1996 Utah Utes football team

1996 Utah Utes football
1996 Utah Utes football
Copper Bowl, L 10–38 vs. Wisconsin
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
	Mountain Division
Record	8–4 (6–2 WAC)
Head coach	Ron McBride (7th season);
Offensive coordinator	Fred Graves (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Kyle Whittingham (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Robert Rice Stadium

1996 Western Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Mountain Division
No. 5 BYU x$	8	–	0	14	–	1
	6	–	2	8	–	4
Rice	6	–	2	7	–	4
SMU	4	–	4	5	–	6
New Mexico	3	–	5	6	–	5
TCU	3	–	5	4	–	7
Tulsa	2	–	6	4	–	7
UTEP	0	–	8	2	–	9
Pacific Division
No. 22 Wyoming x	7	–	1	10	–	2
San Diego State	6	–	2	8	–	3
Colorado State	6	–	2	7	–	5
Air Force	5	–	3	6	–	5
Fresno State	3	–	5	4	–	7
San Jose State	3	–	5	3	–	9
Hawaii	1	–	7	2	–	10
UNLV	1	–	8	1	–	11
Championship: BYU 28, Wyoming 25 ^OT
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:00 pm	at Utah State*		Romney Stadium Logan, UT (Battle of the Brothers)		L 17–20	30,257
September 7	5:00 pm	at Stanford*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	W 17–10	34,587
September 14	6:00 pm	at SMU		Ownby Stadium Dallas, TX	KJZZ	W 21–17	22,614
September 21	7:00 pm	Fresno State		Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 45–17	32,539
September 28	7:00 pm	No. 20 Kansas*		Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	ESPN2	W 45–42	32,519
October 5	1:00 pm	at UTEP	No. 24	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX		W 34–27	28,271
October 19	12:00 pm	TCU	No. 24	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 21–7	28,786
October 26	12:00 pm	Tulsa	No. 21	Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 45–19	29,047
November 2	1:00 pm	at Rice	No. 20	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		L 10–51	23,250
November 9	8:00 pm	at New Mexico		University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	ESPN2	W 31–24	22,241
November 23	10:30 am	No. 8 BYU		Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)	ESPN	L 17–37	35,378
December 27	7:00 pm	vs. Wisconsin*		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (Copper Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–38	42,122
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[3]^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ 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	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Roster

1996 Utah Utes football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`1`	Kevin Dyson	Jr
WR	`11`	David Kozlowski	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL		Richard Seals

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Ron McBride

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

CFL draft

Chad Folk was selected first overall in the 1997 CFL Draft.

References

^ "1996 Utah Utes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
^ "Game Recap". November 2, 1996. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
^ "Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
^ "1996 results". Utah Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2009.

[1] "1996 Utah Utes Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

[Rice_51,_Utah_10-2] "Game Recap". November 2, 1996. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2009.

[2009_Utah_Media_Guide-3] "Ute Record Book" (PDF). University of Utah. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.

[1996_official_results-4] "1996 results". Utah Official Athletic Site. Archived from the original on December 18, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2009.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

Utah Utes football
Venues	Cummings Field (1903–1926) Robert Rice Stadium (1927–1997) Rice–Eccles Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games BYU: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Colorado: Rumble in the Rockies Utah State: Battle of the Brothers (Beehive Boot)
Culture & lore	Swoop "Utah Man" Pride of Utah Utah pass
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold