1997 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

They were led by eighth-year head coach Randy Ball and played their home games at Hanson Field.

The team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Jackson State before losing to McNeese State in the quarterfinals.

[1] Running back Aaron Stecker, a transfer from Wisconsin, finished the year with 1,957 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns, which ranked second and first in Division I-AA respectively.

Stecker was named the Gateway Conference's offensive player of the year.

This college football 1990s season article is a stub.