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1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
American college football season
American college football season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| sport | football |
| year | 1996 |
| team | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| logo | Nebraska Cornhuskers logo, 1992–2003.svg |
| logo_size | 150 |
| conference | Big 12 Conference |
| division | North Division |
| short_conf | Big 12 |
| CoachRank | 6 |
| APRank | 6 |
| record | 11–2 |
| conf_record | 8–0 |
| head_coach | Tom Osborne |
| hc_year | 24th |
| def_coach | Charlie McBride |
| dc_year | 16th |
| off_scheme | I formation |
| def_scheme | [4–3](4-3-defense) |
| stadium | Memorial Stadium |
| champion | Big 12 North Division champion |
| Orange Bowl champion | |
| bowl | [Orange Bowl](1996-orange-bowl-december) |
| bowl_result | W 41–21 vs. [Virginia Tech](1996-virginia-tech-hokies-football-team) |
| conf_champ | [Big 12 Championship Game](1996-big-12-championship-game) |
| conf_champ_result | L 27–37 vs. [Texas](1996-texas-longhorns-football-team) |
Orange Bowl champion The 1996 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. This was the first season for Nebraska in the Big 12 Conference, which took on that name after their previous conference, the Big Eight Conference added four schools from the disbanded Southwest Conference. Nebraska was placed in the new conference’s North Division along with Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, and Colorado.
The Cornhuskers entered the season as the two-time defending national champions, having won the first Bowl Alliance championship game at the Fiesta Bowl in January 1996, and were ranked #1 in the polls to start the season. Nebraska also entered the season with a winning streak of 25 games, having not lost since falling to Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl.
Nebraska opened the season with a rout of Michigan State in their home opener and traveled to face Arizona State, a team they had defeated 77–28 the year before. This time, the results were different as Nebraska was shut out in a 19–0 defeat to snap their winning streak. They would not lose again during the regular season, winning the Big XII North and climbing back up to #3 in the polls. Their division win earned the Cornhuskers a place in the first Big 12 Championship Game against the winner of the South Division, unranked Texas. With a potential national championship game berth at stake, Nebraska lost for the second time in 1996 as Texas defeated them 37–27 to secure the automatic Bowl Alliance berth for the conference.
Despite this, Nebraska managed to qualify for the Bowl Alliance as an at-large team and was invited to play in the Orange Bowl, where they beat Virginia Tech.
Schedule
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Rankings
Personnel
Roster
- Tom Osborne24th season 33rd year at Nebraska Alma mater: Hastings College
- Charlie McBride16th season as DC/DL coach 20th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Colorado
- Turner Gill5th season as QB coach 5th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska
- Craig Bohl2nd season as LB coach 5th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska
- Ron Brown10th season as WR/TE coach 10th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Brown
- Dan Young14th season as OL/K coach 14th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Reed
- Milt Tenopir23rd season as OL coach 23rd year at Nebraska Alma mater: Sterling
- Tony Samuel11th season as OLB coach 11th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska
- George DarlingtonDB coach 24th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Rutgers
- Frank Solich14th season as RB coach 18th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska
- Boyd Epley28th season as S&C coach 28th year at Nebraska Alma mater: Nebraska
Depth chart
James Sims Jeff Lake Ryan Terwilliger Octavious McFarlin
Game summaries
Michigan State
Arizona State
Colorado State
Kansas State
Baylor
Texas Tech
Kansas
Oklahoma
Missouri
Iowa State
Colorado
Texas
Virginia Tech
Rankings
Awards
| Award | Name(s) |
|---|---|
| All-America 1st team | Aaron Taylor, Jared Tomich, Grant Wistrom |
| All-America 2nd team | Chris Dishman |
| Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year | Grant Wistrom |
| All-America Freshman 1st team | Ralph Brown |
| All-Big 12 1st team | Chris Dishman, Jon Hesse, Jared Tomich, Mike Minter, Jason Peter, Aaron Taylor, Grant Wistrom |
| All-Big 12 2nd team | Eric Anderson, Michael Booker, Kris Brown, Jeff Ogard, Jamel Williams |
| All-Big 12 3rd team | Scott Frost, Terrell Farley, Ahman Green |
| All-Big 12 honorable mention | Ralph Brown, DeAngelo Evans, Brendan Holbein, Vershan Jackson, Jesse Kosch, Brian Schuster, Eric Stokes, Jon Vedral, Jamel Williams |
| Big 12 coach of the Year | Tom Osborne |
NFL and pro players
The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1996 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
| Name | Team |
|---|---|
| **Dan Alexander** | Tennessee Titans |
| **Eric Anderson** | Amsterdam Admirals |
| **Michael Booker** | Atlanta Falcons |
| **Kris Brown** | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| **Mike Brown** | Chicago Bears |
| **Ralph Brown** | New York Giants |
| **Chris Dishman** | Arizona Cardinals |
| **Clint Finley** | Kansas City Chiefs |
| **Jay Foreman** | Buffalo Bills |
| **Ahman Green** | Seattle Seahawks |
| **Jon Hesse** | Green Bay Packers |
| **Russ Hochstein** | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| **Sheldon Jackson** | Buffalo Bills |
| **Vershan Jackson** | Kansas City Chiefs |
| **Eric Johnson** | Oakland Raiders |
| **Chad Kelsay** | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| **Bill Lafleur** | Barcelona Dragons |
| **Joel Makovicka** | Arizona Cardinals |
| **Mike Minter** | Carolina Panthers |
| **Tony Ortiz** | Scottish Claymores |
| **Jason Peter** | Carolina Panthers |
| **Carlos Polk** | San Diego Chargers |
| **Mike Rucker** | Carolina Panthers |
| **Eric Stokes** | Seattle Seahawks |
| **Jared Tomich** | New Orleans Saints |
| **Larry Townsend** | Berlin Thunder |
| **Adam Treu** | Oakland Raiders |
| **Eric Warfield** | Kansas City Chiefs |
| **Steve Warren** | Green Bay Packers |
| **Jamel Williams** | Washington Redskins |
| **Jason Wiltz** | New York Jets |
| **Grant Wistrom** | St. Louis Rams |
| **Jon Zatechka** | Berlin Thunder |
References
References
- "Football – 1996 Schedule/Results". University of Nebraska–Lincoln Athletics Department.
- [http://www.huskermax.com/honors/honors_1996.html 1996 Husker Honors]
- "All Time NFL Huskers".
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