1997 BYU Cougars football team

The 1997 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season.

1997 BYU Cougars football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain Division
Record	6–5 (4–4 WAC)
Head coach	LaVell Edwards (26th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Norm Chow (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Roger French (17th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro spread
Defensive coordinator	Ken Schmidt (7th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cougar Stadium

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mountain Division
New Mexico x		6	–	2					9	–	4
Rice		5	–	3					7	–	4
SMU		5	–	3					6	–	5
Utah		5	–	3					6	–	5
BYU		4	–	4					6	–	5
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	7
Tulsa		2	–	6					2	–	9
TCU		1	–	7					1	–	10
Pacific Division
No. 17 Colorado State x$		7	–	1					11	–	2
Air Force		6	–	2					10	–	3
Fresno State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wyoming		4	–	4					7	–	6
San Diego State		4	–	4					5	–	7
San Jose State		4	–	4					4	–	7
UNLV		2	–	6					3	–	8
Hawaii		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: Colorado State 41, New Mexico 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	1:30 pm	No. 4 Washington*	No. 19	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	ABC	L 20–42	65,978
September 20	8:15 pm	at No. 14 Arizona State*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	FSN	W 13–10	62,376
September 27	1:00 pm	at SMU	No. 23	Cotton Bowl Dallas		W 19–16 OT	23,701
October 3	7:00 pm	Utah State*	No. 24	Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	KSL	W 42–35	65,754
October 11	7:00 pm	at Rice	No. 21	Rice Stadium Houston	ESPN2	L 14–27	23,814
October 18	12:00 pm	Hawaii		Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	KSL	W 17–3	64,558
October 25	12:00 pm	TCU		Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	KSL	W 31–10	63,004
November 1	6:30 pm	at UTEP		Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas	KSL	L 3–14	18,630
November 8	12:00 pm	Tulsa		Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah	KSL	W 49–39	64,200
November 15	3:00 pm	at New Mexico		University Stadium Albuquerque, New Mexico	ESPN2	L 28–38	30,363
November 22	1:30 pm	Utah		Cougar Stadium Provo, Utah (Holy War)	ABC	L 14–20	65,868
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	19	19	19	—	23	24	21	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	17		16	—	—	24	24	21	—	—	25	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Roster

1997 BYU Cougars football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 79 Jason Andersen Sr OL 75 John Tait So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 44 Rob Morris So LB 46 Shay Muirbrook (C) Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach LaVell Edwards Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster