CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 1996 season

Florida finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–⁠1 under Steve Spurrier, after it beat Florida State 52–⁠20 in the Sugar Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Florida State 24, No. 1 Florida 21 (Nov 30, 1996). 49 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Danny Wuerffel, QB, Florida, who also won the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien, Unitas Golden Arm and Campbell Trophy.

The Heisman vote: Danny Wuerffel 1,363 points, Troy Davis 1,174
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Danny Wuerffel QB, Florida1,363300158147
Troy Davis RB, Iowa State1,174209206135
Jake Plummer QB, Arizona State685116113111
Orlando Pace OT, Ohio State59987101136
Warrick Dunn RB, Florida State341407669
Byron Hanspard RB, Texas Tech251156870
Darnell Autry RB, Northwestern85 *91020
Peyton Manning QB, Tennessee8142323
Marcus Harris WR, Wyoming537718
Beau Morgan QB, Air Force263311

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published. * The votes shown don’t add up to the points shown; the source has a typo in one of them.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1FloridaSoutheastern Conference
2Ohio StateBig Ten
3Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
4Arizona StatePac-10
5BYUWestern Athletic Conference
6NebraskaBig 12
7Penn StateBig Ten
8ColoradoBig 12
9TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
10North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
11AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
12LSUSoutheastern Conference
13Virginia TechBig East
14MiamiBig East
15NorthwesternBig Ten
16WashingtonPac-10
17Kansas StateBig 12
18IowaBig Ten
19Notre DameIndependent
20MichiganBig Ten
21SyracuseBig East
22WyomingWestern Athletic Conference
23TexasBig 12
24AuburnSoutheastern Conference
25ArmyIndependent

Biggest upsets

Nov 9, 1996Memphis 21, 6Tennessee 17
Nov 23, 199621Michigan 13, 2Ohio State 9
Oct 19, 1996Air Force 20, 8Notre Dame 17
Nov 16, 1996Mississippi State 17, 8Alabama 16
Nov 16, 199624Virginia 20, 6North Carolina 17
Nov 9, 1996Purdue 9, 9Michigan 3
Sep 21, 199617Arizona State 19, 1Nebraska 0
Oct 5, 199622Northwestern 17, 6Michigan 16
Oct 19, 1996Iowa 21, 10Penn State 20
Nov 30, 1996USC 27, 10Notre Dame 20
Sep 7, 199624North Carolina 27, 9Syracuse 10
Oct 5, 1996Georgia Tech 13, 12Virginia 7

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1996, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13Wk 15Wk 17FinalNorth Carolina: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 24, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 11, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 15, Wk 8 No. 13, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 13, Wk 15 No. 13, Wk 16 No. 13, Wk 17 No. 12, Final No. 1010 North CarolinaTennessee: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 9, Wk 15 No. 9, Wk 16 No. 9, Wk 17 No. 9, Final No. 99 TennesseeColorado: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 12, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 6, Wk 15 No. 5, Wk 16 No. 7, Wk 17 No. 8, Final No. 88 ColoradoPenn State: Wk 1 No. 11, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 17, Wk 11 No. 15, Wk 12 No. 14, Wk 13 No. 11, Wk 14 No. 7, Wk 15 No. 8, Wk 16 No. 8, Wk 17 No. 7, Final No. 77 Penn StateNebraska: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 8, Wk 7 No. 7, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Wk 15 No. 4, Wk 16 No. 3, Wk 17 No. 6, Final No. 66 NebraskaBYU: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 19, Wk 3 No. 16, Wk 4 No. 14, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 24, Wk 7 No. 21, Wk 8 No. 19, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 15, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 10, Wk 14 No. 8, Wk 15 No. 7, Wk 16 No. 6, Wk 17 No. 5, Final No. 55 BYUArizona State: Wk 1 No. 20, Wk 2 No. 20, Wk 3 No. 20, Wk 4 No. 18, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Wk 15 No. 3, Wk 16 No. 2, Wk 17 No. 2, Final No. 44 Arizona StateFlorida State: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Wk 15 No. 2, Wk 16 No. 1, Wk 17 No. 1, Final No. 33 Florida StateOhio State: Wk 1 No. 9, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Wk 15 No. 6, Wk 16 No. 5, Wk 17 No. 4, Final No. 22 Ohio StateFlorida: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Wk 15 No. 1, Wk 16 No. 4, Wk 17 No. 3, Final No. 11 Florida
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. BYUunranked → No. 5
  2. Arizona StateNo. 20 → No. 4
  3. North Carolinaunranked → No. 10
  4. Washingtonunranked → No. 16
  5. Ohio StateNo. 9 → No. 2

Fell

  1. USCNo. 7 → unranked
  2. TexasNo. 8 → No. 23
  3. Notre DameNo. 6 → No. 19
  4. Texas A&MNo. 13 → unranked
  5. SyracuseNo. 10 → No. 21

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsJosh Wallwork (Wyoming)4,090 yds
Passing touchdownsDanny Wuerffel (Florida)39 TD
Passer ratingSteve Sarkisian (BYU)173.6
Rushing yardsTroy Davis (Iowa State)2,185 yds
Rushing touchdownsCorey Dillon (Washington)22 TD
Yards per carryRobert Farmer (Notre Dame)8.5
ReceptionsDamond Wilkins (Nevada)114 catches
Receiving yardsMarcus Harris (Wyoming)1,650 yds
Yards per catchMarcus Robinson (South Carolina)24.0
Receiving touchdownsReidel Anthony (Florida)18 TD
PointsCorey Dillon (Washington)138 pts
Points per gameCorey Dillon (Washington)12.6
Total offenseJosh Wallwork (Wyoming)4,209 yds
Total offense per gameJosh Wallwork (Wyoming)350.8
Punt return averageAllen Rossum (Notre Dame)22.9
Kickoff return averageTremain Mack (Miami)39.5

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida State
Big 12
Texas
Big East
Miami, Syracuse and Virginia Tech (shared)
Big Ten
Northwestern and Ohio State (shared)
Big West
Nevada and Utah State (shared)
Conference USA
Houston and Southern Miss (shared)
Mid-American Conference
Ball State
Pac-10
Arizona State
Southeastern Conference
Florida
Western Athletic Conference
BYU

Division I-AA

Big Sky
Montana
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa
Ivy League
Dartmouth
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Duquesne
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Florida A&M
Northeast Conference
Monmouth and Robert Morris (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Murray State
Patriot League
Bucknell
Pioneer Football League
Dayton
Southern Conference
Marshall
Southland Conference
Troy
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Jackson State
Yankee Conference
William & Mary

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

28 playersAll 7 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1996 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1996 All-America teams page.

The 1996 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Florida 42 on the staff list

  • Steve Spurrierhead coach
  • Bob Stoopsassistant head coach, defensive coordinator, secondary
  • Carl Franksassistant offensive coordinator, running backs
  • Rod Broadwaydefensive tackles
  • Jim Collinsrecruiting coordinator, Will and Mike linebackers
  • Dwayne Dixonassistant head coach, wide receivers
  • Lawson Hollandtight ends
  • Bob Sandersassistant defensive coordinator, defensive ends
  • Jimmy Ray Stephensoffensive line
  • Barry Wilsonspecial teams coordinator, Sam linebackers
Support staff (32)

Strength and conditioning

  • Jerry Schmidt director of strength and conditioning
  • Rob Glass strength & conditioning Asst. coordinator
  • Pat Moorer strength & conditioning Asst. coordinator
  • Randy Popple strength & conditioning Asst. coach

Operations and recruiting

  • Jamie Speronis director of football administration
  • Betty Ling senior administrative assistant
  • Nancy Sain coach Spurrier’s Secretary
  • Cariess Babb Office assistant
  • Nancy Stevens Office assistant
  • Dave Houts director of video services
  • Chip Howard assistant, associate athletics director – operations and Facilities (football game operations, team travel)

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Mike Wasik athletic trainer for football
  • Chris Koenig athletic trainer
  • Dave Werner athletic trainer
  • Marty Huegel Physical Therapist
  • Burke Collins Massage Therapist

Equipment

  • Bud Fernandez director of athletic equipment, assistant to the athletic director
  • Tim Sain football equipment manager
  • Mike Spiegler athletics administrator overseeing athletic equipment operations and football team travel

Video, communications and other staff

  • Tim Aydt Academic Counselor
  • Eric Sanders Student services, Office of Student Life
  • Jack Kearney Telecommunications assistant
  • Norm Carlson support staff
  • John Humenik support staff
  • Jeff Kamis support staff
  • Keith Carodine support staff
  • Greg McGarity support staff
  • Chris Partick support staff
  • Danny Sheldon support staff
  • Jeremy Foley director of athletics
  • John Lombardi President
  • Steve McClain football sports information contact (later associate athletics director for communications)

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 19, 1996Nevada 18, Ball State 15Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 25, 1996Navy 42, California 38Aloha Bowl
Dec 27, 199619Miami 31, Virginia 21Carquest Bowl
Dec 27, 199623Syracuse 30, Houston 17Liberty Bowl
Dec 27, 1996Wisconsin 38, Utah 10Copper Bowl
Dec 28, 199617LSU 10, Clemson 7Peach Bowl
Dec 29, 199621Iowa 27, Texas Tech 0Alamo Bowl
Dec 30, 19968Colorado 33, 13Washington 21Holiday Bowl
Dec 31, 1996Auburn 32, 24Army 29Independence Bowl
Dec 31, 19966Nebraska 41, 10Virginia Tech 21Orange Bowl
Dec 31, 1996Stanford 38, Michigan State 0Sun Bowl
Jan 1, 199716Alabama 17, 15Michigan 14Outback Bowl
Jan 1, 19975BYU 19, 14Kansas State 15Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 199712North Carolina 20, 25West Virginia 13Gator Bowl
Jan 1, 19974Ohio State 20, 2Arizona State 17Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19977Penn State 38, 20Texas 15Fiesta Bowl
Jan 1, 19979Tennessee 48, 11Northwestern 28Citrus Bowl
Jan 2, 19973Florida 52, 1Florida State 20Sugar Bowl