College Football USA 97 added a feature for creating up to 28 new players and designing custom schedules, and also adds new animations and features players from all 111 Division I-A teams. Players can also compete in a special Tournament which supports up to 16 players participating in a single-elimination format or a round robin format.

Players can also adjust the settings for penalties, can set the weather type, enter their own user records, perform player substitutions, set the audibles, toggle the injuries, and change the game length, as well as the difficulty level. The game also makes available authentic playbooks (including plays such as the Wishbone), and a USA Today/CNN Coaches Poll, as well as the Sears National Championship Trophy.