1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Gary Barnett.

1997 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gary Barnett (6th season)
Co-defensive coordinators	Jerry Brown (1st season) Vince Okruch (1st season)
Captains	Eric Collier[1] Barry Gardner Nate Strikwerda
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 Michigan $		8	–	0					12	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 16 Penn State		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 15 Purdue		6	–	2					9	–	3
Wisconsin		5	–	3					8	–	5
Iowa		4	–	4					7	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Northwestern		3	–	5					5	–	7
Minnesota		1	–	7					3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7					2	–	9
Illinois		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 23	11:00 am	vs. Oklahoma*		Soldier Field Chicago, IL (Pigskin Classic)	ABC	W 24–0	36,804
September 6	2:30 pm	at Wake Forest*	No. 21	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ABC	L 20–27	24,320	[2]
September 13	1:00 pm	Duke*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL		W 24–20	36,225	[3]
September 20	11:30 am	Rice*		Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	SCC	L 34–40	32,762
September 27	11:30 am	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN	L 9–21	42,112
October 4	6:00 pm	Wisconsin		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 25–26	47,129
October 11	11:30 am	at No. 6 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ESPN	L 6–23	106,048
October 18	2:30 pm	No. 11 Michigan State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	W 19–17	47,129
October 25	2:30 pm	at No. 9 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	L 6–49	92,445
November 1	11:30 am	No. 2 Penn State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 27–30	47,129
November 8	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	W 34–21	41,195
November 15	11:30 am	No. 22 Iowa		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	W 15–14	40,838
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[4]

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked 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	—	24	21т	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—		24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Roster

1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 5 D'Wayne Bates Jr OT 74 Paul Janus Sr TE 84 Jay Tant So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 36 Casey Dailey Sr LB 55 Barry Gardner Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Gary Barnett Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt