American college football season
The 1996 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season . In their seventh season under head coach Ron McBride , the Utes compiled an overall record of 8–4 record with a mark of 6–2 against conference opponents, tying for second place in the WAC's Mountain Division. Utah was invited the Copper Bowl , where they lost to Wisconsin . The Utes outscored their opponents 313 to 309.[ 1] The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City .
Utah open the season with a loss at Utah State , but won the next seven game and climbed to a No. 20 ranking in the AP Poll . The winning-streak came to a halt when the Utes suffered their worst loss in six years, to the Rice Owls , giving up 496 yards rushing.[ 2] Utah lost three of their final four games, allowing a total 1,439 yards rushing in these four games (359.75 average per game), including a 38–10 loss to the Wisconsin in the Copper Bowl.
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance August 31 7:00 pm at Utah State * L 17–2030,257
September 7 5:00 pm at Stanford * ABC W 17–1034,587
September 14 6:00 pm at SMU KJZZ W 21–1722,614
September 21 7:00 pm Fresno State W 45–1732,539
September 28 7:00 pm No. 20 Kansas * Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT ESPN2 W 45–4232,519
October 5 1:00 pm at UTEP No. 24 W 34–2728,271
October 19 12:00 pm TCU No. 24 Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT W 21–728,786
October 26 12:00 pm Tulsa No. 21 Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT W 45–1929,047
November 2 1:00 pm at Rice No. 20 L 10–5123,250
November 9 8:00 pm at New Mexico ESPN2 W 31–2422,241
November 23 10:30 am No. 8 BYU Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War ) ESPN L 17–3735,378
December 27 7:00 pm vs. Wisconsin * ESPN L 10–3842,122
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time
[ 3] [ 4]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Final AP — — — — — — 24 — 24 21 20 — — — — — — — Coaches — — — — — 24 — 25 22 19 — — — — — — —
1996 Utah Utes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Chad Folk was selected first overall in the 1997 CFL Draft .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold