1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 19
Record	8–3
Head coach	Lou Holtz (11th season);
Offensive coordinator	Dave Roberts (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Bob Davie (3rd season)
Captains	Lyron Cobbins; Marc Edwards; Ron Powlus;
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium

1996 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 25 Army		–		10	–	2
Navy		–		9	–	3
No. 19		–		8	–	3
East Carolina		–		8	–	3
Louisiana Tech		–		6	–	5
UAB		–		5	–	6
UCF		–		5	–	6
Southwestern Louisiana		–		5	–	6
Northeast Louisiana		–		5	–	6
Arkansas State		–		4	–	7
Northern Illinois		–		1	–	10

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame as an independent during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Lou Holtz in his 11th and final season as head coach, the Fighting Irish compiled a record of 8–3. The team played home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Notre Dame participated in the Emerald Isle Classic, billed as the Shamrock Classic that year. The game was played in Dublin on November 2 at Croke Park, where Notre Dame beat Navy by a score of 54–27. Despite finishing the regular season 8–3, Notre Dame did not play in a bowl game. The Fighting Irish turned down an invitation to play the Auburn Tigers in the Independence Bowl.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	8:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 6	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPN	W 14–7	41,523	^[1]
September 14	2:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 9	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 35–0	59,075
September 21	12:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Texas	No. 9	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	ABC	W 27–24	83,312
September 28	2:30 p.m.	No. 4 Ohio State	No. 5	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 16–29	59,075
October 12	2:30 p.m.	No. 16 Washington	No. 11	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	W 54–20	59,075
October 19	2:30 p.m.	Air Force	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 17–20 ^OT	59,075
November 2	8:00 a.m.	at Navy	No. 19	Croke Park Dublin, Ireland (Emerald Isle Classic, rivalry)	CBS	W 54–27	38,651
November 9	3:30 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 17	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA (Holy War)	CBS	W 48–21	44,500
November 16	1:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	No. 14	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	W 60–6	59,075
November 23	1:30 p.m.	Rutgers	No. 10	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	NBC	W 62–0	59,075
November 30	8:00 p.m.	at USC	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–27 ^OT	90,296
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

USC

#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at USC Trojans (5–6)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Notre Dame	0	7	7	6	0	20
USC	6	0	0	14	7	27

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, California

Date: November 30
Game attendance: 90,296
TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil
USA Today

Game information

Notre Dame

Ron Powlus
8/19, 108 Yds, TD
Autry Denson
33 Rush, 160 Yds, TD
Emmett Mosley
3 Rec, 29 Yds

USC

Brad Otton
13/25, 183 Yds, 2 TD
Delon Washington
15 Rush, 67 Yds, TD
Chris Miller
4 Rec, 69 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ND	USC
1					USC	30-yard field goal by Abrams	0	3
1					USC	38-yard field goal by Abrams	0	6
2	14:23				Notre Dame	Spencer 1-yard touchdown run, Sanson kick good	7	6
3	0:23				Notre Dame	Champion 25-yard touchdown reception from Powlus, Sanson kick good	14	6
4					USC	C. Miller 5-yard touchdown reception from Otton, 2-point pass failed	14	12
4	4:52				Notre Dame	Denson 9-yard touchdown run, Sanson kick no good	20	12
4	1:50				USC	Washington 15-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good	20	20
OT					USC	Sermons 5-yard touchdown reception from Otton, Abrams kick good	20	27
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							20	27

Roster

1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`76`	Jeremy Akers	Sr
WR	`88`	Bobby Brown	So
TE	`58`	Mike Burgdorf	Sr
TE	`40`	Kevin Carretta	Sr
WR	`18`	Cikai Champion	Sr
TE	`98`	Pete Chryplewicz	Sr
OT	`75`	Chris Clevenger	Sr
RB	`23`	Autry Denson	So
FB	`44`	Marc Edwards	Sr
RB	`31`	Robert Framer	Sr
QB	`7`	Jarious Jackson	Fr
WR	`83`	Malcolm Johnson	So
WR	`84`	Albert Jones	Sr
RB	`26`	Randy Kinder	Sr
QB	`14`	A.J. McGunigal	Sr
OT	`54`	Luke Petitgout	So
QB	`3`	Ron Powlus	Sr
G	`79`	Mike Rosenthal	So
OT	`71`	Jerry Wisne	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE	`56`	Kurt Belisle	Jr
DE	`95`	Corey Bennett	Jr
P	`35`	Scott Palumbo	Sr
LB	`13`	Bertrand Berry	Sr
LB	`6`	Lyron Cobbins	Sr
DE	`51`	Melvin Dansby	Sr
LB	`27`	Bobbie Howard	So
LB	`4`	Kory Minor	So
CB	`35`	Robert Phelps	Sr
CB	`15`	Allen Rossum	Jr
DE	`91`	Darnell Smith	Sr
CB	`21`	Shannon Stephens	So
FS	`12`	Mario Strayhorn	So
LB	`2`	Kinnon Tatum	Sr
LB	`49`	Joe Thomas	So
LB	`43`	Bill Wagasy	Sr
LB	`60`	Antwoine Wellington	Fr
DE	`48`	Renaldo Wynn	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`19`	Jim Sanson	Fr
P	`8`	Hunter Smith	So

Head coach

Lou Holtz

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Dave Roberts – Offensive coordinator
Bob Davie – Defensive coordinator
Urban Meyer – Wide receivers
Charlie Strong – Defensive line

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

References

^ "ND's opening victory is ugly". The Indianapolis News. September 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] "ND's opening victory is ugly". The Indianapolis News. September 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[1]

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Venues	Brownson Hall field (1892?–1899) Cartier Field (1899–1928) Soldier Field (1929) Notre Dame Stadium (1930–present)
Bowls and rivalries	Bowl games Emerald Isle Classic Army Boston College Michigan Michigan State Navy Northwestern Pittsburgh Purdue Stanford USC
Culture and lore	History Band of the Fighting Irish Irish Guard Notre Dame Box Notre Dame Leprechaun "Notre Dame, Our Mother" "Notre Dame Victory March" Play Like a Champion Today Subway Alumni T formation Tall Grass Game 1946 "Game of the Century" 1966 "Game of the Century" Catholics vs. Convicts 30 for 30 film 1993 "Game of the Century" Bush Push Navy ends the drought Death of Lizzy Seeberg 2020 ACC Championship Game The Spirit of Notre Dame Knute Rockne, All American Notre Dame Football on NBC Rudy
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks Four Horsemen NFL draftees Statistical leaders Team captains
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National championship seasons in bold