CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Pittsburgh

4–⁠7 (3–⁠4 Big East), coached by Johnny Majors.

Schedule and results

Pittsburgh in 1996, game by game: lost vs. West Virginia 0–34; won vs. Kent State 52–14; lost vs. Houston 35–42; lost at No. 7 Ohio State 0–72; lost at No. 10 Miami 0–45; won vs. Temple 53–52; lost at Syracuse 7–55; lost at Virginia Tech 17–34; won vs. Boston College 20–13; lost at No. 14 Notre Dame 6–60; won vs. Rutgers 24–9+38−72Lost 0–34 vs. West Virginia-34West VirginiaWon 52–14 vs. Kent State+38Kent StateLost 35–42 vs. Houston-7HoustonLost 0–72 at No. 7 Ohio State-72No. 7 Ohio StateLost 0–45 at No. 10 Miami-45No. 10 MiamiWon 53–52 vs. Temple+1TempleLost 7–55 at Syracuse-48SyracuseLost 17–34 at Virginia Tech-17Virginia TechWon 20–13 vs. Boston College+7Boston CollegeLost 6–60 at No. 14 Notre Dame-54No. 14 Notre DameWon 24–9 vs. Rutgers+15Rutgers
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsWest VirginiaL 0–⁠3441%
Sep 7vsKent StateW 52–⁠1469%
Sep 14vsHoustonL 35–⁠4260%
Sep 21at7Ohio StateL 0–⁠7211%
Sep 28at10MiamiL 0–⁠4511%
Oct 5vsTempleW 53–⁠5258%
Oct 12atSyracuseL 7–⁠5514%
Oct 26atVirginia TechL 17–⁠3412%
Oct 31vsBoston CollegeW 20–⁠1338%
Nov 16at14Notre DameL 6–⁠6010%
Nov 30vsRutgersW 24–⁠959%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Rutgers 24–⁠9; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big East.

In program history: The 120th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠4 5th in Big East
AP final
Unranked
Points
214–⁠430
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1384 −17 this season
SP+ rating
-9.7 No. 80 of 111; offense No. 57, defense No. 95
SRS
−8.9 No. 82 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ken Karcher
Defensive coordinator
Chuck Driesbach
Offense
Multiple
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

All-Big East

1 first team

First team

  • Nate CochranPCoaches-1

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Big East standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Virginia Tech6–⁠110–⁠213
Syracuse6–⁠19–⁠321
Miami6–⁠19–⁠314
West Virginia4–⁠38–⁠4
Pittsburgh3–⁠44–⁠7
Boston College2–⁠55–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠62–⁠9
Temple0–⁠71–⁠10

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