1997 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1997 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were represented in the Big 12 Conference in the South Division. They played their home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. The team was led by head coach John Mackovic, who was fired after the conclusion of the regular season.

1997 Texas Longhorns football
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	South Division
Record	4–7 (2–6 Big 12)
Head coach	John Mackovic (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Gene Dahlquist (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Bobby Jack Wright (1st season)
Home stadium	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 75,512)

1997 Big 12 Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
North Division
No. 2 Nebraska † xy$		8	–	0					13	–	0
No. 8 Kansas State  %		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 23 Missouri		5	–	3					7	–	5
Colorado		3	–	5					5	–	6
Kansas		3	–	5					5	–	6
Iowa State		1	–	7					1	–	10
South Division
No. 20 Texas A&M xy		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 24 Oklahoma State		5	–	3					8	–	4
Texas Tech		5	–	3					6	–	5
Texas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Oklahoma		2	–	6					4	–	8
Baylor		1	–	7					2	–	9
Championship: Nebraska 54, Texas A&M 15
x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant † – Coaches Poll National Champion $ – Bowl Alliance representative as champion % – Bowl Alliance at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 6	6:00 p.m.	Rutgers*	No. 12	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	FSN	W 48–14	70,882
September 13	2:30 p.m.	UCLA*	No. 11	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 3–66	77,203
September 27	11:00 a.m.	at Rice*		Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 38–31	53,811
October 4	11:30 a.m.	at Oklahoma State		Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	FSN	L 16–42	43,100
October 11	2:30 p.m.	vs. Oklahoma		Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	ABC	W 27–24	75,587
October 18	1:00 p.m.	at Missouri		Faurot Field Columbia, MO		L 29–37	48,451
October 25	2:30 p.m.	Colorado		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	L 30–47	78,005
November 1	1:00 p.m.	at Baylor		Floyd Casey Stadium Waco, TX		L 21–23	42,719
November 8	6:00 p.m.	Texas Tech		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (Battle for the Chancellor's Spurs)	FSN	L 10–24	76,110
November 15	1:00 p.m.	Kansas		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 45–31	68,097
November 28	10:00 a.m.	at No. 15 Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)	ABC	L 16–27	75,349
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football 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	12	12	12	11	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	10		10	10	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Season summary

Rutgers

See also: 1997 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

1 2 3 4 Total Scarlet Knights 7 0 0 7 14 • Longhorns 0 13 28 7 48 Date: September 6 Location: Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 70,882

Scoring summary Q1 7:11 RUTG Fauntleroy 1 yard run (Mike-Mayer kick) RUTG 7–0 Q2 13:52 TEX Williams 74 yard run (Dawson kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 12:17 TEX McGarity 32 yard pass from Brown (kick failed) TEX 13–7 Q3 9:40 TEX Williams 1 yard run (White pass from Brown) TEX 21–7 Q3 7:18 TEX Dawson 52 yard field goal TEX 24–7 Q3 5:46 TEX Williams 12 yard run (Dawson kick) TEX 31–7 Q3 :56 TEX Lewis 3 yard pass from Walton (Dawson kick) TEX 38–7 Q4 4:46 RUTG Fletcher 22 yard pass from Edmonds (Mike-Mayer kick) TEX 38–14 Q4 2:14 TEX Mitchell 15 yard run (Dawson kick) TEX 45–14

• Ricky Williams 19 Rush, 155 Yds

UCLA

See also: 1997 UCLA Bruins football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	28	14	21	3	66
No. 11 Longhorns	0	0	3	0	3