1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team

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

1997 Southeastern Conference football standings

	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

The 1997 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They participated as members of the Southeastern Conference in the Eastern Division. They played their home games at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. The team was coached by Hal Mumme.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	1:30 p.m.	Louisville*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky (Battle for the Governor's Cup)		W 38–24	59,186
September 6	12:30 p.m.	at Mississippi State	Scott Field Starkville, Mississippi	JPS	L 27–35	30,121
September 20	2:00 p.m.	at Indiana*	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana (rivalry)		W 49–7	41,149
September 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 1 Florida	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky (rivalry)	CBS	L 28–55	59,224
October 4	7:00 p.m.	No. 20 Alabama	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky	PPV	W 40–34 OT	59,226
October 11	12:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, South Carolina	JPS	L 24–38	75,936
October 18	7:00 p.m.	NE Louisiana*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky		W 49–14	57,500
October 25	3:30 p.m.	at No. 16 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, Georgia	CBS	L 13–23	85,672
November 1	6:30 p.m.	No. 16 LSU	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky	ESPN2	L 28–63	58,450
November 15	2:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, Tennessee (rivalry)		W 21–10	40,256
November 22	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 Tennessee	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Kentucky (Battle for the Barrel)	ESPN2	L 31–59	61,076
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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	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

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

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