CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Utah

8–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Ron McBride.

Schedule and results

Utah in 1996, game by game: lost at Utah State 17–20; won at Stanford 17–10; won at SMU 21–17; won vs. Fresno State 45–17; won vs. No. 20 Kansas 45–42; won at UTEP 34–27; won vs. TCU 21–7; won vs. Tulsa 45–19; lost at Rice 10–51; won at New Mexico 31–24; lost vs. No. 8 BYU 17–37; lost vs. Wisconsin 10–38+28−41Lost 17–20 at Utah State-3Utah StateWon 17–10 at Stanford+7StanfordWon 21–17 at SMU+4SMUWon 45–17 vs. Fresno State+28Fresno StateWon 45–42 vs. No. 20 Kansas+3No. 20 KansasWon 34–27 at UTEP+7UTEPWon 21–7 vs. TCU+14TCUWon 45–19 vs. Tulsa+26TulsaLost 10–51 at Rice-41RiceWon 31–24 at New Mexico+7New MexicoLost 17–37 vs. No. 8 BYU-20No. 8 BYULost 10–38 vs. Wisconsin-28Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atUtah StateL 17–⁠2062%
Sep 7atStanfordW 17–⁠1046%
Sep 14atSMUW 21–⁠1769%
Sep 21vsFresno StateW 45–⁠1780%
Sep 28vs20KansasW 45–⁠4252%
Oct 5atUTEPW 34–⁠2775%
Oct 19vsTCUW 21–⁠780%
Oct 26vsTulsaW 45–⁠1982%
Nov 2atRiceL 10–⁠5165%
Nov 9atNew MexicoW 31–⁠2463%
Nov 23vs8BYUL 17–⁠3748%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsWisconsinCopper BowlL 10–⁠3853%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 38–⁠10 in the Copper Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 59th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 24
  2. Wk 9: 24
  3. Wk 10: 21
  4. Wk 11: 20

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.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
313–⁠309
Coach
Ron McBride
Elo
1551 −32 this season
SP+ rating
2.5 No. 53 of 111; offense No. 54, defense No. 61
SRS
−1.0 No. 57 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fred Graves
Defensive coordinator
Kyle Whittingham
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

1996 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU9–⁠014–⁠15
Wyoming7–⁠110–⁠222
San Diego State6–⁠28–⁠3
Utah6–⁠28–⁠4
Rice6–⁠27–⁠4
Colorado State6–⁠27–⁠5
Air Force5–⁠36–⁠5
SMU4–⁠45–⁠6
New Mexico3–⁠56–⁠5
Fresno State3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU3–⁠54–⁠7
San José State3–⁠53–⁠9
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠7
Hawai’i1–⁠72–⁠10
UNLV1–⁠81–⁠11
UTEP0–⁠82–⁠9

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