1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 2-9 (1-7 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Lou Tepper (5th season)

Offensive coordinator| Paul Schudel (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator| Denny Marcin (5th as DC, 9th overall season)
Home stadium| Memorial Stadium

Seasons

<- 1995

1997 ->

1996 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 2 Ohio State \+  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 1  |
No. 15 Northwestern \+  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 3  |
No. 7 Penn State |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 11  | - | 2  |
No. 18 Iowa |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 3  |
No. 20 Michigan |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 4  |
Michigan State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
Wisconsin |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Purdue |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Minnesota |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 7  |
Indiana |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Illinois |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 9  |

* \+ - Conference co-champions

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. They participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. Their home games were played at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. The team's head coach was Lou Tepper, who was fired as head coach of the Illini after the end of the season. Illinois had a record of 2–9 and failed to make a bowl game.

## Schedule[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

|
|
|
|
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|

August 31| 2:30 pm| at No. 12 Michigan|

* Michigan Stadium
* Ann Arbor, Michigan (rivalry)

| ABC| L 8–20| 105,992
September 7| 2:30 pm| No. 19 USC*|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| ABC| L 3–55| 56,504
September 14| 9:00 pm| at Arizona*|

* Arizona Stadium
* Tucson, Arizona

| FSN| L 0–41| 43,012
September 21| 1:00 pm| Akron*|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| | W 38–7| 48,285
October 5| 1:00 pm| Indiana|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| | W 46–43 2OT| 55,534
October 12| 11:20 am| at Michigan State|

* Spartan Stadium
* East Lansing, Michigan

| ESPN+| L 14–42| 71,639
October 26| 11:20 am| at No. 11 Northwestern|

* Dyche Stadium
* Evanston, Illinois (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)

| ESPN+| L 24–27| 48,187
November 2| 11:20 am| No. 25 Iowa|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| ESPN+| L 21–31| 54,381
November 9| 11:30 am| No. 2 Ohio State|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| ESPN| L 0–48| 54,412
November 16| 6:00 pm| at Minnesota|

* Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* Minneapolis

| | L 21–23| 34,321
November 23| 1:00 pm| Wisconsin|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, Illinois

| | L 15–35| 37,814

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

[1]

## Roster[edit]

1996 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

QB | `15` | Justin Cella | Fr
TE | `86` | Matt Cushing | Jr
TE | `87` | Mark Day | Jr
WR | `1` | Michael Dean | Fr
RB | `7` | Ty Douthard | Sr
WR | `83` | Jason Dulick | Sr
RB | `35` | Robert Holcombe | Jr
QB | `9` | Kirk Johnson | Fr
C | `69` | Chris Koerwitz | Sr
OL | `72` | Jay Kuchenbecker | Sr
OL | `67` | J. P. Machado | So
WR | `22` | Rob Majoy | So
OL | `60` | Ryan Schau | So
OL | `62` | Tom Schau | So
QB | `11` | Scott Weaver | Sr
Defense 39 Mike Gusich DB 5-11 178 So. Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier  | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

LB | `48` | Danny Clark | Fr
DL | `92` | Tom Claussen | Sr
DL | `66` | Garrett Johnson | So
LB | `41` | Eric Guenther | So
DT | `76` | Tremaine Halley | Fr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

Head coach

* Lou Tepper

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (S) Suspended
* (I) Ineligible

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

## References[edit]

1. ^ "fightingillini.com". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.

* v
* t
* e

Illinois Fighting Illini football

Venues|

* Illinois Field (1890–1922)
* Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
* Soldier Field (1994–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Michigan
* Missouri
* Northwestern
* Ohio State: Illibuck Trophy
* Purdue

Culture & lore|

* Illinois Loyalty
* "Oskee Wow-Wow"
* Marching Illini
* Gene Honda
* Fighting Illini Sports Network
* Chief Illiniwek
* 1960s slush fund scandal
* 2019 Wisconsin game
* 2021 Penn State game

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1890
* 1891
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* 1896
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National championship seasons in bold

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* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number