1997 Utah Utes football team

1997 Utah Utes football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division
1997 record	6–5 (5–3 WAC)
Head coach	Ron McBride (8th year)
Offensive coordinator	Fred Graves (3rd year)
Defensive coordinator	Kyle Whittingham (3rd year)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium (32,500)

1997 WAC 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
#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 Utes were unable to get another bowl bid in the 1997 season, going just 6–5. This was also the last season in the old Rice Stadium. Immediately after the final home game (against Rice University), the stadium was torn down and rebuilt into the new Rice–Eccles Stadium, partly in anticipation of the upcoming 2002 Olympic Games.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 PM	Utah State*		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT (Battle of the Brothers)		L 14–21	33,804
September 6	1:00 PM	at Louisville*		Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	KJZZ	W 27–21	35,437
September 13	7:05 PM	at TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX		W 32–18	25,382
September 20	7:00 PM	UTEP		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT		W 56–3	28,820
October 2	6:00 PM	at Fresno State		Bulldog Stadium • Fresno, CA	ESPN	L 13–27	37,994
October 11	1:00 PM	SMU		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT		L 19–20	26,611
October 18	2:00 PM	at Oregon*		Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR		L 13–31	39,389
October 25	1:00 PM	New Mexico		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT (The Bowl)		W 15–10	28,129
November 1	1:00 PM	at Tulsa		Skelly Stadium • Tulsa, OK		L 13–21	19,864
November 15	1:00 PM	Rice		Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT		W 31–14	27,049
November 22	1:30 PM	at BYU		Cougar Stadium • Provo, UT (Holy War)		W 20–14	65,868
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Mountain Time.

Game notes

BYU

1 2 3 4 Total • Utah 10 0 0 10 20 BYU 7 7 0 0 14 Date: November 22 Location: Cougar Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 1:30 PM MST

Scoring summary 1 11:16 UTAH Tommy Truhe 27-yard field goal UTAH 3-0 1 3:33 UTAH Darnell Arceneaux 4-yard run (Tommy Truhe kick) UTAH 10-0 1 1:19 BYU Brian McKenzie 1-yard run (Owen Pochman kick) UTAH 10-7 2 12:11 BYU Brian McKenzie 16-yard run (Owen Pochman kick) BYU 14-10 4 14:56 UTAH Darnell Arceneaux 8-yard run (Tommy Truhe kick) UTAH 17-14 4 1:39 UTAH Tommy Truhe 33-yard field goal UTAH 20-14

After the season

NFL draft

Two players went in the 1998 NFL Draft, including one in the first round (Kevin Dyson).

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Kevin Dyson	Wide Receiver	1	16	Tennessee Oilers
Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala	Fullback	6	178	Pittsburgh Steelers