1997 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

American college football season

1997 Arizona State Sun Devils football
Sun Bowl champion
Sun Bowl, W 17–7 vs. Iowa
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 14
Record	9–3 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Bruce Snyder (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dan Cozzetto (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Phil Snow (3rd as DC, 6th overall season)
Home stadium	Sun Devil Stadium (Capacity: 73,379)
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 9 Washington State +	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 5 UCLA +	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 14 Arizona State	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 18 Washington	5	–	3	8	–	4
Arizona	4	–	4	7	–	5
USC	4	–	4	6	–	5
Oregon	3	–	5	7	–	5
Stanford	3	–	5	5	–	6
California	1	–	7	3	–	8
Oregon State	0	–	8	3	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Bruce Snyder, who was coaching his sixth season with the Sun Devils and 18th season overall. Home games were played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. They participated as members of the Pacific-10 Conference.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 pm	New Mexico State*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	KTVK	W 41–10	58,607
September 13	12:30 pm	at No. 12 Miami (FL)*	No. 24	Orange Bowl Miami	CBS	W 23–12	42,219
September 20	7:15 pm	BYU*	No. 14	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	FSN	L 10–13	62,376
September 27	1:00 pm	at Oregon State	No. 25	Parker Stadium Corvallis, Oregon		W 13–10	25,873
October 4	3:30 pm	at No. 10 Washington	No. 25	Husky Stadium Seattle	FSN	L 14–26	74,986
October 11	12:30 pm	USC		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	ABC	W 35–7	61,802
October 18	12:30 pm	at No. 25 Stanford		Stanford Stadium Stanford, California		W 31–14	43,909
November 1	8:00 pm	No. 10 Washington State	No. 20	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	FSN	W 44–31	73,644
November 8	4:30 pm	at California	No. 15	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, California	FSN	W 28–21	33,000
November 15	4:30 pm	Oregon	No. 15	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona	FSN	W 52–31	64,779
November 28	4:30 pm	Arizona	No. 12	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona (Duel in the Desert)	FSN	L 16–28	73,682
December 31	12:30 pm	vs. Iowa*	No. 16	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl)	CBS	W 17–7	49,104
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[1]

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	—	—	—	24	14	25	25	—	—	23	20	15	15	12	12	17	16	14
Coaches	—		—	—	17	23	22	—	—	22	21	16	15	12	12	19	18	14

Game summaries

No. 10 Washington State

Washington State at Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Cougars	0	7	10	14	31
• No. 20 Sun Devils	7	17	0	20	44

Date: November 1, 1997
Location: Sun Devil Stadium
Tempe, AZ
Game start: 8:00 pm PDT
Game attendance: 73,644

Scoring summary

1		ASU	Lenzie Jackson 13-yard pass from Ryan Kealy (Nycz kick)	ASU 7–0

2		ASU	Kenny Mitchell 8-yard pass from Ryan Kealy (Nycz kick)	ASU 14–0
		ASU	Nycz FG	ASU 17–0
	7:43	ASU	TD pass from Ryan Kealy (Nycz kick)	ASU 24–0
		WSU	TD pass from Ryan Leaf (Rian Lindell kick)	ASU 24–7

3		ASU	Rian Lindell 43-yard field goal	ASU 24–10
3	1:17	WSU	DeJuan Gilmore 2-yard run (Rian Lindell kick)	ASU 24–17

4	13:18	WSU	Shawn McWashington 11-yard pass from Ryan Leaf (Ryan Leaf run)	WSU 25–24
	9:57	ASU	Tariq McDonald 5-yard pass from Ryan Kealy (conversion failed)	ASU 30–25
	2:55	ASU	Hamilton Mee 66-yard fumble return (Nycz kick)	ASU 37–25
	2:32	ASU	Derrick Ford fumble recovery in end zone (Nycz kick)	ASU 44–25
		WSU	TD pass from Ryan Leaf (Rian Lindell kick)	ASU 44–31

After the Sun Devils built a 24–0 lead midway through the second quarter, Washington State rallied to take a 25–24 lead early in the fourth quarter. Arizona State answered with a touchdown, and the Cougars were driving again. However, the Sun Devils forced two fumbles by Ryan Leaf late in the game that were both returned for touchdowns.^[2]

Vs. Iowa (Sun Bowl)

Iowa vs. No. 17 Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	0	0	7	7
• No. 17 Sun Devils	0	10	7	0	17

Date: December 31
Location: Sun Bowl Stadium
El Paso, TX
Game start: 12:15 PM PST
Elapsed time: 3:33
Game attendance: 49,104
Game weather: 53, Clear and dry, Wind 5-10 MPH
Referee: Ken Flaherty
TV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan, Dave Logan, and Scott Lasky

Sources: Box score and Game recap

Scoring summary

2	9:41	ASU	L. Jackson 35-yard pass from Campbell (Nycz kick)	ASU 7–0

2	0:00	ASU	Nycz 21-yard field goal	ASU 10–0

3	0:31	ASU	Martin 1-yard run (Nycz kick)	ASU 17–0

4	0:49	Iowa	R. Carter 26-yard pass from Randy Reiners (Zach Bromert kick)	ASU 17–7

^[3]

References

^ "1997 Schedule". Arizona State Sun Devils. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2009.
^ "Sun Devils Turn Over a Leaf in Pac-10". The Los Angeles Times. November 2, 1997. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
^ "Iowa vs. Arizona State". USA Today. December 31, 1997. Retrieved September 25, 2022.

v t e Arizona State Sun Devils football
Venues	Normal Field (1897–1926) Irish Field (1927–1935) Goodwin Stadium (1936–1957) Mountain America Stadium (1958–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Arizona
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