# 1997 Florida State Seminoles football team

The 1997 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 23 USC* | No. 5 | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | ABC | W 14–7 | 72,783 |
| September 13 | 3:30 p.m. | Maryland | No. 5 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ABC | W 50–7 | 72,238 |
| September 20 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 16 Clemson | No. 5 | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC (rivalry) | ABC | W 35–28 | 80,939 |
| October 4 | 12:00 p.m. | Miami (FL)* | No. 4 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL (rivalry) | ABC | W 47–0 | 80,165 |
| October 11 | 7:00 p.m. | at Duke | No. 4 | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | PPV | W 51–27 | 21,557 |
| October 18 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 21 Georgia Tech | No. 3 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ABC | W 38–0 | 78,157 |
| October 25 | 7:00 p.m. | at Virginia | No. 3 | Scott StadiumCharlottesville, VA (Jefferson-Eppes Trophy) | ESPN | W 47–21 | 45,300 |
| November 1 | 3:30 p.m. | NC State | No. 3 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | ABC | W 48–35 | 71,415 |
| November 8 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 5 North Carolina | No. 3 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (College GameDay) | ESPN | W 20–3 | 62,000 |
| November 15 | 12:00 p.m. | Wake Forest | No. 2 | Doak Campbell StadiumTallahassee, FL | JPS | W 58–7 | 70,026 |
| November 22 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 10 Florida* | No. 2 | Ben Hill Griffin StadiumGainesville, FL (rivalry) (College GameDay) | CBS | L 29–32 | 85,677 |
| January 1 | 8:00 p.m. | vs. No. 9 Ohio State* | No. 4 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl) | ABC | W 31–14 | 67,289 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern 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 | 3 (7) | 3 (6) | 5 (6) | 5 (4) | 5 (1) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 3 (3) | 3 (9) | 3 (8) | 3 (5) | 2 (23) | 2 (24) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Coaches | 4 (3) | | 5 (3) | 6 (3) | 5 (2) | 4 (1) | 4 | 4 | 3 (1) | 3 (3) | 3 (3) | 2 (2) | 1 (26) | 1 (29) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |

## Roster
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Dexter Jackson
* Todd Frier
* Robert Hammond
| MIKE | WILL | SAM |
| Sam Cowart Theon Rackley | Daryl Bush | Lamont Green Deon Humphrey |
| Tommy Polley | Bobby Rhodes | Olayemi Okegbola |
| Kwaesi Palmer | Hank Grant | Jean Jeune |
* ROVER
* Shevin Smith
* Derrick Gibson
* Sean Key
* CB
* Samari Rolle
* Troy Saunders
* Abdual Howard
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Greg Spires | Jerry Johnson | Julian Pittman | Andre Wadsworth |
| Tony Bryant | Bryne Monroe | Larry Smith | Roland Seymour |
| Sean Mitchell | David Tulloch | Corey Simon | Chris Walker |
* CB
* Dexter Jackson
* Andrew Howard II
* Mario Edwards
Offense :
* WR
* E.G. Green
* Damien Harrell
* Jason Floyd
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Tra Thomas | Jason Whitaker | Kevin Long | Donald Heaven | Ross Brannon |
| Tarlos Crummitie | Justin Amman | Jared Moon | Otis Duhart | Ronald Boldin |
| Chris Korb | Jerry Carmichael | Eric Thomas | Jeremy Brett | Tarlos Thomas |
* TE
* Melvin Pearsall
* Myron Jackson
* Pooh Bear Williams Stacy Davis
* WR
* Laveranues Coles
* Ron Dugans
* Germaine Stringer
* QB
* Thad Busby
* Chris Weinke
* Dan Kendra
* RB
* Travis Minor Dee Feaster
* Jeff Chaney
* Davy Ford
* FB
* Lamar Glenn
* Damon Carroll
* Khalid Abdullah
* Special teams
* PK Matt Munyon
* P Keith Cottrell