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 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
Rankings
Roster
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
References