1997 SMU Mustangs football team

1997 SMU Mustangs football
Conference Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division
1997 record 6–5 (5–3 WAC)
Head coach Mike Cavan
Home stadium Cotton Bowl (c. 68,252)
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 1997 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season as members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in the Mountain Division. They played their home games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. Under first-year head coach Mike Cavan and ten years after the NCAA's 1987 "death penalty" on SMU football, SMU finished the 1997 season with a 6–5 record and completed their first winning season since the football program resumed operations in 1989.

Personnel

Mike Cavan succeeded Tom Rossley as SMU head coach. Rossley coached SMU from 1991 to 1996 and left with a 15–48–3 record.[1] Cavan became SMU's third head coach in the post-"death penalty" era for SMU. Cavan was previously head coach at Valdosta State from 1986 to 1991 and East Tennessee State from 1992 to 1996. This is Cavan's first head coaching job at a Division I-A school.

Name Position Seasons at
SMU		 Alma Mater
Mike Cavan Head coach 1 Georgia (1972)
Warren Belin Linebackers 1 Wake Forest (1990)
Darrell Dickey Offensive coordinator, quarterbacks 1 Kansas State (1984)
Derek Dooley Wide receivers 1 Virginia (1991)
Troy Douglas Running backs 1 Appalachian State (1988)
Steve Malin Defensive ends 4 East Texas State (1993)
David McKnight Tight ends 1 Georgia (1969)
Eric Schumann Defensive coordinator, defensive backs 1 Alabama (1977)
Randy Williams Offensive line 1 Valdosta State (1991)
Source:[2]

Schedule

Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance
September 6 6:00 p.m. Mississippi* Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS L 15–23   36,521
September 13 7:00 p.m. vs. Arkansas* Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA W 31–9   23,500
September 20 7:00 p.m. Navy* Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX L 16–46   20,011
September 27 2:00 p.m. #23 BYU Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX KSL L 16–19 OT  23,701
October 4 7:05 p.m. at New Mexico University Stadium • Albuquerque, NM L 15–22   33,128
October 11 2:05 p.m. at Utah Rice Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT W 20–19   26,611
October 25 2:00 p.m. Wyoming Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX W 22–17   22,403
November 1 2:00 p.m. Rice Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX (Rivalry) W 24–6   20,024
November 8 2:00 p.m. UTEPdagger Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX W 28–14   21,280
November 15 1:30 p.m. at Tulsa Skelly Stadium • Tulsa, OK W 42–41   15,234
November 20 7:05 p.m. at TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, TX (Battle for the Iron Skillet) ESPN L 18–21   19,094
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. All times are in Central.

After the season

Coaching changes

Offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey left SMU to take the head coaching job at North Texas in 1998; Greg Briner, previously the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Georgia, succeeded Dickey as offensive coordinator.[3] Offensive line graduate assistant Paul Etheridge was promoted to tight ends and offensive tackles coach.[4] David McKnight moved to running backs coach.[5]

NFL Draft

See also: 1998 NFL Draft

In the 1998 NFL Draft, linebacker Chris Bordano was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round and 161st overall.[6]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/tom-rossley-1.html
  2. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19970614104958/http://www.smu.edu/~athletics/football/asst.html
  3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19990507162140/http://www.smumustangs.com/football/briner.asp
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19990507171101/http://www.smumustangs.com/football/etheridge.asp
  5. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19990825073240/http://smumustangs.com/football/mcknight.asp
  6. ↑ http://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/smu/drafted.htm

External links

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