CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 West Virginia

8–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Big East), coached by Don Nehlen.

Schedule and results

West Virginia in 1996, game by game: won at Pittsburgh 34–0; won vs. Western Michigan 34–9; won vs. East Carolina 10–9; won at Purdue 20–6; won vs. Maryland 13–0; won vs. Boston College 34–17; won at Temple 30–10; lost vs. No. 25 Miami 7–10; lost vs. Syracuse 7–30; won at Rutgers 55–14; lost at No. 17 Virginia Tech 14–31; lost vs. No. 12 North Carolina 13–20+41−23Won 34–0 at Pittsburgh+34PittsburghWon 34–9 vs. Western Michigan+25Western MichiganWon 10–9 vs. East Carolina+1East CarolinaWon 20–6 at Purdue+14PurdueWon 13–0 vs. Maryland+13MarylandWon 34–17 vs. Boston College+17Boston CollegeWon 30–10 at Temple+20TempleLost 7–10 vs. No. 25 Miami-3No. 25 MiamiLost 7–30 vs. Syracuse-23SyracuseWon 55–14 at Rutgers+41RutgersLost 14–31 at No. 17 Virginia Tech-17No. 17 Virginia TechLost 13–20 vs. No. 12 North Carolina-7No. 12 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atPittsburghW 34–⁠059%
Sep 7vsWestern MichiganW 34–⁠965%
Sep 14vsEast CarolinaW 10–⁠957%
Sep 21atPurdueW 20–⁠658%
Sep 28vsMarylandW 13–⁠071%
Oct 5vsBoston CollegeW 34–⁠1774%
Oct 19atTempleW 30–⁠1079%
Oct 26vs25MiamiL 7–⁠1063%
Nov 2vsSyracuseL 7–⁠3053%
Nov 9atRutgersW 55–⁠1470%
Nov 23at17Virginia TechL 14–⁠3128%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12North CarolinaGator BowlL 13–⁠2037%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to North Carolina 20–⁠13 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big East.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 23
  2. Wk 7: 19
  3. Wk 8: 17
  4. Wk 9: 15
  5. Wk 10: 12
  6. Wk 11: 18
  7. Wk 14: 23
  8. Wk 15: 25
  9. Wk 16: 24
  10. Wk 17: 25

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.

Consensus All-AmericanCanute Curtis, LB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 4th in Big East
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
271–⁠156
Coach
Don Nehlen
Elo
1573 +57 this season
SP+ rating
11.8 No. 30 of 111; offense No. 80, defense No. 6
SRS
9.4 No. 27 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dan Simrell
Defensive coordinator
Steve Dunlap

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 2Mike Logan DBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 6Canute Curtis LBCincinnati Bengals

All-Big East

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Rahsaan VanterpoolWRCoaches-2
  • Mike HornOLCoaches-2
  • Bernard RussDLCoaches-2
  • Henry SlayDLCoaches-2

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.