1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Summary

The 1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team was coached by Lou Holtz and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
APNo. 19
Record8–3
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDave Roberts (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorBob Davie (3rd season)
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons
← 1995
1997 →
1996 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 25 Army       10 2  
Navy       9 3  
No. 19 Notre Dame       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

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 edit

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 58:00 p.m.at VanderbiltNo. 6ESPNW 14–741,523[2]
September 142:30 p.m.PurdueNo. 9NBCW 35–059,075
September 2112:00 p.m.at No. 6 TexasNo. 9ABCW 27–2483,312
September 282:30 p.m.No. 4 Ohio StateNo. 5
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCL 16–2959,075
October 122:30 p.m.No. 16 WashingtonNo. 11
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCW 54–2059,075
October 192:30 p.m.Air ForceNo. 8
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCL 17–20 OT59,075
November 28:00 a.m.at NavyNo. 19CBSW 54–2738,651
November 93:30 p.m.at Boston CollegeNo. 17CBSW 48–2144,500
November 161:30 p.m.PittsburghNo. 14
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
NBCW 60–659,075
November 231:30 p.m.RutgersNo. 10
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
NBCW 62–059,075
November 308:00 p.m.at USCNo. 10ABCL 20–27 OT90,296

Game summaries edit

USC edit

#10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–2) at USC Trojans (5–6)
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Notre Dame 0 7 76020
USC 6 0 014727

at Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, California

Game information

Roster edit

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
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
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Roster

References edit

  1. ^ "Notre Dame Yearly Results (1995-1999)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "ND's opening victory is ugly". The Indianapolis News. September 6, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.