1997 Utah State Aggies football team

Last updated

1997 Utah State Aggies football
Big West co-champion
Humanitarian Bowl, L 19–35 vs. Cincinnati
Conference Big West Conference
Record6–6 (4–1 Big West)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorChris Smeland (3rd season)
Home stadium Romney Stadium
(Capacity: 30,257)
Seasons
  1996
1998  
1997 Big West Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Utah State +  4 1   6 6  
Nevada +  4 1   5 6  
Boise State  3 2   5 6  
Idaho  2 3   5 6  
North Texas  2 3   4 7  
New Mexico State  0 5   2 9  
  • + Conference co-champions

The 1997 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by third-year head coach John L. Smith and played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah.

Utah State was co-champion of the Big West Conference, completed the regular season with a 6–5 record (4–1 in conference), and received an invitation to the inaugural Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho. The Aggies were defeated by Cincinnati, 35–19, [1] in their last bowl appearance until 2011. Smith left for Louisville after the season, and was succeeded by Dave Arslanian in 1998.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
August 30at Utah *W 21–1433,804
September 6 Idaho State *W 41–720,497
September 13No. 25 Colorado State *
  • Romney Stadium
  • Logan, UT
L 24–3522,097
September 20 New Mexico *
  • Romney Stadium
  • Logan, UT
L 22–2515,112
October 3at No. 24 BYU *L 35–4265,754
October 11 Oregon State *L 16–2423,210
October 18 New Mexico State
  • Romney Stadium
  • Logan, UT
W 38–717,251
October 25at Idaho W 63–1711,163
November 1 Boise State
  • Romney Stadium
  • Logan, UT
W 24–2018,205
November 15at Nevada W 38–1922,780
November 22at North Texas L 48–516,750
December 29vs. Cincinnati *L 19–3516,289
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP poll

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Athletic Conference football</span>

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sponsored football and crowned a champion every year from 1962 to 2012. Once considered one of the best conferences in college football, steady attrition from 1999 to 2012 forced the WAC to drop football after fifty-one years.

John Lawrence Smith is an American college football coach. He was the head football coach at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, a position he held from 2016 until he was fired by the university in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah State Aggies</span> Sports program of Utah State University

The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexico State Aggies football</span> Football team

The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as a member of Conference USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah State Aggies football</span> Utah State University football team

The Utah State Aggies are a college football team that competes in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, representing Utah State University. The Utah State college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium since 1968. They have won thirteen conference championships in four different conferences during their history, most recently in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Utah State Aggies football team</span> American college football season

The 2011 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by third-year head coach Gary Andersen and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium. They are members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–2 in WAC play to finish in a tie for second place.

The 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the 15th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 17, 2011 at Bronco Stadium on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season.

The 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 15, 2012 at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho in the United States. The sixteenth edition of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl began at 2:30 p.m. MST and aired on ESPN. It featured the Toledo Rockets from the Mid-American Conference against the Western Athletic Conference champion Utah State Aggies, and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams. The Rockets accepted their invitation after earning a 9–2 record in the regular season, while the Aggies accepted theirs after earning a 10–2 record. Utah State won the game 41–15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Wells (American football coach)</span> American football player and coach (born 1973)

Matthew Scribner Wells is an American football coach and former quarterback who most recently served as the head coach at Texas Tech University. Wells previously served as the offensive coordinator and then head coach at Utah State University, where he was named Mountain West conference coach of the year in 2013 and again in 2018. He was named head coach of Texas Tech on November 29, 2018. He is currently an offensive analyst under Brent Venables at Oklahoma.

The 2014 New Mexico Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 20, 2014 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The ninth annual New Mexico Bowl, it pitted the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference against the UTEP Miners of Conference USA. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. The game started at 12:20 p.m. MST and aired on ESPN. Sponsored by clothing company Gildan Activewear, the game was officially known as the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Utah State beat UTEP by a score of 21–6.

The 1960 Sun Bowl featured the New Mexico State Aggies and the Utah State Aggies. This was the 27th Sun Bowl, and was played at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Utah State Aggies football team</span> American college football season

The 2015 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by third-year head coach Matt Wells and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. This was Utah State's third season as members of the Mountain West Conference in the Mountain Division. They finished the season 6–7, 5–3 in Mountain West play to finish in a four-way tie for second place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl where they lost to Akron.

The 2015 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 22, 2015 at Albertsons Stadium on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season. The nineteenth annual Famous Idaho Potato Bowl pitted the Akron Zips of the Mid-American Conference against the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference. The game started at 1:30 p.m. MST and aired on ESPN. The game is sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Utah State Aggies football team</span> American college football season

The 2017 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by fifth-year head coach Matt Wells and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. They competed as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 6–7, 4–4 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Mountain Division. They were invited to the Arizona Bowl where they lost to New Mexico State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Utah State Aggies football team</span> American college football season

The 2018 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by sixth-year head coach Matt Wells during the regular season and played their home games at Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium. They competed as members of the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 7–1 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for first place in the division with Boise State. Despite the tie, the conference does not credit them as divisional co-champions as a result of the head-to-head loss. They were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they defeated North Texas. The 11 wins tied a school record.

The 1995 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Aggies were led by first-year head coach John L. Smith, who replaced Charlie Weatherbie after he left to coach Navy. The Aggies played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. Despite a difficult 0–5 start to the season, the Aggies won four of the next six and finished third in the Big West Conference.

The 1996 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Aggies were led by head coach John L. Smith in his second year in charge. The Aggies played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. Utah State finished with a 6–5 record and a share of the Big West conference championship, but was not selected to a bowl game.

The 1998 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Big West Conference. The Aggies were led by first-year head coach Dave Arslanian, who had been hired from Weber State. The Aggies played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. Utah State finished with a 3–8 record in a difficult first year for Coach Arslanian.

The 1999 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University in the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Big West Conference. The Aggies were once again led by head coach Dave Arslanian, who was in his second year with the program. The Aggies played their home games at Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah. Utah State finished with a 4–7 record, a one game improvement over 1998, but would dismiss Coach Arslanian at the end of the season.

References

  1. "1997 Utah State Aggies Schedule and Results" . Retrieved October 2, 2017.