1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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.

1996 Northwestern Wildcats football
Big Ten co-champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, L 28–48 vs. Tennessee
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 16
APNo. 15
Record9–3 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorRon Vanderlinden (5th season)
Captains
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
1996 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
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  
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 75:30 pmat Wake Forest*No. 13
SCCL 27–2821,749[2]
September 142:30 pmat Duke*
ABCW 38–1329,321[3]
September 2111:30 amOhio*
SCCW 28–738,148
September 2811:30 amat IndianaNo. 25
ESPNW 35–1736,714
October 511:30 amNo. 6 MichiganNo. 22
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL (rivalry)
ESPNW 17–1648,187
October 1211:30 amMinnesotaNo. 15
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
ESPN2W 26–2435,848
October 1911:30 amat WisconsinNo. 14
ESPN2W 34–3079,576
October 2611:00 amIllinoisNo. 11
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL (rivalry)
ESPN PlusW 27–2448,187
November 22:30 pmat No. 15 Penn StateNo. 11
ABCL 9–3496,596
November 92:30 pmat No. 23 IowaNo. 18
ABCW 40–1370,397
November 161:00 pmPurdueNo. 13
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 27–2441,178
January 112:00 pmvs. No. 9 Tennessee*No. 11
ABCL 28–4863,467[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Rankings
Further information: 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP181513——25221514111118131111101115
Coaches1918————1815121018141111121116

[5]

Game summaries

Wake Forest

Duke

Ohio

Michigan
See also: 1996 Michigan Wolverines football team

Minnesota

Wisconsin
#14 Northwestern at Wisconsin
1 234Total
• Wildcats 7 7614 34
Badgers 10 3314 30
Scoring summary
113:44WISBob Adamov recovered fumble in end zone (John Hall kick)Wisconsin 7-0
19:08NWDarnell Autry 20-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)Tie 7-7
13:53WISJohn Hall 50-yard field goalWisconsin 10-7
29:15WISJohn Hall 29-yard field goalWisconsin 13-7
23:59NWD'Wayne Bates 12-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)Northwestern 14-13
39:58WISJohn Hall 21-yard field goalWisconsin 16-14
34:38NWAdrian Autry 14-yard run (two-point conversion failed)Northwestern 20-16
414:57WISRon Dayne 7-yard run (John Hall kick)Wisconsin 23-20
413:31WISCecil Martin 2-yard run (John Hall kick)Wisconsin 30-20
45:02NWAdrian Autry 2-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)Wisconsin 30-27
4:37NWD'Wayne Bates 20-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)Northwestern 34-30

[6]

Illinois
See also: 1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

Penn State

Iowa
#18 Northwestern at #23 Iowa
1 234Total
• Wildcats 3 101314 40
Hawkeyes 0 706 13
Scoring summary
10:52NWBrian Gowins 23-yard field goalNW 3–0
210:27NWDarren Drexler 23-yard pass from D'wayne Bates (Brian Gowins kick)NW 10–0
26:48IOWATim Dwight 29-yard pass from Matt Sherman (Zach Bromert kick)NW 10–7
20:00NWBrian Gowins 22-yard field goalNW 13–7
36:32NWDarnell Autry 9-yard run (two point conversion failed)NW 19–7
31:42NWDarnell Autry 15-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)NW 26–7
414:53NWDarnell Autry 41-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)NW 33–7
412:19IOWATavian Banks 10-yard pass from Matt Sherman (two-point conversion failed)NW 33–13
47:31NWDarnell Autry 18-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)NW 40–13

[7]

Purdue

Florida Citrus Bowl
#9 Tennessee vs. #11 Northwestern
1 234Total
• Volunteers 21 10710 48
Wildcats 0 2107 28
See also: 1996 Tennessee Volunteers football team and 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl

Roster
1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 32 Adrian Autry Jr
RB 24 Darnell Autry Jr
WR 5 D'Wayne Bates So
G 61 Justin Chabot (C) Sr
QB 8 Tim Hughes Sr
OT 74 Paul Janus Sr
WR 22 Brian Musso Jr
QB 10 Steve Schnur (C) Sr
WR 25 Jeff Swenson Jr
TE 84 Jay Tant Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
SS 33 Eric Collier Sr
DE 36 Casey Dailey Jr
LB 51 Pat Fitzgerald (C) Sr
LB 55 Barry Gardner So
CB 3 Hudhaifa Ismaeli Jr
LB 44 Keith Lozowski Sr
DT 94 Joe Reiff Sr
DT 95 Matt Rice Sr
DT 96 Ray Robey Sr
LB 59 Jason Ross Jr
LB 52 Tim Scharf Sr
DE 90 Thor Schmidt So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 14 Paul Burton Sr
K 13 Brian Gowins Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NFL
Main article: 1997 NFL Draft
Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Darnell AutryRunning back4105Chicago Bears
Tim ScharfLinebacker6164New York Jets
Hudhaifa IsmaeliDefensive back7203Miami Dolphins

[8]

References
  1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. "Wake Forest shocks Cats". The Daily Herald. September 8, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Sweet return trip; With something to prove, NU delivers". Chicago Tribune. September 15, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Cats a lemon in Citrus". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Northwestern 1996 AP Football Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  6. "Northwestern vs. Wisconsin". USA Today. October 19, 1996. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. "Northwestern vs. Iowa". USA Today. November 9, 1996. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  8. "1997 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
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