- Source: 1897 VPI football team
- 1897 VPI football team
- Virginia Tech Hokies football
- 1896 VPI football team
- 1897 Tennessee Volunteers football team
- 1898 VPI football team
- 1897 VMI Keydets football team
- 1897 Richmond Spiders football team
- 1897 Add-Ran Christian football team
- North Carolina Tar Heels football
- 1897 Guilford Quakers football team
The 1897 VPI football team represented Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute in the 1897 college football season. The team was led by their head coach Charles Firth and finished with a record of five wins and two losses (5–2).
Scoring
The scoring in 1897 was:
Touchdown worth 4 points
Field goal worth 5 points
Conversion (kick) worth 2 points
Safety worth 2 points
Schedule
Game summaries
= King
== North Carolina
=The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Herbert (left tackle), Cox (left guard), Stull (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Bell (quarterback), Barnett (left halfback), Cochran (right halfback), Whitehurst (fullback). The substitutes were: Painter, Rorebeck and Rucker.
The starting lineup for North Carolina was: William White (left end), Frank Bennett (left tackle), Seaton Borland (left guard), H. B. Cunningham (center), Cromartie (right guard), Simmons (right tackle), Warren Kluttz (right end), Frank O. Rogers (quarterback), Cameron Buxton (left halfback), Paul Collins (right halfback), Arthur Belden (fullback). The substitutes were: Edward Abbott, E. V. Howell, Jim MacRae and Willie Turner.
= Roanoke
== Maryland, Baltimore
=The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Herbert (left tackle), Cox (left guard), Stull (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Bell (quarterback), Barnett (left halfback), Cochran (right halfback), Whitehurst (fullback).
The starting lineup for Maryland, Baltimore was: Denson (left end), Billingsbea (left tackle), Cathell (left guard), Messmore (center), Craig (right guard), Lewis (right tackle), Allen (right end), Barrow (quarterback), Roach (left halfback), Frasher (right halfback), Reddington (fullback). The substitutes were: Hicks.
= Richmond
=The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Herbert (left tackle), Cox (left guard), Stull (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Jones (quarterback), Barnett (left halfback), Cochran (right halfback), Whitehurst (fullback). The substitutes were: Bell, Rucker and Saunders.
The starting lineup for Richmond was: N. H. Pope (left end), William Powell (left tackle), William Thraves (left guard), Samuel Stone (center), Bonnie Daughtry (right guard), Benjamin Bloxton (right tackle), Charles Scott (right end), John Kaufman (quarterback), John Frazer (left halfback), Burnley Lankford (right halfback), John McNeil (fullback). The substitutes were: A. W. Parke.
= Hampden–Sydney
=The starting lineup for VPI was: Painter (left end), Herbert (left tackle), Cox (left guard), Stull (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Bell (quarterback), Barnett (left halfback), Cochran (right halfback), Whitehurst (fullback). The substitutes were: Rucker.
The starting lineup for Hampden–Sydney was: Frederick McClure (left end), Murray (left tackle), Samuel Osbourne (left guard), Eskridge (center), Williams (right guard), Charles Hudson (right tackle), Eugene Douglass (right end), David Stuart (quarterback), Thomas Blake (left halfback), Bull (right halfback), John Earhart (fullback). The substitutes were: James Kuykendall.
= Tennessee
=The starting lineup for VPI was: Johnson (left end), Herbert (left tackle), Cox (left guard), Stull (center), Pelter (right guard), Wood (right tackle), Lewis (right end), Bell (quarterback), Barnett (left halfback), Cochran (right halfback), Whitehurst (fullback). The substitutes were: Painter and Rucker.
The starting lineup for Tennessee was: Henry Smith (left end), Arthur Watkins (left tackle), Robert Baird (left guard), Charles Rogan (center), John Rice (right guard), James Baird (right tackle), Arthur Tarwater (right end), Sammy Strang (quarterback), Charley Moran (left halfback), Henry Edmonds (right halfback), Jones (fullback).
Players
The following players were members of the 1897 football team according to the roster published in the 1898 and 1903 editions of The Bugle, the Virginia Tech yearbook.
Coaching and training staff
Head coach: Charles Firth
Manager: C. E. Hardy