1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team

The 1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky as a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Hal Mumme, the Wildcats compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 2–6 in conference place, placing fifth in the SEC's Eastern Division. The team played home games at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

1997 Kentucky Wildcats football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Record	5–6 (2–6 SEC)
Head coach	Hal Mumme (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Leach (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Mike Major (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Commonwealth 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	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	1:30 p.m.	Louisville*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (Governor's Cup)		W 38–24	59,186	[1]
September 6	12:30 p.m.	at Mississippi State	Scott Field Starkville, MS	JPS[2]	L 27–35	30,121	[3]
September 20	2:00 p.m.	at Indiana*	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)		W 49–7	41,149	[4]
September 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 1 Florida	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	CBS[2]	L 28–55	59,224	[5]
October 4	7:00 p.m.	No. 20 Alabama	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	PPV	W 40–34 OT	59,226	[6]
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	JPS[2]	L 24–38	75,936	[7]
October 18	7:00 p.m.	Northeast Louisiana*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY		W 49–14	57,500	[8]
October 25	3:30 p.m.	at No. 16 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	CBS[2]	L 13–23	85,672	[9]
November 1	6:30 p.m.	No. 16 LSU	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	ESPN2[2]	L 28–63	58,450	[10]
November 15	2:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)		W 21–10	40,256	[11]
November 22	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Tennessee	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	ESPN2/JPS[2]	L 31–59	61,076	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[13]

Game summaries

Louisville

See also: 1997 Louisville Cardinals football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	3	14	7	24
Wildcats	21	0	7	10	38

Statistics	LOU	UK
First downs	25	15
Total yards	519	291
Rushing yards	121	87
Passing yards	398	204
Turnovers	1	4
Time of possession	35:18	24:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Louisville	Passing	Chris Redman	17/28, 204 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Otis Floyd	14 rushes, 62 yards, TD
	Receiving	Rico Williams	3 receptions, 82 yards
Kentucky	Passing	Tim Couch	36/50, 398 yards, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Anthony White	16 rushes, 94 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kio Sanford	6 receptions, 120 yards, TD

At Mississippi State

See also: 1997 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	14	6	0	27
Bulldogs	3	7	12	13	35

At Indiana

See also: 1997 Indiana Hoosiers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	14	28	0	49
Hoosiers	0	0	0	7	7

No. 1 Florida

See also: 1997 Florida Gators football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Gators	28	0	21	6	55
Wildcats	0	7	7	14	28

No. 20 Alabama

See also: 1997 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 20 Crimson Tide	7	7	10	10	0	34
Wildcats	10	3	14	7	6	40

At South Carolina

See also: 1997 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	14	7	3	0	24
Gamecocks	0	24	7	7	38

Northeast Louisiana

See also: 1997 Northeast Louisiana Indians football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indians	0	7	7	0	14
Wildcats	21	14	7	7	49

At No. 16 Georgia

See also: 1997 Georgia Bulldogs football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	6	13
No. 16 Bulldogs	0	14	3	6	23

No. 16 LSU

See also: 1997 LSU Tigers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Tigers	12	8	22	21	63
Wildcats	0	21	7	0	28

At Vanderbilt

See also: 1997 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	7	7	21
Commodores	0	0	10	0	10

No. 5 Tennessee

See also: 1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Volunteers	17	7	21	14	59
Wildcats	7	14	3	7	31

Statistics	TENN	UK
First downs	30	27
Total yards	695	634
Rushing yards	150	158
Passing yards	545	476
Turnovers	2	3
Time of possession	25:12	34:48

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tennessee	Passing	Peyton Manning	25/35, 523 yards, 5 TD
	Rushing	Jamal Lewis	21 rushes, 128 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Marcus Nash	7 receptions, 195 yards, 3 TD
Kentucky	Passing	Tim Couch	35/50, 476 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Derek Homer	18 rushes, 137 yards
	Receiving	Kio Sanford	9 receptions, 147 yards, TD

Roster

1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Tim Couch So RB 3 Craig Yeast Jr WR 5 Marvin Love Jr WR 6 Kio Sanford Sr RB 32 Anthony White So C 61 Paul McGonagle Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 4 Littleton Ward Sr FS 8 Marlon McCree  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 9 Marc Samuel Fr P 19 Jimmy Carter Jr K 23 Brian Johnson Sr K, P Seth Hanson Fr	Head coach Hal Mumme Coordinators/assistant coaches Tony Franklin Running backs Mike Leach Wide receivers/tight ends Guy Morriss Offensive line Mike Major Defensive coordinator/linebackers Tom Adams Defensive ends Mike Fanoga Defensive tackles Darrell Patterson Safeties Tim Keane Cornerbacks Sonny Dykes Graduate assistant Bob Brush Defensive assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster