American college football season
The 1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A college football season. Under head coach Gary Barnett, Northwestern finished the season with a 9–3 record. The Wildcats won a share of the Big Ten Conference title for the second straight year. They faced off against Tennessee in the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Wildcats lost, 48–28.
Schedule [ edit]
Date
Time
Opponent
Rank
Site
TV
Result
Attendance
September 6
5:30 pm
at Wake Forest*
No. 13
SCC
L 27–2821,749
September 14
2:30 pm
at Duke*
ABC
W 38–1329,321
September 21
11:30 am
Ohio*
SCC
W 28–738,148
September 28
11:30 am
at Indiana
No. 25
ESPN
W 35–1736,714
October 5
11:30 am
No. 6 Michigan
No. 22
Dyche Stadium
Evanston, Illinois
ESPN
W 17–1648,187
October 12
11:30 am
Minnesota
No. 15
Dyche Stadium
Evanston, Illinois
ESPN2
W 26–2435,848
October 19
11:30 am
at Wisconsin
No. 14
ESPN2
W 34–3079,576
October 26
11:00 am
Illinois
No. 11
Dyche Stadium
Evanston, Illinois
ESPN+
W 27–2448,187
November 2
2:30 pm
at No. 15 Penn State
No. 11
ABC
L 9–3496,596
November 9
2:30 pm
at No. 23 Iowa
No. 18
ABC
W 40–1370,397
November 16
1:00 pm
Purdue
No. 13
Dyche Stadium
Evanston, Illinois
W 27–2441,178
January 1
12:00 pm
vs. No. 9 Tennessee*
No. 11
ABC
L 28–4863,467
*Non-conference game
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
All times are in Central time
1996 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible
Roster
Rankings [ edit]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Final
AP
18
15
13
—
—
25
22
15
14
11
11
18
13
11
11
10
11
15
Coaches
19
18
—
—
—
—
18
15
12
10
18
14
11
11
12
11
16
[2]
Game summaries [ edit] Wake Forest [ edit] Duke [ edit] Ohio [ edit] Indiana [ edit] Michigan [ edit] Minnesota [ edit] Wisconsin [ edit]
#14 Northwestern at Wisconsin
1
2
3
4
Total
• Wildcats
7
7
6
14
34
Badgers
10
3
3
14
30
Scoring summary
1
13:44 WIS Bob Adamov recovered fumble in end zone (John Hall kick)
Wisconsin 7-0
1
9:08 NW Darnell Autry 20-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)
Tie 7-7
1
3:53 WIS John Hall 50-yard field goal
Wisconsin 10-7
2
9:15 WIS John Hall 29-yard field goal
Wisconsin 13-7
2
3:59 NW D’Wayne Bates 12-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)
Northwestern 14-13
3
9:58 WIS John Hall 21-yard field goal
Wisconsin 16-14
3
4:38 NW Adrian Autry 14-yard run (two-point conversion failed)
Northwestern 20-16
4
14:57 WIS Ron Dayne 7-yard run (John Hall kick)
Wisconsin 23-20
4
13:31 WIS Cecil Martin 2-yard run (John Hall kick)
Wisconsin 30-20
4
5:02 NW Adrian Autry 2-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)
Wisconsin 30-27
4
:37 NW D’Wayne Bates 20-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)
Northwestern 34-30
[3]
Illinois [ edit] Penn State [ edit] Iowa [ edit]
#18 Northwestern at #23 Iowa
1
2
3
4
Total
• Wildcats
3
10
13
14
40
Hawkeyes
0
7
0
6
13
Scoring summary
1
0:52 NW Brian Gowins 23-yard field goal
NW 3–0
2
10:27 NW Darren Drexler 23-yard pass from D’wayne Bates (Brian Gowins kick)
NW 10–0
2
6:48 IOWA Tim Dwight 29-yard pass from Matt Sherman (Zach Bromert kick)
NW 10–7
2
0:00 NW Brian Gowins 22-yard field goal
NW 13–7
3
6:32 NW Darnell Autry 9-yard run (two point conversion failed)
NW 19–7
3
1:42 NW Darnell Autry 15-yard pass from Steve Schnur (Brian Gowins kick)
NW 26–7
4
14:53 NW Darnell Autry 41-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)
NW 33–7
4
12:19 IOWA Tavian Banks 10-yard pass from Matt Sherman (two-point conversion failed)
NW 33–13
4
7:31 NW Darnell Autry 18-yard run (Brian Gowins kick)
NW 40–13
[4]
Purdue [ edit] Florida Citrus Bowl [ edit]
#9 Tennessee vs. #11 Northwestern
1
2
3
4
Total
• Volunteers
21
10
7
10
48
Wildcats
0
21
0
7
28
Awards and honors [ edit] Team players drafted into the NFL [ edit] [5]
References [ edit]
Western Conference
Big Ten
Big Nine
Big Ten
National championships in bold
Injured
Redshirt
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