1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team
American college football season
1996 Northwestern Wildcats football | |
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Big Ten co-champion | |
Florida Citrus Bowl, L 28–48 vs. Tennessee | |
Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 16 |
AP | No. 15 |
Record | 9–3 (7–1 Big Ten) |
Head coach |
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Defensive coordinator | Ron Vanderlinden (5th season) |
Captains |
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Home stadium | Dyche Stadium |
Seasons |
| Conf | Overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 Ohio State + | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 15 Northwestern + | 7 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 Penn State | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 18 Iowa | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 20 Michigan | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 3 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A college football season. Under head coach Gary Barnett, Northwestern finished the season with a 9–3 record. The Wildcats won a share of the Big Ten Conference title for the second straight year. They faced off against Tennessee in the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Wildcats lost, 48–28.
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
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September 7 | 5:30 pm | at Wake Forest* | No. 13 | SCC | L 27–28 | 21,749 | [2] | |
September 14 | 2:30 pm | at Duke* | ABC | W 38–13 | 29,321 | [3] | ||
September 21 | 11:30 am | Ohio* |
| SCC | W 28–7 | 38,148 | ||
September 28 | 11:30 am | at Indiana | No. 25 |
| ESPN | W 35–17 | 36,714 | |
October 5 | 11:30 am | No. 6 Michigan | No. 22 |
| ESPN | W 17–16 | 48,187 | |
October 12 | 11:30 am | Minnesota | No. 15 |
| ESPN2 | W 26–24 | 35,848 | |
October 19 | 11:30 am | at Wisconsin | No. 14 | ESPN2 | W 34–30 | 79,576 | ||
October 26 | 11:00 am | Illinois | No. 11 |
| ESPN Plus | W 27–24 | 48,187 | |
November 2 | 2:30 pm | at No. 15 Penn State | No. 11 | ABC | L 9–34 | 96,596 | ||
November 9 | 2:30 pm | at No. 23 Iowa | No. 18 | ABC | W 40–13 | 70,397 | ||
November 16 | 1:00 pm | Purdue | No. 13 |
| W 27–24 | 41,178 | ||
January 1 | 12:00 pm | vs. No. 9 Tennessee* | No. 11 | ABC | L 28–48 | 63,467 | [4] | |
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Rankings
Week | ||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
AP | 18 | 15 | 13 | — | — | 25 | 22 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 15 |
Coaches | 19 | 18 | — | — | — | — | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 16 |
Game summaries
Wake Forest
Duke
Ohio
Indiana
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
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Illinois
Penn State
Iowa
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Purdue
Florida Citrus Bowl
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Roster
1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
| Defense
| Special teams
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Roster |
Awards and honors
- Linebacker Pat Fitzgerald: Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
- Head coach Gary Barnett: Big Ten Coach of the Year
Team players drafted into the NFL
Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club |
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Darnell Autry | Running back | 4 | 105 | Chicago Bears |
Tim Scharf | Linebacker | 6 | 164 | New York Jets |
Hudhaifa Ismaeli | Defensive back | 7 | 203 | Miami Dolphins |
References
- ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ "Wake Forest shocks Cats". The Daily Herald. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sweet return trip; With something to prove, NU delivers". Chicago Tribune. September 15, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cats a lemon in Citrus". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Northwestern 1996 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Northwestern vs. Wisconsin". USA Today. October 19, 1996. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "Northwestern vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 9, 1996. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "1997 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.