# 1997 Washington Huskies football team

The 1997 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its fifth season under head coach Jim Lambright, the team compiled an 8–4 record, finished fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference, and outscored its opponents 420 to 259. Receiver Jerome Pathon was selected as the team's most valuable player. Seniors Pathon, Jerry Jensen, Rashaan Shehee, Tony Parrish were the team captains.
After a 27–0 shutout of USC on November 1, the Huskies were 7–1 and ranked sixth in the nation. Saddled with injuries, they lost the final three conference games to unranked Oregon, #9 UCLA, and #11 Washington State.
At the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day against #25 Michigan State, Washington built a 31–10 lead at halftime and won 51–23; it was Lambright's sole bowl victory in his six seasons as head coach. The win moved UW up three spots in the final rankings, to #18 in both major polls.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 19 BYU* | No. 4 | Cougar StadiumProvo, UT | FSN | W 42–20 | 65,978 |
| September 13 | 12:30 p.m. | San Diego State* | No. 3 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | FSN | W 36–3 | 71,081 |
| September 20 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 7 Nebraska* | No. 2 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | ABC | L 14–27 | 74,023 |
| October 4 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 25 Arizona State | No. 10 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | FSN | W 26–14 | 74,986 |
| October 11 | 12:30 p.m. | at California | No. 10 | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA | | W 30–3 | 48,000 |
| October 18 | 12:30 p.m. | at Arizona | No. 10 | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | ABC | W 58–28 | 50,585 |
| October 25 | 3:30 p.m. | at Oregon State | No. 7 | Parker StadiumCorvallis, OR | FSN | W 45–17 | 28,067 |
| November 1 | 12:30 p.m. | USC | No. 7 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | ABC | W 27–0 | 73,401 |
| November 8 | 12:30 p.m. | Oregon | No. 6 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA (rivalry) | | L 28–31 | 73,775 |
| November 15 | 12:30 p.m. | at No. 9 UCLA | No. 13 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | ABC | L 28–52 | 85,697 |
| November 22 | 12:30 p.m. | No. 11 Washington State | No. 17 | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA (Apple Cup) | ABC | L 35–41 | 74,268 |
| December 25 | 12:30 p.m. | vs. No. 25 Michigan State* | No. 21 | Aloha StadiumHalawa, HI (Aloha Bowl) | ABC | W 51–23 | 34,419 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 4 (10) | 4 (9) | 4 (9) | 3 (14) | 2 (19) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 18 |
| Coaches | 3 (15) | | 4 (7) | 3 (13) | 3 (12) | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 18 |

## Roster

    Source:

## NFL draft

Ten Huskies were selected in the 1998 NFL draft, which lasted seven rounds (241 selections).
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | Franchise |
| Jerome Pathon | WR | 2nd | 32 | Indianapolis Colts |
| Tony Parrish | S | 2nd | 35 | Chicago Bears |
| Cameron Cleeland | TE | 2nd | 40 | New Orleans Saints |
| Olin Kreutz | C | 3rd | 64 | Chicago Bears |
| Rashaan Shehee | RB | 3rd | 88 | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Jeremy Brigham | TE | 5th | 127 | Oakland Raiders |
| Jerry Jensen | LB | 5th | 136 | Carolina Panthers |
| Benji Olson | G | 5th | 139 | Tennessee Oilers |
| Fred Coleman | WR | 6th | 160 | Buffalo Bills |
| Jason Chorak | LB | 7th | 236 | St. Louis Rams |