1997 UTEP Miners football team

1997 UTEP Miners football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain Division
Record	4–7 (3–5 WAC)
Head coach	Charlie Bailey (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Gary Nord (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ronnie Jones (2nd season)
Home stadium	Sun Bowl

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

The 1997 UTEP Miners football team was an American football team that represented the University of Texas at El Paso in the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach Charlie Bailey, the team compiled a 4–7 record.^[1][2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	at No. 10 LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 3–55	80,015	[3]
September 13	New Mexico	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	L 20–38	19,857
September 20	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	L 3–56	28,820
September 27	New Mexico State*	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (rivalry)	W 24–16	21,779
October 4	at Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	L 7–39	62,000	[4]
October 11	at Tulsa	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK	W 33–18	16,830
October 18	San Jose State	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	L 7–10	25,908
November 1	No. 25 BYU	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 14–3	18,630
November 8	at SMU	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	L 14–28	21,280
November 15	TCU	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 24–17	16,247
November 22	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 13–31	18,014
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "1997 UTEP Miners Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
2. "2020 UTEP Football Media Guide" (PDF). University of Texas at El Paso. 2020. p. 79. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
3. "Faulk scampers for 3 TDs in rout". The Tennessean. September 7, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tigers trample UTEP in second-half attack". Anderson Independent-Mail. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.