1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1997 Northwestern Wildcats football
1997 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gary Barnett (6th season);
Captains	Eric Collier; Barry Gardner; Nate Strikwerda;
Home stadium	Ryan Field
	Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Gary Barnett.

1997 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Michigan $	8	–	0	12	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 16 Penn State	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 15 Purdue	6	–	2	9	–	3
Wisconsin	5	–	3	8	–	5
Iowa	4	–	4	7	–	5
Michigan State	4	–	4	7	–	5
Northwestern	3	–	5	5	–	7
Minnesota	1	–	7	3	–	9
Indiana	1	–	7	2	–	9
Illinois	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 23	11:00 am	vs. Oklahoma*		Soldier Field Chicago, IL (Pigskin Classic)	ABC	W 24–0	36,804
September 6	2:30 pm	at Wake Forest*	No. 21	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	ABC	L 20–27	24,320
September 13	1:00 pm	Duke*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL		W 24–20	36,225
September 20	11:30 am	Rice*		Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	SCC	L 34–40	32,762
September 27	11:30 am	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN	L 9–21	42,112
October 4	6:00 pm	Wisconsin		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 25–26	47,129
October 11	11:30 am	at No. 6 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ESPN	L 6–23	106,048
October 18	2:30 pm	No. 11 Michigan State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	W 19–17	47,129
October 25	2:30 pm	at No. 9 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio	ABC	L 6–49	92,445
November 1	11:30 am	No. 2 Penn State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 27–30	47,129
November 8	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	W 34–21	41,195
November 15	11:30 am	No. 22 Iowa		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	W 15–14	40,838
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

1997 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`5`	D'Wayne Bates	Jr
OT	`74`	Paul Janus	Sr
TE	`84`	Jay Tant	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`36`	Casey Dailey	Sr
LB	`55`	Barry Gardner	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class