CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Houston

7–⁠5 (4–⁠1 Conference USA), coached by Kim Helton.

Schedule and results

Houston in 1996, game by game: won vs. Sam Houston 43–25; lost at No. 17 LSU 34–35; won at Pittsburgh 42–35; lost vs. No. 15 USC 9–26; won at Louisiana 31–24; won vs. Memphis 37–20; lost at Cincinnati 20–31; lost vs. No. 9 North Carolina 14–42; won at Tulane 20–17; won vs. No. 20 Southern Miss 56–49; won vs. Louisville 38–7; lost vs. No. 23 Syracuse 17–30+31−28Won 43–25 vs. Sam Houston+18Sam HoustonLost 34–35 at No. 17 LSU-1No. 17 LSUWon 42–35 at Pittsburgh+7PittsburghLost 9–26 vs. No. 15 USC-17No. 15 USCWon 31–24 at Louisiana+7LouisianaWon 37–20 vs. Memphis+17MemphisLost 20–31 at Cincinnati-11CincinnatiLost 14–42 vs. No. 9 North Carolina-28No. 9 North CarolinaWon 20–17 at Tulane+3TulaneWon 56–49 vs. No. 20 Southern Miss+7No. 20 Southern MissWon 38–7 vs. Louisville+31LouisvilleLost 17–30 vs. No. 23 Syracuse-13No. 23 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsSam HoustonW 43–⁠2570%
Sep 7at17LSUL 34–⁠3519%
Sep 14atPittsburghW 42–⁠3540%
Sep 21vs15USCL 9–⁠2625%
Oct 5atLouisianaW 31–⁠2427%
Oct 12vsMemphisW 37–⁠2058%
Oct 19atCincinnatiL 20–⁠3142%
Oct 26vs9North CarolinaL 14–⁠4228%
Nov 2atTulaneW 20–⁠1748%
Nov 9vs20Southern MissW 56–⁠4926%
Nov 16vsLouisvilleW 38–⁠748%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvs23SyracuseLiberty BowlL 17–⁠3024%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 30–⁠17 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Conference USA champions.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Conference USA champions4–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Southern Miss

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠1 shared first in Conference USA
AP final
Unranked
Points
361–⁠341
Coach
Kim Helton
Elo
1478 +118 this season
SP+ rating
7.5 No. 43 of 111; offense No. 26, defense No. 62
SRS
4.1 No. 43 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Neil Callaway
Defensive coordinator
Gene Smith
Captains
Gary Haynes, Antowain Smith and Charles West
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 1Antowain Smith RBBuffalo Bills
Rd 4Delmonico Montgomery DBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Marcus Spriggs OTBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Chuck Clements QBNew York Jets

1996 Conference USA standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Southern Miss4–⁠18–⁠3
Houston4–⁠17–⁠5
Cincinnati2–⁠36–⁠5
Louisville2–⁠35–⁠6
Memphis2–⁠34–⁠7
Tulane1–⁠42–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.