orangemen football team

1997 Fiesta Bowl

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• #10 Kansas State	0	21	0	14	35
#14 Syracuse	3	12	0	3	18

• Date: 1997-12-31
• Location: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
• Game attendance: 69,367
• Referee: David Witvoet (Big Ten)
• TV announcers (CBS): Tim Brando and Ed Cunningham

Roster

1997 Kansas State Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 32 David Allen So QB 7 Michael Bishop Jr WR 80 Darnell McDonald Jr TE 86 Justin Swift Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 44 Monty Beisel Fr CB 23 Jerametrius Butler Fr DB 1 Lamar Chapman So S 40 Jarrod Cooper Fr DL 49 Darren Howard So LB 8 Jeff Kelly So LB 50 Travis Ochs Jr LB 42 Mark Simoneau So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Martín Gramática Jr	Head coach Bill Snyder Coordinators/assistant coaches Ron Hudson – Offensive Coordinator & quarterbacks Michael Smith – Running backs Greg Peterson – Wide receivers & passing game coordinator Larry Kramer – Tight ends & Special Teams Coordinator Mike Stoops – Defensive Coordinator & defensive backs Mo Latimore – interior Defensive line Jon Faris – Defensive end Brent Venables – Linebackers Mark Mangino – Recruiting Game Coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt