1997 SMU Mustangs football team

The 1997 Western Athletic Conference Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Cavan, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for second place in the WAC's Mountain Division. Ten years after the NCAA's 1987 "death penalty" on SMU football, SMU's 1997 campaign was the program's first winning season since the football program resumed operations in 1989. The Mustangs played their home games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

1997 SMU Mustangs football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain Division
Record	6–5 (5–3 WAC)
Head coach	Mike Cavan (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Darrell Dickey (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro spread
Defensive coordinator	Eric Schumann (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Cotton Bowl
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	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
No. 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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	6:00 p.m.	Ole Miss*	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.	No. 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.	UTEP	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 (rivalry)	ESPN	L 18–21	19,094
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

1997 SMU Mustangs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C 70 Austin Adami Jr RB 21 Kelsey Adams Jr WR 5 Albert Johnson Jr RB 46 Jeff Pennington So RB 28 Rodnick Phillips So QB 12 Chris Sanders So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 42 Chris Bordano Sr DB 25 Chris Campbell Sr LB 97 Jon Wilson Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike Cavan Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

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]

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^[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. "Tom Rossley Coaching Record".
2. . www.smu.edu. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
3. . www.smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
4. . www.smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
5. . smumustangs.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
6. "SMU Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

External links

• 1997 SMU stats at Sports-Reference.com