1997 Air Force Falcons football team

1997 Air Force Falcons football
Las Vegas Bowl, L 13–41 vs. Oregon
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
Record	10–3 (6–2 WAC)
Head coach	Fisher DeBerry (14th season)
Offensive scheme	Wishbone triple option
Co-defensive coordinators	Richard Bell (3rd season) Cal McCombs (8th season)
Base defense	3–4
Captains	Chris Gizzi Jemal Singleton Jeff Mohr
Home stadium	Falcon Stadium
Seasons ←  1996 1998  →

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	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

The 1997 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 14th-year head coach Fisher DeBerry, the Falcons compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second the WAC's Pacific Division. Air Force was invited to the Las Vegas Bowl, where the Falcons lost to Oregon. The team played home games at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	2:00 p.m.	Idaho *		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 14–10	41,331	[1]
September 6		at Rice		Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 41–12
September 13		UNLV		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 25–24	39,027
September 20		at No. 23 Colorado State		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO (rivalry)		W 24–0	34,071
September 27		San Diego State		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	ESPN2	W 24–18 OT	48,399
October 4		The Citadel *	No. 23	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 17–3
October 11		at Navy *	No. 19	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)		W 10–7
October 18		Fresno State	No. 18	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		L 17–20	45,597
October 25		at San Jose State		Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	ESPN2	L 22–25
November 1	11:05 p.m.	at Hawaii		Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (rivalry)		W 34–27	29,850
November 8		Army *		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)		W 24–0
November 15		Wyoming		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 14–3
December 20	4:00 p.m.	vs. Oregon *	No. 23	Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas Bowl)	ESPN2	L 13–41	21,514
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^{[2] [3]}

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	—	—	—	—	—	—	23	19	18	—	—	—	—	—	24	23	23	—
Coaches	—		—	—	—	25	23	18	17	24	—	—	—	—	23	21	21	25

Roster

1997 Air Force Falcons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class Sr 67 Rob Evert Sr OT 68 Karl Faulk Sr WR 6 Matt Farmer So FAL 8 J. T. Felton So QB 14 John Flynn Jr OL 74 Frank Mindrup Jr OT 78 Troy Monson So QB 11 Blane Morgan Jr WR 9 Dylan Newman Jr OT 79 James Norman So QB 15 Stephen O'Neill So FB 33 Ryan Paroda Jr C 52 Jeff Parr Sr C 50 Brian Phillips Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class OLB 56 Steve Fernandez Sr OLB 91 Sean Finnan Sr DT 78 Bryce Fisher Jr LB 51 Chris Gizzi Sr LB 99 Michael Yanovitch So LB 54 C. J. Zanotti So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Fisher DeBerry Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 1997-10-25

Awards and honors

• Frank Mindrup, first-team All-WAC

References

1. Page, Steve (August 31, 1997). "Tough loss leaves Idaho hurting". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
2. "1997 Air Force Falcons Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved April 27, 2025.
3. "1997 Football Schedule". United States Air Force Academy . Retrieved April 27, 2025.